The Lame Duck's Speech

Of all of Bush's state of the union speeches I've watched, tonite's is the one I have the least interest in. Sure I'll tune in to see if he kisses Joe Lieberman again and to find out just how macho he tries to look when he's threatening Iran (although I don't think the script will involve 'bring em on' this time), not to mention keeping an eye out for any mention of Osama bin Laden (remember that guy?) or the forgotten war in Afghanistan that Canada's soldiers are still dying in but, overall, (and certainly after having read the handy leaks) the prospect of watching the emperor with no clothes mangle another public appearance simply doesn't hold the same appeal it used to (back when it was fun to count his faux pas - now it's just annoying).

Facing a growing revolt from within his own party (which is WAY overdue), Commander Codpiece is still sure to get the usual applause moments when he pontificates about how great America is and how it's supposedly winning the GWOT. And, as usual, Ted Kennedy won't comply by standing up and clapping in order to be politically correct.

On top of that, Michael J Fox will be in the audience to remind everyone about this president's refusal to fund stem cell research. Veto this, Bush. Michael dares you.

Every single domestic policy that Bush will try to promote this evening already has its opponents. From his new health-care plan to more promises about fixing America's oil addiction (which he did nothing about since he promised to during the last state of the union), Bush's back is up against the wall. And that's exactly where it belongs. At least this time, the Democratic congress can actually do something about that opposition and it has begun to do so - unlike the do-nothing, rubber-stamp Republican congress who had his back on all of his convoluted ideas. Bush/Cheney led. They slept.

So for all of Bush's confident, delusional smirking there will stand before America and the world a man whose tenure as president has been an absolute failure. He doesn't know it, apparently, and neither will his cadre of kool-aid drinkers admit it. Watch out for the fawning praise. It will be nauseating.

I expect this will be one of the least-watched SOTU speeches in recent history with most of the public being more interested in who was nominated for the coveted Oscars today than what this president has to say about...well...anything.

Related: You can read some excerpts from the Quacker-in-Chief's speech here.
(Summary: "blah, blah, blah...yadda, yadda, yadda...")

For a comprehensive analysis of Bush's speech, see What Bush Will Say, What You Need To Know.