The speech doesn't seem to have sparked much discussion. The content had already been leaked, and reveals an agenda of trying to distract attention from Iraq with a sudden burst of domestic programs. Every dark cloud has a silver lining, I guess. The Democratic Congress will choose those it wants to back, which was foreshadowed by the patterns of applause and standing-Os. Bush evidenced a slight tinge of long-overdue humility, and perhaps he really will try to work with Congress, at least on things other than Iraq. Not for the good of the country, but for the sake of his "legacy".

I watched in high-def on the computer to get a better feel for the nuances. Bush speaking was a static tableau, and of more interest to me was watching the reaction of the chamber...when I wasn't watching Cheney and Pelosi chewing their cuds. There must be a candy dish on the podium, out of sight. Or maybe it was bubble gum--they didn't stop chewing for the full hour. It was a weirdly hypnotic counterpoint to the rhythm of Bush's words.

The high-def gave me a nasty shock in the middle of the speech. Bush had been going on about terrorism for about five minutes, cranking the terror higher and higher, doing his best to make his audience tense and fearful, when he reached an applause line. Suddenly they cut to a full-face shot of Condi Rice, in full ferocious scowl and insane snarl, looking in high def like she was about to leap out of the screen and devour me. Jeez, I jumped a foot in the air and knocked over the chair! Maybe somebody in the control room thought that would be funny, but keerist, how many heart attacks did NBC induce last night?

So that was my strongest impression of Bush's State of the Union speech. I'll be lucky if I don't have nightmares.