Kos, referring to a Dan Balz WaPo piece, writes about the importance of the State of the Union:
Balz notes that much will ride on King Bush’s SOTU address, though I don’t think it’s as influential a tool as it may once have been. There are too many alternatives on TV for anyone but the biggest Bush fans and political junkies to tune in.
History suggests that Bush will get some sort of bounce regardless thanks to the inevitably fawning media coverage. The real question will be how long any such bounce will last, and whether congressional GOoPers will get any benefits from said theoretical bounce.
I tend to agree. I simply can think of nothing the President could say that would change my mind about President Bush or this administration. Perhaps things will work out in the Middle East, and thirty years from now when I am nearing retirement, historians will have a glowing review of the Bush administration. Right now, though, from my perspective, this administration, regardless what happens in the next few years, will always be remembered as eight years of missed opportunities.
This will be the administration and Congresses that spent more time paying lip service to groups who demonized gays and wanted to pretend that half the electorate was traitorous and un-American than actual competent, boring, governance. It was the permanent election with a permanent bad aftertaste. Divide and conquer, writ large, with no recognition that after the conquering comes the governing.
Even when the administration was right on issues, and they have been many times, they haven’t managed to carry out their goals effectively. Granted, Bush faced an uphill battle to win the hearts and minds of the public- the oppostion, who spent the first two years unwilling to concede Bush had won (and some dead-enders to this date still refuse to recognize he won), though feckless and useless when it matters, has been as angry and as nasty as the Republicans were in the 90’s. Yet, this administration still managed to drop the ball, even with a bunch of clowns like Pelosi and Daschle throwing underhanded softballs.
Like I said- missed opportunities. What the hell can Bush say tonight that will change that?
Marcus Wellby
I will be catching up with Lost season 1 on DVD. Screw the SOTU, its pointless, and bad, theater. Its not the SOTU that matters, its the perception of it created by pundits.
guyermo
darn it. i have a frat meeting tonight during the SOTU. of all the rotten luck.
JWeidner
“Cast a vote for National Security in ’08 – Vote Jeb!”
Otto Man
What’s the over/under on how many time he uses the word “terrorism” tonight? Or “September the 11th?”
Krista
Otto Man:
List of terms he will use:
Evil, terrorism, September 11, we were attacked, freedom, support the troops, spread of democracy, free elections, tyrant, God, enemies, cannot give up, honor their sacrifices, values, insurgency.
That’s just my guess. I have no intention of actually watching, because listening to him for more than 2 minutes makes me want to throw things at the television.
cd6
on bodog.com (gambling website)
they are presenting odds on whether or not Bush says the term “space terrorism”
What the fuck is space terrorism??
srv
Well, on the upside, it’ll be the first Bush SOTU where more than one Supreme Court Justice attends.
DJAnyReason
Umm, not to pick nits, but has any democrat in congress seriously suggested that Bush has committed rape and/or murder?
SeesThroughIt
I used to watch SOTUs every year in an effort to remain politically informed. Sometime during Clinton’s second term, I stopped. They’re just such bullshit–the gratuitous standing ovations every 30 seconds, the pandering pabulum, the cockeyed stupidity. From the clips I’ve seen of Dubya, he has wallowed in this pointless stupidity even more than the typical president.
Plus, as various commenters have pointed out, we already know what he’s going to say: Freedom is on the march, September the 11th, the lessons of September the 11th, never forget September the 11th, captured Saddam, Iraqi elections, purple fingers in Afghanistan, up or down vote, culture of life, legal wiretapping, traditional values, god bless ‘Murica.
MI
Not to split hairs or anything, but didn’t it eventually come out, recently I think, that Gore did end up getting more votes than Bush in FL after everything was said and done?
Anyway, I basically feel the same way about the missed opportunities, especially after 9-11. This country was united together and in our support for Bush. He could have been not only the greatest president our country has known, he could have been one of history’s greatest leaders, period. How he ended up achieving basically the opposite on both counts is really, truly, breathtaking and mind boggling.
John Cole
BTW- Larry- I deleted your comment because you caught me in the middle of editing the post.
Andrew
That’s the drinking game, right there.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
IIRC, it means setting off a nuke in space, which would knock out the satellites.
Jim Allen
Re: “What the hell can Bush say tonight that will change that?”
How about, “And so I will resign this office effective noon tomorrow.”
What the hell, it worked once before.
Angry Engineer
Not sure, but if those jihadists go messin’ around with my DirecTV or DirecWay, there will be an unleashing of hell.
Seriously, my friend who used to be in that biz claims that it wouldn’t be hard to knock satellites out of service.
LITBMueller
What we MAY hear:
– “In order to ensure our security and continuing
stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire!!!”
What we WON’T hear:
– “I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain—I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.”
– “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.”
– “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.”
– “Al Qaeda hides, Saddam doesn’t, but the danger is, is they work in concert…you can’t distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror.”
– “Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof—the smoking gun—that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”
– “This is a man that we know has had connections with al Qaeda. This is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use al Qaeda as a forward army.”
– “Hopefully, we can do this peacefully – don’t get me wrong. And if the world were to collectively come together to do so, and to put pressure on Saddam Hussein and convince him to disarm, there’s a chance he may decide to do that. And war is not my first choice, don’t – it’s my last choice.”
– “You said we’re headed to war in Iraq – I don’t know why you say that. I hope we’re not headed to war in Iraq. I’m the person who gets to decide, not you.”
– “He has weapons of mass destruction — the world’s deadliest weapons — which pose a direct threat to the United States, our citizens and our friends and allies.”
– “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”
– “I’ve not made up our mind about military action.”
– “I’m not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam Hussein — because he had a weapons program.”
– “Listen, I know of nobody – I don’t know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information…If somebody did leak classified information, I’d like to know it, and we’ll take the appropriate action. And this investigation is a good thing.”
Krista
A game isn’t necessary. Bush is your president. That’s reason enough to drink, right there.
Pooh
Not yet, but once Cindy Sheehan beats out DiFi…
I kid, John, I kid…
yet another jeff
Krista, wasn’t it just about two weeks ago you were asking us how we could deal with Bush without drinking? ;)
Sometimes I think the GOP hysterics of the 90’s were a concious attempt to cause “outrage fatigue” so that no matter what they did in the ‘oughts, people would be too tired to do anything about it.
Far North
I disagree that Bush opponents have been equaled that nastiness of the conservatives in the 90s as they attacked Clinton. That whole whitewater crap, where the Clintons lost money and were never found to have violated any law, morphed into the Lewinsky affair. Remember the special counsel with unlimited powers and an unlimited budget and a limitless list of things he could investigate Clinton for? Remember Ken Starr?
The current opposition to Bush is not even in the same hemisphere as all the Republican crap of the 90s. Not even close.
Otto Man
Pfft. Even if I limited myself to just one of those buzzwords, and did a shot for every utterance, I’d still be dead from alcohol poisoning before he hit the half hour mark.
The only person here who could survive a Bush SOTU drinking game would be Stormy. Hmmm. Maybe that’s why she supports him in the first place.
Pooh
Apprarently
So we’ll have a massively complex plan of fuel vouchers, because choice is good, which end of driving up the price of fuel, and prevent low-income families from getting access to gas, while subsidzing gas to fill up Hummers and any car made by Ford or GM in order to incentivize sales and save jobs. The long term effect will primarily drive revenues for big oil, while consumer groups propose ordering gasoline from online Mexican retailers.
Sojourner
I’ve got better things to do than listen to this lying sack of shit.