Posted on 02/02/2006 6:11:22 AM PST by areafiftyone
The president's State of the Union Address will be little noted and not long remembered. There was a sense that he was talking at, not to, the country. He asserted more than he persuaded, and he chose to redeclare his beliefs rather than argue for them in any depth. If you believe, as he does, that the No. 1 priority for the American government at this point in history is to lead an international movement for political democracy, and if you believe, as he truly seems to, that political democracy is in and of itself a certain bringer of world-wide peace, than this speech was for you. If not, not. It went through a reported 30 drafts, was touched by many hands, and seemed it. Not precisely a pudding without a theme, but a thin porridge.
It was the first State of the Union Mr. Bush has given in which Congress seemed utterly pre-9/11 in terms of battle lines drawn. Exactly half the chamber repeatedly leapt to its feet to applaud this banality or that. The other half remained resolutely glued to its widely cushioned seats. It seemed a metaphor for the Democratic Party: We don't know where to stand or what to stand for, and in fact we're not good at standing for anything anyway, but at least we know we can't stand Republicans.
There was only one unforgettable moment, and that was in a cutaway shot, of Hillary Clinton, who simply must do something about her face. When the president joked that two people his father loves are turning 60 this year, himself and Bill Clinton--why does he think constant references to that relationship work for him?--it was Mrs. Clinton's job to look mildly amused, or pleasant, or relatively friendly, or nonhostile.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Pinging for later read
Oh...I thought they were quoting Ted Kennedy at Chappaquiddick.
It is, and I do.
May I be excused now? I peeked below and saw a reference to Hillary's face.
Being as I just ate ... Well, you understand.
Why does Peggy Noonan have such a hatred for President Bush? She sounds like a Democrat whenever she writes about him.
LOL Good thing there are no photos in the WSJ.
It is, and I do.
May I be excused now? I peeked below and saw a reference to Hillary's face.
Being as I just ate ... Well, you understand.
Peggy Noonan is no longer required reading.
Ooops!
Peggy longs for the days when she was a young hottie and important, at least in her own mind.
My guess is, she did not get a gig at the White House at a time when she wanted one.
It was a high level visionary speech and extremely well-delivered. Quite a contrast to the Clinton tactical bean-counter speeches.
I would characterize this as a typical Peggy 'rant'.
Sorry Peggy, you're wrong on this one. While Bush's speech wasn't exactly oratory perfection, I thought it made the point well. And I didn't get the impression it was "pre 9/11" at all.
Good one from Peggy.
I especially like her Comments about Tom Shales of "The Washington Post." Mr. Shales, while a very clever writer and critic, is one of the biggest snobs in the nation. He looks down his nose at most of America, from both sides of the political aisle. But I'll bet he's got a George Bush doll on his desk that he sticks pins in on a regular basis.
As for Senator Clinton, Ms. Noonan points out what most Americans know already: The junior senator from New York is an unfeeling, calculating, intellectual cypher who thinks she knows everything, but truly stands for nothing.
Then there are the Democrats. They are the most superb complainers in the land, but have not had an original idea since the 1930s. Most of those, in retrospect, turned out to be dreadful, and still harness the nation to a panoply of entitlement programs that threaten to bankrupt us.
As for myself, well, I'm gonna have another cup of coffee.
Peggy "gets" the dems...
I've had a very hard time reading her crap [carping about anything the GOP does that's not the way she would do - kind of a feminine Pat Buchanan] for a very long time now!
I loved the speech, particularly the national security portion. It struck just the right tone and Peggy sounds like she's just a ticked off wanna-be speech writer upset that the president didn't consult with her.
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