State of the Union

The soldiers looked bored and uncomfortable. The kids looked bored and uncomfortable. Even Dick Cheney looked bored and uncomfortable. And was it just a TV illusion, or was Charles Rangel actually taking a nap?

Comments

[Josh]

I think I heard Bush mention God a couple times. Can the concentration camps for atheists be far behind?

[me]

this is the best analysis possible.

[chthus]

Rangel was out cold, that little girl lasted longer. I'm just guessing, but maybe they never trained the military how to clap? Can't blame them, sort of a yawner.

Pelosi is currently making GWB look like a good speaker.

[Andy D.]

My favorite part was the half-room of applause when Bush said that some of the "critical" provisions of the Patriot act would sunset next year:)

[chthus]

Apparently Daschle was playing the drinking game too. "Seek harm to harm us...?"

[Josh]

"My favorite part was the half-room of applause when Bush said that some of the "critical" provisions of the Patriot act would sunset next year:)"

It would be more encouraging if the vast majority of those clapping hadn't voted for it.

[dave]

I would have something insightful to post here, but during the SOTU address I took a drink everytime BUSH mentioned terrorists, security, or evil. My am I wasted. But not on drugs of course because those are bad and there has been a lot of progress made in the war on drugs...

[Jon H]

I think the problem with Pelosi and Daschle is that the Republicans made them read their teleprompter lines off of a funhouse mirror.

[Rick Barton]

Fight the Patriot Act! Tell your congressperson and senators not to renew the provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire. These provisions were considered such a threat to civil liberties that even conservative Republicans led the fight, against the wishes of the Bush administration, to put sunset time limits on them!

It is likely that if not abolished these parts of the Patriot Act will be used to punish dissent. Remember Nixon? Clinton?

Our future liberty and that of our children may well depend on our taking action now. Contact your representatives:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

[Captain Obvious]

And after Bush was interrupted with the applause from half of the room, he continued to say, "The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule." Then the other half of the room burst out clapping. Obviously they were doing this in hopes of cancelling out the previous applause, but really, why on earth would you applaud the fact that the terrorst threat still exists? Seems to me that a lot of these ovations are nothing but mindless leader worship.

[Jean Bart]

Most political speeches are horrible; why should this be any better?

[Douglas Fletcher]

I second that.

[kuros]

it seemed to me he just said a lot of gobalby goop

[Grumpy Bob]

Okay, did I miss something during that speech? Because I seem to remember W talking about being "good stewards" of taxpayers' money and limiting discretionary spending at one point, but then he proceeded to ramble off a litany of new spending initiatives. Maybe I nodded off at some point, but I'm still trying to reconcile those two parts of the speech.

[Jon H]

I bet Laura manages the accounts in the Bush household.

[mtc]

After the patriot act expiration interruption, Bush really stared down that side of the room as he finished his sentence. Pretty uninspiring speech, still think he's basically a loser, but I liked the way he gave em' one hell of a nasty look. Even though I'm with them.

[HH]

Rangel caught napping... but he'll still be voted in in a landslide again this year...

[Mark]

OK kids, you heard the man. Don't use steriods or you might end up governor of California. If this is such an important national issue, why is he just now getting around to saying something? He is such a disengenious putz, Is it too late for a real fiscal conservative to give him the Ross Perot treatment?

[Rick Barton]

This sounds like a nightmare!: Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention: http://antiwar.com/article.php?articleid=1748

Contact your senators!:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

[AJMB]

Mala-props to Mark for his Bush-league mangling of the word disingenuous. Lovely

[Jerry]

Though all I saw/heard was a lot of empty cheerleading for the invasion of Iraq and just the tip of the iceberg for even more of his spending initiatives, the best part of his speech tonight, by far, was when he rambled off all the names of those countries that we have support from...tailing off, then speeding up to name the last few just made that a great moment. If not fiscally responsible, he's quite the orator.

[AJMB]

Jerry, if Bush is 'quite an orator', then I better send the wife to visit her mother this weekend, in preparation for the arrival at my door of a randy Salma Hayek. Both items are equally believable, IMHidO (in my humble, if delusional, opinion).

[greg sperla]

He's a great orator... and the new approval ratings will reflect that.

PS. I loved the way he starred down the dems on the Patriot Act expiration thing - pretty funny stuff there. I may disagree with his policies, but I like the man.

[Andrew]

Bush is not a GOOD speaker, but he is an effective one. Reagan wasn't really an orator either, and very little of what he said will meet anthology standards... but he was the GREAT COMMUNICATOR! In a different way (more body language and acting skills) Clinton had a way of connecting with people.

The Dems have a lot of problems in this area: Kerry is a stick, Dean is a Weapon of Self-Destruction, Clark is vain, shallow and weasely. Edwards has some real court-room skills but, apart from the fact that the match-up is unlikely, there is some truth to the adage that the lwyer who defends himself has a fool for a client-- Edwards has avoided having to make the case for himself, but that will change.

Bush is a formidable candidate, riding a strong horse. Clinton himself, would face a daunting task this year-- his heirs aren't half up to it.

The "snarky" tone isn't gaining any traction-- the voters in Iowa decisively rejected it, and only Dean (and the H&R bloggers) haven't got a clue yet.

[James Merritt]

What an interesting series of images: Rangel looked like he was fading after a cardiac event. Hillary flashed a commercial smile as soon as she realized the camera was on her: it looked like a Poligrip ad. When Bush was talking about the War on Terror, Teddy Kennedy was shaking his head with closed eyes.

I was disappointed, yet not surprised, to hear a renewed commitment to the War on Drugs. It was hilarious to hear the President's emphasis on increased drug testing in schools, and his declaration that this would be part of sending a "we love you" message to kids. Yeah. We love you. Now pee in this cup. Hey, we can call it our Loving Cup!

And not to be disrespectful or anything, but Bush's smirk as he enjoyed his introductory applause was -- I kid you not -- the exact same look I have seen on used car salesmen's faces, when they know they've locked you into a lemon. Man, that was scary.

USA. The Unbelievable Surrealism of America. Happy New Year! Maybe we're on the Chinese calendar now. It will be the year of the Green Monkey, after all.

[Sarcastic dude]

So one of your relatives finally hit the big time.

[Jean Bart]

Andrew,

So how do you explain your "snarky" tone then? Oh, that's right, we mere mortals aren't allowed to be "snarky." That's only for you and President Bush. *chuckle*

[joe]

This seemed more like a stump speech than a State of the Union Speech. He used to use the event to articulate a vision of the world and of America's position in it (remember Axis of Evil and Preventive War?). This was just an attempt to whip up the base. And with the obviously-staged autograph seekers at the end (which has never happened before at a SOTU address, to my knowledge), he came across more as a presidential candidate than as a president.

[Rick Barton]

Grumpy Bob,

The purpose of the "good stewards of taxpayers money" part was to get right minded people let down their defenses when he talked about the litany of new spending initiatives.

The "limiting discretionary spending" part was complete nonsense. According to the WSJ; discretionary spending, under the new budget, if enacted will do up the fastest since "The Great Society" programs. In fact, it already has. If fiscal conservatives in congress don't do something to stop it, things will get even worse.

[Pedro]

I think it's "gobbledy goop"... though I might be wrong.

[fyodor]

I missed most of the first hour but caught Carol Burnett and Elvis on Ed Sullivan.