Thoughts on Bush's last SOTU

by shamanic

Yeah, I watched, and yeah, I was bored as hell. I kept thinking, "Imagine Barack Obama delivering a State of the Union and the poetry he would unleash on an unsuspecting public!"

Bush began the speech sounding like his tongue was too thick, which gave the impression that he was slightly drunk. I think it was just nerves, because it went away after a little while and was replaced with that ridiculously aggressive demeanor that's been a source of annoyance for so many for so long. He clearly relished going after congress in his standard, "You will do what I tell you to do!" way, because he never was any good at picking actual targets for his apparently limitless barbs. Which only suggests that deep down he is a hedgehog or a porcupine or the iconic character from Hellraiser, which most us had already figured out.

Policy-wise? His dad swore, "No new taxes," and the son is now swearing, "No new ideas." Which is just as well, since none of his are very good.

Ordinarily, if I'm going to play a drinking game during a Bush speech (I wasn't last night), I use "freedom" and "liberty" as my drinking words, but for this speech the buzzwords were "trust" and "empower". I would have had a good buzz if I'd stuck with my usual formula, for sure, but the other two would have gotten me trashed. Like the country George Bush leaves behind when he returns to Texas next year.

His sprint to the finish? Call it a limp to the finish. And a lame, lame speech.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' response, while not the most animated performance I've ever seen on the TeeVee, did include a little tangent that amounted to a straightforward endorsement of Obama's brand of politics and a full rejection of the Clinton & GOP slash and burn approach. She was staid, thoughtful, and mildly intense, but what she was saying there toward the end almost made my face melt off with what it meant. She just exempted herself from consideration for a cabinet slot in a Clinton White House, but she said something important that should be said more often in prominent places, and I'm grateful to her for it.

As for George: I'm grateful he'll be going home to an out-of-the-way mansion in rural Texas from where he and I can play "out of sight, out of mind" for a few years while I recover from the appalling travesty of his presidency.