I watched the SOTU with the Philly Chapter of Drinking Liberally and it was hard to hear over the loud jeering. So, I thought I’d go over to the National Review to see what really happened…ya know…from a Republican point of view.
Brit Hume reported that the president was interrupted by applause 61 times last night. But I prefer to judge a State of the Union by the non-applause, which can only be appreciated on TV. Think of Rep. John Lewis’s refusal to stand up when the president talked about “our love of freedom.” Or Harry Reid’s tactless decision to remain seated during the acknowledgement of Roberts and Alito. Or Charles Rangel’s hand-sitting act when Bush declared that the U.S. will never surrender to evil. Who couldn’t enjoy watching the entire Democratic side of the room lock their keisters in place when the words “Patriot Act” or “tax cuts” were mentioned. Or the sphinx-like stare of some unnamed diplomat in Arab headdress when Bush talked about the “unstable” nations of the Middle East. Then there was the tempest-tossed visage and contorted smile of Kathleen Blanco, Louisiana’s dysfunctional governor, when Bush riffed on Katrina. Hillary Clinton retained her trademark humorlessness when her husband’s name was the punch line of the speech’s one genuine joke. And, of course, there were all those idiotic grimaces on Democratic faces when they applauded the failure to reform Social Security. For all these reasons, the SOU has to be considered a success. Even at his most conciliatory, Bush continues to annoy all the right people.
— Daniel Casse is a senior director of the White House Writers Group.
Daniel Casse is known for dubbing George W. Bush as a “strong-government conservative”. I’ve thought about that term, and I’m pretty sure it is a synonym for “authoritarian asshole”. Casse probably didn’t like the polling on that one, though. As for the rest of Casse’s critique, eh, I guess I just didn’t see it that way. Democrats are already about as pissed as we can get. But what would have really annoyed us would have been an effective SOTU speech that moved Bush’s poll numbers.
You have to go back to 1999 to see how this is properly done. See, first you impeach the President. You should have allowed us to do this already. Then the President gives a rousing speech to thunderous applause and the American people shake their heads in awe at the President’s moxie and political skills. At this point the opposing party gets truly annoyed.
Last night we got nothing but a few laughs.
