To the editor:

On Tuesday night, I chose not to listen to the president. I joined untold thousands, maybe millions in deciding not to watch or listen to our president’s address.

On Wednesday, the day after, it was not possible for me to avoid radio, TV and newspaper reports on the president and the message. From the day after reports, in a nutshell:

President Bush told America that the “state of the union is strong” and said we will “renew the defining moral commitments of this land.”

But George Bush, with help from his congressional allies, has achieved power to torture detainees. He has spied on American citizens, illegally.

More, for starters, George Bush in his role as president has managed budget cuts to working families reducing or eliminating needed health and educational services. He has succeeded in rolling back 70 years of social progress by installing right-wing Supreme Court justices.

I’m sure some of my friends will tell me I was wrong, that I should have watched and listened to the State of the Union rhetoric.

The only reason I can think of for listening is that the president would read a speech drafted by his aides with some degree of coherence. This would be a relief from his occasional extemporaneous statements and answers to questions when he has no script.

I’m waiting to listen to my friends convince me that I am wrong. I’ve been wrong before, unlike the president. And, as a liberal I would listen.

And I’d like to hear more about “moral commitment.”

Forrest Swall,

Lawrence