Others will parse the entirety of last night's State of the Union; I have but a few observations. First, for all its futility--does Bush really think he can drive the debate on any issue other than Iraq at this point?--it was not a bad speech. More humble than any he has given, it dealt rather deftly with the wide swaths of terrain on which the president and Congress cannot possibly agree while offering platitudes that forced Speaker Pelosi to lead her troops in standing to applaud. None of it means anything past today, but it made for good television.
I noticed some words the president did not say last night. Nowhere to be found were the words "sanctity" or "marriage," a welcome change after years of beating the drum for an amendment. No, now the debate that must be conducted with civility is the one about immigration. Illegal aliens, congratulations--you are the new gays! I always thought Muslims would be the ones to pick up our cross, but apparently I was wrong.
I also noticed that even as he called for bipartisan cooperation, Bush could not bring himself to call the new Democratic majority by its right name. "I congratulate the Democrat majority," he squawked, joining Fox News and other Republican language-gamers in trying to make us sound stupid. Doing so abases the language and the man speaking it, Mr. Bush--but it does not change the fact that your party is on the run.
What did you think of the speech? Did you even watch? And didn't the House chamber look stunning in high definition?
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2 comments:
I am a little embarrassed to say that I heard "Madame Speaker, the President of the United States" and then I kind of fazed him out. And realized that I'd rather be watching "Veronica Mars" instead of Bush.
In years past, you couldn't drag me away from a SOTUA, but Bush (and Rove) have made politics so ugly, it turns my stomach to even see him sometimes.
Glad we gays aren't the only whipping boy anymore, but I feel bad for the immigrants, legal and illegal.
Great blog, by the way. First comment I've left here, but I just finished reading your archives (only took me about 3 weeks to get through them).
I can sympathize with not wanting to watch; if my partner had not asked me to record it so we could watch it when he got home from work, I would have skipped it. But as I said, this one went down a bit easier than most, perhaps because it was fun to see Bush humbled a bit.
Thanks for the kind words--I enjoyed your blog as well! If I don't start watching myself I will be writing a similar chronicle of my weight. Enjoy your trip!
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