A search of the transcript finds nothing on Cuba, not even a mention of the name.

Bush did say this:

"Abroad, our nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal -- we seek the end of tyranny in our world."

And he said this:

"At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half -- in places like Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran -- because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom as well."

But he said nothing...nada...zilch about Cuba, one of the world's worst tyrannies.

I just don't get it, but I guess it shows how far we have to go to raise people's awareness, because that is the only we can change hearts and minds.

Ditto. Ileana Ros-L greeted him on his way out... maybe she could stick a note under his nose next time.

By then, he should add Venezuela to the mix.

Nada, zero.

No doubt about it, Marc,
Pres. Bush did not mention Cuba, the dictatorship that is not only the closest one to the U.S., geographically speaking, but also the longest one, at least in this hemisphere.
I guess Cuba --and Cubans-- only represent a "tiny" nation of a mere 11 million people.
On the whole, I was extremely disappointed, even though I considered it a good State of the Nation speech.
I certainly hope that the Cuban-American legislators don't let this rather egregious omission go by unchallenged and uncommented upon, and I intend to send their offices in Washington DC this registered voter's opinion about it.
JulioZ

What do you wish Bush should have said about Cuba? Go here to make your suggestions.

I also was saddened to hear no comment about Cuba.
What bugs me is that Bush hates Castro but I suspect like many presidents before him the speech
was written by a speech writer.

What do you think of Ros-letinen's yellow outfit?

I hate Cubans dressing in yellow it bugs the hell
out of me.

Yeah...I waited with baited breath for Cuba to be at least at the end of his list...not even close...and no cigar! Not even a mention of the heroic efforts of the Cuban Interest Section in Havana and the freedom news ticker. Lost opportunity President Bush!

......and...and...and...and no mention. I guess Bush was trying to spare Parmly the need to come up with more savvy quotes on such a rush basis, should mentioning Cuba provoke another demonstration in front of the US mission by the comandante in sneakers.

Lo he dicho año tras año y lo vuelvo a repetir: a los EEUU no les importa un bledo Cuba y los cubanos. Para los Republicanos, los "Cuban-Americans" (sic) son unos tontos útiles que facilitan su elevación al ejecutivo. Los Demócratas son las mismas perras con diferentes collares.

El "Anti-Castrismo" de USA es simplemente una función de su geopolítica encaminada a mantener la pre-eminencia como superpoder. En ningún momento se debe creer en las posturas públicas de las capitales, y mucho menos cuando éstas se divulgan en un contexto electoral.

La ausencia de Cuba en el discurso presidencial debiera despertar al exilio más reciente con el desayuno de la realidad: cuatro décadas de promesas estadounidenses incumplidas son más que prueba evidencial para el veredicto de divorcio.

I heard him give the list of dictatorships without mentioning Cuba and the first thing that came to mind was, "The people at Babalu Blog aren't going to like this..."

Here is a link on the New York Times website [it's rather long, so you can copy and paste it] of the video of the presidential State of the Union Address.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/ifr_main.jsp?nsid=a5e732dd8:1092465c3d1:-32bc&st=1138799683250&mp=WMP&cpf=true&fr=020106_051440_5e732dd8x1092465c3d1xw32bb&rdm=251484.78206983782

I was looking at it again, and YES, there is no mention of Cuba. Oh, he talks about not forgetting people in Syria, Burma, Iran, etc.. but didn't mention Cubans. As Rick Ben David said, the USA simply doesn't care about Cubans. Oh, we are important in the primaries, we are important as fundraisers and they all go to Miami to collect their millions of dollars from eager Cuban contributors to their campaigns, but that's it. Everyone from the late Ronald Reagan to Bush has made the obligatory Miami stop and has made speeches condemning Castro and talked about how they yearn to see a free Cuba, but that's it. The lastest talk now is the "biological solution." The USA is simply going to wait for Castro to die. They can't make it any clearer. There is no foreign policy pertaining to Cuba other than the "biological solution." PERIOD.

Everything else is little bones that they throw at us to keep us calm. Has the president rescinded the wet/foot dry foot law? NO. Has the president stopped all of this absurd trade going on between Cuba and various states? NO. Is the Cuban baseball team coming to the USA? YES..

The writing is on the wall and it's been on the wall for years. For the most part, we just haven't seen it.

Personally, I think it foolish of us to expect a mention about Cuba - from any President, Republican or Democrat - in a State of the Union Address.

