(2004) On 20 January US President George Bush appeared before Congress to deliver the traditional state of the union address. This yearly speech gives the president a chance to announce his legislative priorities with maximum publicity: virtually everyone in the US watches the live broadcast of the speech on TV. Of course, the American president cannot make or even officially propose laws. It is up to the members of Congress to submit bills to the House or Senate, and even the Republicans in Congress are jealous①of their independence from the executive branch of government. Thus the state of the union address is basically a wish list and a PR opportunity.
    Tony Auth was not terribly impressed with the president's agenda. Alarmed at the huge budget deficits caused by Bush's tax cuts, Auth represents the union (the American republic) as a ship sinking in a sea of red ink. The "captain" is oblivious of the peril in which the ship and its passengers find themselves. Rather than dealing with the deficits, Bush touts his policy of "free prescription drugs" for the elderly —— the passengers among whom the game of shuffleboard is popular. "Free lunch" alludes to the American saying "There's no such a thing as a free lunch." In other words, everything costs something and everything has to be paid for by someone; statements otherwise are ploys for gulling credulous people. But free lunch is the order of the day on the USS Union②. The president is likewise a fan of NASA's project to establish a manned base on the moon and push on to the exploration of Mars；that "spaceship" will not be cheap. And the "cash awards" for "all who don't need them" could refer to a host of Bush tax cuts.
    Auth's cartoon is a comment on the odd reversal that has taken place in American politics. For several decades the Democratic Party had difficulty restraining the urge to spend, while the Republicans billed themselves as the party of fiscal prudence. The reversal began under the free-spending Reagan and continued under the deficit-cutting Clinton. But though Reagan spent a lot, he did also raise taxes. The younger Bush, Auth implies, has no patience for the advocates of prudence
    1月20日，美國總統(tǒng)喬治·布什來到美國國會發(fā)表例行的國情咨文。這一年一度的演講給了總統(tǒng)一個(gè)機(jī)會向最廣大公眾(幾乎每一個(gè)美國人都通過電視觀看實(shí)況轉(zhuǎn)播)宣告他在立法方面的優(yōu)先權(quán)。當(dāng)然，美國總統(tǒng)并不能制定法律，甚至也不能正式提議制定某條法律，法律的制定要由國會的議員們把法案提交到眾院或參院，而國會里的共和黨議員又很珍惜他們擁有的不受政府行政部門影響的獨(dú)立性。因此，發(fā)表國情咨文基本上就是總統(tǒng)的一串愿望和一個(gè)公關(guān)機(jī)會。
    漫畫家托尼·奧特并沒有對總統(tǒng)國情咨文羅列的一項(xiàng)項(xiàng)內(nèi)容留下深刻印象。由于對布什總統(tǒng)減稅政策所造成的巨額赤字感到不安，奧特將美利堅(jiān)合眾國比喻成正要沉入到紅墨水海洋中的一艘船?！按L”(布什)并沒有覺察到危險(xiǎn)，而船和乘客們已處于危險(xiǎn)當(dāng)中。布什不是去處理赤字問題，反而在吹捧自己為老年人(也就是喜歡玩推圓盤游戲的乘客)實(shí)行的“處方藥免費(fèi)”的政策；免費(fèi)的午餐暗指美國一句俗語“世上沒有免費(fèi)的午餐”，換句話說，什么東西都有價(jià)值，要想得到什么都需要付出，而與此不同的說法則是欺騙那些輕信的人們的花招，可免費(fèi)的午餐在這艘美國號船上則是常規(guī)；這位總統(tǒng)也是一個(gè)對美國宇航局在月球建立載人基地以及推進(jìn)火星開發(fā)計(jì)劃的擁護(hù)者———航天飛機(jī)可不是便宜的；向“所有不需要錢的人”給予“現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)”指的是布什的一大堆減稅政策。
    奧特的漫畫是對發(fā)生在美國政治中奇怪的顛倒現(xiàn)象所進(jìn)行的評論。在過去幾十年中，民主黨很難控制住花錢的急切之情，而共和黨則把自己描繪為花錢謹(jǐn)慎的政黨。這種角色的顛倒始于花錢無度的共和黨里根政府和不斷減少赤字的民主黨克林頓政府。但里根盡管花錢多，仍然提高了稅收。而小布什呢，奧特暗示，他沒有耐心聽那些主張花錢謹(jǐn)慎的人說話。