Who Dares Question King George?

Once again, apologies for the slow rate of writing while I handle an unexpected spate of genuine work here at work. Hopefully things will calm before too long.

The Rude Pundit has as good a post as any regarding the SOTU address, which I gagged down along with more mood altering substances last night. My one "drinking game" was a promise to down at least five shots in a row if I heard the term "Coalition of the Willing"--it surprised me when the dauphin mentioned the term "coalition," but the rest of the magic phrase never reached his lips, as far as I could tell.

Truthfully, though, while I left the audio on, I decided to listen to the address in the same way Karl Rove claims most people watch the news--as if the sound were off. In addition, Suetonius's account of the reign of Galba also made for a mild distraction--hence, I didn't hear it when Democrats apparently voiced "NO" to Bush's call for burning down Social Security...

I WAS listening when Bush went through the motions about how lawsuits apparently ruin everything--funny, I thought the right to a hearing in open court for the purposes of addressing/redressing grievances was the hallmark of government by law--but I likewise missed out when Bush suggested that asbestos victims need to suck it up or words to that effect. Hmmm. Actually, Dubya, they did.

By the way, a friend of mine has a decent suggestion for Democratic responses to Bush and/or his policy proposals--hope he doesn't mind me quoting him more or less in full:

On the SOTU address: sitting through that State of the Union address was just torture..."

On the proposal to obliterate Social Security: "I think the president has really tortured the facts on this topic...".

Or "it's shocking how this administration is trying to hood-wink the country into Social Security reform. I mean they really are pulling our chain."

On Bush's tax restructuring: I believe this administration wants to adjust our tax code to more resemble a human pyramid with those at the bottom bearing all the burden of those at the top..."

Oh, and is it just me, or do others wish that Piyush "Bobby" Jindal's Purple Fingered Salute Squad had used a hammer to color their digits, instead of dye? That has to rank as one of the cheaper political stunts ever, and in fact is a slap in the face to people like Ali Abbas and others who've been killed or wounded in the war (I'd bet that Jindal and the others couldn't name a single individual victim). So, Bobby, what's next? A call to piss on the graves of the dead? That wouldn't surprise me.

Later, I did a double dose of penance, catching a little bit of Nightline. Mary Matlin did her best impersonation of the Wicked Witch of the West (apologies to Margaret Hamilton), and I recall a few other wonks sitting around comparing West Wing clips to "real life." Any sins I manage to indulge in next week while visiting New Orleans are officially absolved.

I did find one line funny--when Bush, brow furrowed in pool hall concentration (ok, that's a Tom Waits line, but it's appropriate) gravely noted that, in the year 2027, Social Security will require an infusion of "$200 billion dollars." Hmmm. I can think of ONE way to save that kind of money...but it would have meant that Georgie needed a different excuse to prance about the deck of an aircraft carrier...

And, I likewise watched the tribute to Byron Norwood, who's parents were invited to sit behind the First Lady. I'll quote The Rude Pundit directly on that:

Let's get another thing straight: the moment when Safia Taleb al-Suhail embraced Janet Norwood, whose son was killed in action in Iraq, resides in a stomach-churning netherworld between revolting and disturbing. It was revolting for its exploitation of the pain of this mother as a political prop for Bush's speech. Byron Norwood, a Marine Sergeant from good ol' Texas, was killed in the destruction of Fallujah. It was disturbing because the media's perception of the hug was such a product of desired delusion: please, please, please don't let this mother's son have died in vain, please don't let that man on the podium have sold us a bill of goods.

Indeed.

On the Koppel show, all agreed that was a "he hit it out of the park" moment. Even if I didn't agree with The Rude One, I'd like to think I'd choose a different metaphor--one more appropriate to a memorial.

But the real fact is that none of these folks actually consider "the rest of America." Watching them drone on about Social Security and how much their kids will need it (as did Bush), I couldn't decided if I wanted to laugh out loud or throw a brick at the screen. Can you imagine their trust fund spawn waiting by the mailbox at the beginning of the month (and then trying to decide if they'll use the stipend for food or medicine? Or, in Jenna Bush's case, Beer or Ecstasy...?). I decided it was better to laugh, since there's nothing wrong with a three year old TV (demo model), and there's no need to replace it.

So, I watched a little more post-SOTU spin, and it came to me: Those in the halls behave like celebrities, and I assume they consider themselves celebrities. The final defining moment was watching the C-Span feed after the main event. At one point, their apparent lone camera lingered on a medium range shot of John McCain, waiting for his close-up with a different media outlet. He just stood there, bathed in bright lights, like an old Greek statue of himself. Ossified.