Although I feel as most of you do, I agree with Val. A state of the union address will not include Cuba, probably until the bearded stooge is dead, there is anarchy and the world intervenes in a peace process of some kind.

Val,

Our point of contention--at least my point of contention-- is not that we are expecting the president to go out of his way to mention Cuba in a State-of-the-Union-Address, the problem is that he brought up the issue of non-democratic countries, and then he gave a long list of countries whose peoples deserve a democracy, but excluded the one country that should be on the top of everyone's list, because Cuba is far more repressive than countries like Iran that he mentioned [that truth be said at least has a democratically elected president even though it is a flawed democracy]. By virtual of the fact that Cuba has a head of state that is the longest serving dictator in the world, 47 years, it is outrageous that Cuba wasn't mentioned! By virtue of the fact that Cuba breaks each and everyone of the 30 principles stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it is only 90 miles away from our coast, Yes, it should be mentioned.

That's why I am angry with the speech. He made it an issue when he brought up the topic of non-democracies and peoples around the world in need of democracy. Leaving Cuba out of that list is a slap in the face to Cuban Americans. If it had not been for the edge that we gave him in the elections, he wouldn't even be up there making that speech. What's more, and more importantly it's a slap in the face to Cubans inside Cuba who yearn for the most minimal sign of support from the outside world. The president is telling them in an indirect way that their aspirations for democratic change are not as important as those of the peoples whose countries he did include in that speech.

Anyway, sometimes people say more but what they don't say, than by what they do say.

So you see, I am not saying, go out of your way to mention Cuba in a State-of-the-Union-Address, but if you are going to mention other countries who are less repressive than Cuba and that have shorter, less repressive dictatorships, Yes, Cuba should be mentioned. We shouldn't expect anything less.

Ray,

You make a more than valid point. And believe me, I get it.

Yet I can see how a speechwriter might think that mentioning Cuba, at this point in time, during the SOTU may be counterproductive. fidel castro and his cronies have been vehemently calling Bush a fascist and hitler and yadayadayada. Why stoop to their level? Why dignify that absurdity? Why give them more fodder for their ridiculous diatribe? He's the President of the United States of America for crissakes. The most powerful country in the world. He has no need to get into a war of words with a megalomaniacal two bit dictator and his proteges.

I truly think that even though some may view this as a loss, it may very well be a victory. No mention of Cuba means that fidel castro cant point the finger and say "There. See. I was right." There simply isnt anything for him to spin.

I think we dont give Bush and co credit sometimes. the guy is a shrewd politician with a group of shrewd politicos behind him.

All Im saying is, before we fly off the handle bitching and moaning and complaining, this is nothing new and let's wait and see what actions will hopefully be taken.

I may be wrong, of course. But man, I prefer action to lip service any day.

Val,

I hope that you are right. Perhaps it is some shrewd political manuever by the president not to mention Cuba in his State-of-the-Union-Address?
There have been so many disapointments over the years that I want to believe that there is some level of commitment to Cuba.

Ray

Ray,

I want to believe as well. But I no longer let myself get disappointed. I just keep working the problem.

Same ol same ol. Here let me beat both parties to the punch in 2008. The line to use in South Florida is "someday Cuba will be free". It works every time.

Oh yeah and I forgot the other one "viva Cuba libre" the crowd will go wild over this one.

Hi All--

I too was hoping for a word from the PREZ but guess he doesn't want to stir up the old crazy man Castro too much!! After all we are already overstretched (militarily)to the maximum overseas and starting something up with Castro would be the last straw. I am sure Bush's speechwriter-Karl Rove? maybe? did not want to stir up another hornet's nest with Fidel. Maybe he wouldn't send the baseball team and we all know how much we believe in the athletes participating. I enjoy reading what you all have to say. I still am very disappointed in this President. Says all the right things but actions speak louder than words. PEACE is PATRIOTIC!!

so..Bush never mentioned Cuba in his speech? big surprise. and remember the whole bridge fiasco? and then the baseball thing. we are being constantly betrayed by this president! nonetheless, all the cuban exiles will continue to be good little loyal republicans. (pat on the head) "good boy". see, thats why they never do anything meaningful for our cause, becasue they dont need to win our votes. they know quite well that the cubans in miami especially are never trully going to question anything the republicans do. if we werent so diehard loyal to a particular political party, we might find ourselves being swooned.