Wednesday, January 21, 2004
SOTU: I listened to it on my drive home on NPR. I found myself enjoying Robert Siegel's whispered don't-distract-the-golfer-as-he-lines-up-for-this-crucial-putt play-by-play: "only half the audience stood up to applaud that line." After the speech however, Daniel Schorr's instant reaction made me suspect that he had just been awakened from a nap.
I thought the speech itself was uneven at best.
--Some good lines on the war on terror but still desperately clinging to the Kay Report's "WMD-related program activity" (or some such circumlocution) in Iraq.
--Praising tax cuts and economic growth but not even acknowledging that the growth has yet to be felt in some sectors (manufacturing jobs etc.).
--The call for professional sports to crack down on steroid use was positively Clintonian, or to be more precise Dick Morrisian. Focus on silly little things that don't really mean much but project a sense of concern and potential accomplishment and make people feel good.
--Bush tap-danced around the gay marriage issue.
--My instant reaction to Bush's claim that his budget will reduce the deficit by 50% in five years (or something like that) was that Paul Krugman will probably have a heyday slicing through what is likely to be fuzzy math on the budget. As of this morning, Krugman hasn't weighed in, but he already--surprise, surprise--criticized the SOTU before it was even delivered (much like many of the Demoratic presidential campaigns). UPDATE: Krugaman may not have run the numbers yet, but others have. And, surprise, surprise, they don't add up.
I watched the Democratic response on tv (or should say I half-watched it while eating dinner and chatting with my wife). Pelosi had a deer-in-the-headlights delivery that for me seriously distracted from anything she might have been saying. Daschle spoke mostly in soothing generalities that said everything and nothing.
So, in the end, I'm left the way I have been for the last three years. I don't really like Bush but can't seem to find a credible alternative.
The blogosphere was, naturally, all over the SOTU. And, as usual, the coverage is more comprehensive and in many cases more interesting than that of the talking heads on tv. Examples:
Nick Gillespie provides condensed versions:
Hobbsonline can't get Tom Petty out of his head.
Instapundit reliably adds his thoughts and rounds up many reactions
Mickey Kaus noticed the line that got the most (or at least the longest) applause of the night. I had noticed it too, but had forgotten it by this morning:
Meteor Blades, apparently, didn't listen to the speech at all. Rather, he (she?) read through some depressing alternative descriptions of the state of the union.
OxBlog analyzes everything in the speech including the average time of applause. He adds some interesting thougts:
Scrappleface notes that the real action took place at the dinner before the SOTU address.
Stephen Green has at least 35 SOTU-related posts. Whew!
I thought the speech itself was uneven at best.
--Some good lines on the war on terror but still desperately clinging to the Kay Report's "WMD-related program activity" (or some such circumlocution) in Iraq.
--Praising tax cuts and economic growth but not even acknowledging that the growth has yet to be felt in some sectors (manufacturing jobs etc.).
--The call for professional sports to crack down on steroid use was positively Clintonian, or to be more precise Dick Morrisian. Focus on silly little things that don't really mean much but project a sense of concern and potential accomplishment and make people feel good.
--Bush tap-danced around the gay marriage issue.
--My instant reaction to Bush's claim that his budget will reduce the deficit by 50% in five years (or something like that) was that Paul Krugman will probably have a heyday slicing through what is likely to be fuzzy math on the budget. As of this morning, Krugman hasn't weighed in, but he already--surprise, surprise--criticized the SOTU before it was even delivered (much like many of the Demoratic presidential campaigns). UPDATE: Krugaman may not have run the numbers yet, but others have. And, surprise, surprise, they don't add up.
I watched the Democratic response on tv (or should say I half-watched it while eating dinner and chatting with my wife). Pelosi had a deer-in-the-headlights delivery that for me seriously distracted from anything she might have been saying. Daschle spoke mostly in soothing generalities that said everything and nothing.
So, in the end, I'm left the way I have been for the last three years. I don't really like Bush but can't seem to find a credible alternative.
The blogosphere was, naturally, all over the SOTU. And, as usual, the coverage is more comprehensive and in many cases more interesting than that of the talking heads on tv. Examples:
Nick Gillespie provides condensed versions:
The super-condensed version:
Things are good, though terrorism is a threat to America and so are kids who take steroids and gays who want to marry each other. The housing market's never been better. I have a 10 year-old pen pal named Ashley who's swell.
Here's the Democrat's response by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Tom Daschle.
The super-condensed version:
Pelosi: The nation is strong, though not as strong as if a Democrat were in the White House. I remember John Kennedy's first inaugural address and I'm no John Kennedy.
Daschle: We need to become what Republican Newt Gingrich used to call an "opportunity society"--the sort of place of where even Democrats can be elected president. The job market sucks and even illegal drugs are too expensive.
Hobbsonline can't get Tom Petty out of his head.
Instapundit reliably adds his thoughts and rounds up many reactions
Mickey Kaus noticed the line that got the most (or at least the longest) applause of the night. I had noticed it too, but had forgotten it by this morning:
Did you notice the huge ovation Bush got for ... community colleges? I think it was his biggest applause line of the night, practically. Why? Because there must be at least one of these institutions in every congressional district, run and supported by respected local leaders, and they have tremendous lobbying power.
Meteor Blades, apparently, didn't listen to the speech at all. Rather, he (she?) read through some depressing alternative descriptions of the state of the union.
OxBlog analyzes everything in the speech including the average time of applause. He adds some interesting thougts:
Thoughts: This is not a cautious speech - Bush makes one reference to bipartisanship, and instead defends his foreign policy record assertively, argues directly to the people of the country that he should be allowed to finish what he has begun, and appeals unapologetically to his most core constituencies on domestic policy. This is a speech which is meant to launch a re-election bid, not one intended to put forward a new program or to call for cooperation across the aisle.
* I'm struck by how much of a State of the Union address is formulaic: it simply wouldn't be a State of the Union if the president didn't say "the state of the Union is strong," read a letter that a young child wrote to him, and ask that God continue to bless America - these tropes are as much part of the annual ritual as the Sergeant of Arms of the House calling out "Mister Speaker, the President of the United States."
Scrappleface notes that the real action took place at the dinner before the SOTU address.
Stephen Green has at least 35 SOTU-related posts. Whew!
