Every Bush SOTU speech has one weird moment, and sure enough, he gave it to us last night. It was fine to point out the basketball player who built a hospital in his native Congo; very noble. And who does not admire the man who jumped on the subway tracks to save another person?

However, Bush also had to make a fuss about the "Baby Einstein" woman, who has made a lot of money. I don't know what her background is, and if her home business started out in a modest bungalow or the basement level of a fancy mansion, but what was the point in having her in the speech at all? That Americans can strike it rich? We know that, Mr. President. Heck, some people are born rich, fortunately for them, because otherwise they would be lucky to be second string french fry cooks instead of, oh I dunno, owners of baseball teams or maybe even Governors or Presidents. Regardless, Ms. Baby Einstein served no useful purpose in a time when there are more poor Americans than ever, and the middle class is struggling to avoid drowning in personal debt.

One wonders what chimera Bush will trot out for his last (!) SOTU next year.

Did anyone else notice that the ONLY time during the speech that Cheney's face changed "expression" (and I use the word loosely) was when Bush prattled on about reducing our dependence on oil? Cheney's mirth was hardly contained, it seemed to me. Go ahead, watch it again. The guy's busting a gut and barely able to keep a straight face.

Sickening.

Also: was that a nitroglycerin pill he popped there? I saw him surreptitiously pop something into his mouth during an applause line. We were hoping against hope that Nancy'd have to "attempt" to re-start his heart by whacking his sternum with that gavel of hers.

Just joking, of course.

I had the exact same reaction to the Baby Einstein woman... what the heck was she doing there? So she sold her company to Disney, made a ton of money, and does some charitable work for missing children... and? It just seemed odd to lump her in with the immigrant/NBA star/hospital-builder, the man who saved someone's life in the subway, and the soldier hero from Iraq. Weird.

All of Bush's SOTU 'speeches' are just noise. He was just prattling on in his unmedicated way, pretending to be Santa Claus or something. Every few minutes he'd reach into his bag and pull out:

"Free healtcare by 2027"

"Balance the budget sometime in the murky future"

"Leave no child behinder-er"

"Iraq is a war, or something!"

"Magic elves will produce oil substitutes!!"

Everyone knows that Bush will neither try to, nor will he accomplish thing one of the remainder of his presidency. Not a single goddamn thing. At all. He is beyond irrelevant. He'll sit up on his hind legs and make people sounding barks for a few more months, but seriously who cares? Remember what a useless retard he was BEFORE 9-11? We'd make jokes about throwing a rubberband ball into the oval office to occupy His Royal Retardistry? Yeah that's the real George Bush. So with 2 years left we'll just leave him to stick pencils up his nose. Pat him on the bikehelment, give him a cookie and work around him.

I said this over at tpmcafe and I'll say it again here. Hearing about those four people - a successful basketball player from a 3rd world country, a man who risked his life to save the life of another man, a successful businesswoman, and young man who volunteered to serve in the army - and their accomplishments was a stark reminder of just how little our current president has done with his own life and how undeserving he is of the position he holds today.

Bush traded in his family name several times to start up a business, but was a complete failure each time. Bush had a chance to serve in Vietnam, like John KErry, but had his daddy pull some strings and ended up protecting our skies from the Mexican air force. He glided into the presidency with nothing more than his fammily name and a single term as the weak governor of Texas. Since then, he's been the worst president our country has ever seen, and he's not even done screwing up the country yet. His life is one long pattern of failing up, up and up until he reached the plateau: the presidency.

Those four people have done more with their lives than Bush could ever do, so to see them up there and Bush down there on the rostrum reminded me just how undeserving and unqualified this man is for the presidency.

That really depressed me, as Dikembe Mutombo is an amazing man with a huge heart (no pun intended.) Dikembe is not wealthy. He's given almost every dime he ever got playing basketball back to his impoverished homeland. He's adopted 4 children. He is the polar opposite of W.

Damn it, Dikembe.

"There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey."

Not to take anything away from Mr. Autrey, what he did was honoable, but.... What? Other countries don't produce brave and humble men? Since when?

The the Baby Einstein thing is a joke. Making money off videos for babies when our AAP suggests no TV for children under 2. WTF?

How about Michael "Smearer?" It is people like you who constantly demean and trash our president

who are responsible for the diminishing of America. This president has taken a stand for what he believes to be right for the nation, and he will not be moved by those of you who are determined to destroy him. How cruel ! How rude !! How utterly disgusting you are, Michael Scherer. Someday you might be in a position where others are tearing you apart and making fun of your efforts, and then maybe your conscience will be seared. (Do you have one?) I pity you, and others like you, whose main object in life is to tear down, rather than build up. Maybe you were happier when Bill Clinton was under the oval desk with Monica Lewinsky while carrying on

business with senators, or when he lied, under oath, and walked away with a

twinkle in his eye.