"Age two.... no, age ten"

You know it's a bad State of the Union when he talks about Rhode Island.

An AWOL Texas Air National Guard member who refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about his drug use, was arrested in Maine for DWI and whose driving record for Texas has been "lost," who shattered the record for largest annual deficit in US History and set the record for being president during the most bankruptcies during a 12 month period (yet who has no problem using 1.5 bil to support heterosexual marriages or 600-something to promote the rehabilitation of prisoners), yet he's the moral epicenter of the world. Clinton was a conscientious objecter to Vietnam (rather than "joining" ANG), got had an affair with his intern, yet he's the devil incarnate. Thank goodness for a daddy in politics and a brother who's the governor of Florida. We may have missed out on God's chosen one.

Why don't we just put the old separation of church and state out of its misery? It's obviously on its last leg, since even a discussion of foreign affairs turned into a didactic lecture on morals.... Christian morals, even though he then said we should respect every American "whether they have a cross, a Star of David or a.... uh.... crescent moon on their wall at home."

Oh how I long for the Ike and Mamie revival that Clark and Gert can bring in.

Ya know, even though I basically knew what was coming, actually hearing him say the words has left me speechless.

Anyone But Bush, 2004.

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After the predictably propaganda laden address (I know, so were Clinton's, I get what these things are about), it was less than uplifting to hear Pelosi and Tom D. offer mealy-mouthed, deer-in-the-headlights "responses." He was particulary weak, fearful of offending anyone with half a buttock on the fence. Not even mentioning Iraq! NOT A WORD! No wonder Dean has caught fire with his perpetual state of red-faced outrage. These outrage free Dems look as calm as they are. I expected Pelosi to start purring.

The cut-to shots of combustable Teddy Kennedy shaking his head during the speech said more about the disgust with the Bushies than any of the oh-so-carefully chosen words of the oh-so-nice Nancy and Tom.

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Here's an interesting article I found addressing the State of the Union "by the numbers." 10,000 Iraqi civilians killed since the begining of the conflict. 10,000! When's the last time you heard that on the news? W. also has a lot of firsts to be proud of!

1st: First president to execute a federal prisoner in the past 40 years. Executions are typically ordered by separate states and not at federal level

1st: George W Bush became the first American president to ignore the Geneva Conventions by refusing to allow inspectors access to US-held prisoners of war

1st: This administration is on its way to becoming the first since 1929 (Herbert Hoover) to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office

1st: Rank of the US worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per capita

1st: The record for the most bankruptcies filed in a single year (1.57 million) (2002)

1st: This year's deficit is on course to be the biggest in United States history

There's more, just click on the link below.
By the numbers.

And he is still saying "new-q-ler" Isn't there *anybody* in Washington skilled in eloqution?

"I'm going back to the fabulous main board, and I can't come back here, because I absolutely can't stomach the negativity over here right now."

No more negative than the reviews posted on Kerry Butler, just a different performer in a different show in a different theatre.

Thanks, Erik, for the link.... The fact, however, that 54% of the nation believes that Bush was legitimately elected and that 53% still approve of the way Bush is handling his job worries me, though. This could turn into a repeat of the 2000 election.

Since there is a technilogical rift between the haves and the have nots even in our wonderful country, I am simply making a relatively safe assumption. My Master's thesis research is on a new age caste system created by technology. So forgive me for being overly cognizant of the social and societal implications of message board culture.

Your frequent participation in an online message board generally means that you can afford technology and the training to be a savvy user, or a great deal of coffee at an Internet cafe.

The question, beyond my garish presumptions... Do you think you are blessed to be living the life that you do? Maybe not. That could be where the anger comes from.

Apologies for this sub thread... If anything grates at me, it's judgement. People who pass judgement on other people are the lowest of the low. I realize that my assumptions could be considered a form of judgement no matter how right or wrong they many be.

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I thought that you were leaving!

Nope! Just the opposite in fact. I personally like the political discussion and appreciate the varying viewpoints expressed. I was simply puzzled by your reappearance after your statement that you couldn't tolerate us any longer.

It seemed like there was one camera dedicated to Hillary Clinton last night. Did you see those stone-faced expressions? Fake smiles? And let's not get started on Nancy Pelosi. Did they really have to do those close-ups? Jimmy Kimmel pointed out something that happened as Nancy was speaking. There was a moment when she paused and did some flirtatious movement with her lips - right at the camera. Did anyone catch this?

i was particularly pleased to see that no amount of applause was able to rouse charlie rangel from his slumber, that's my congressman!

the speech was vanilla. it wasn't meant to convert anybody. but i do miss karen hughes terribly. it would have been nice for him not to stick his finger in people's eyes so much, but he's been listening to everyone and their brother tear him down for months now and he got some back.

i was very interested in the way that nancy pelosi leaned forward and enunciated every syllable of the word together every time she said it as if to make sure that even those 3 year olds who'd managed to evade the sandman would understand that the democrats would work with everyone. i half expected her to wink. nice touch though having the female congrssional leader deliver the foreign policy half of the rebuttal.

i was so totally hoping for a scanners moment as uncle teddy grimaced and rolled his eyes. that was the first time in my memory that the opposition party went so far as to interrupt the president to applaud points knowing that they were contrary to his speech. anybody remember tip o'neill ever leading the charge during any of reagan's speeches? what about newt during clinton's? i think it says a lot about how bitter the climate is politically right now that it basically went without mention on most of the coverages almost as if it was expected and accepted. for better or for worse, the capitol and joint sessions like this have always been above the type of bickering that you hear in say britain's parliament.

alas...as political theatre goes, this was pretty lame. especially compared to howlin' howie's meltdown. now that was fun stuff!

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tommyboy - "And he is still saying 'new-q-ler' Isn't there *anybody* in Washington skilled in eloqution?"

It comes from eating all that bar-b-q

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