SOTU Review

I guess I should post my thoughts on the speech itself. After hearing it last night, I thought to myself: “Not bad.” Then I went through and re-read the transcript, and I realized what I liked. His delivery. He really has improved as a speaker, and other than a few pronunciation gaffes (nuk -u- lar), his perforamce as a speaker keeps getting better and better.

Then to the nuts and bolts. I loved the first half of the speech. And then there was the domestic stuff. Other than the plan to ease the transition for convicts to help curb the rates of recidivism and making the tax cuts permanent, I can’t find anything I like. Period.

And for the record- if you want baseball to get rid of steroids, don’t ask them. Tell them. You want to keep your anti-trust exemption? Institute mandatory drug testing. That would end that debate pretty quick.

The rest of it just seemed like a Clintonian list of conservative mini-programs. Count me as unimpressed, but Bush doesn’t have to impress me much- look what he is running against:

“The State of the Union may look rosy from the White House balcony or the suites of George Bush’s wealthiest donors. But hard-working Americans will see through this President’s effort to wrap his radical agenda with a compassionate ribbon.

“This week in New Hampshire, and as the campaign moves ahead, I look forward to debating with my opponents about who has stood up to George Bush on the issues that matter. About who has actually delivered results for people. About who has the experience and strength to bring real change for American families.”

I don’t understand how Dean is going to get elected when every time he opens his mouth I instinctively think “What an asshole.” Once again, the Democrats are going to set the bar really low for George Bush.

*** Update ***
I am not the only one. Sully and Tacitus are both pretty pissed about the domestic agenda.