SOTU IMPRESSIONS
the short version
part one

For the backloaded uplifting emptry tripe that was in there, this was one divisive, combative speech. Bush sure sounds like he's campaigning for something . . . oh yeah, his second term, that's what.

I noticed specific jabs at Dean (the "treat terrorists like criminals" stuff), Edwards (the frivolous lawsuit stuff), and Clark (the "permission slip" line).

Last year, Iraq's weapons of mass destruction took up several paragraphs, and several minutes, of the speech. The lone mention of them here was one sentence, briefly mentioning the 2003 Kay Report, which found no actual weapons, but had proof of, in what must be the most carefully-worded phrase in the history of political speeches, "weapons of mass destruction related program activities."

Okay, I'll have more actual analysis later, but now I must depart on official academic business...