Is there anyone in Washington, on either side of the aisle, that has noticed that Americans crave affordable healthcare, that dependance on foriegn oil is a national security emergency, and that those of us who read are tired of being lied to? Are there any so called conservatives that understand that renaming a warrantless, unaccountable domestic spying program a double-plus good terrorist spying program doesn't make it legal? Are there any democrats that get the idea that "We aren't as dishonest and stupid as the other guys" isn't really a strategy. I watched mindless cop shows all night because I didn't feel like yelling at the TV like I do for most SOTU addresses, no matter what party or who the lying politician onstage happens to be. Retired from the Air Force today after 28.5 years. Enough is enough for me and I mean that about the entire professional politician class, our American aristocracy, as well. dermronin

The problem with criticizing G. W. Bush about "speaking with candor" is that people, after all, really could give him a break - - when they realize that HE thinks that a "candor" is a large bird that strongly resembles a vulture.

I have been tempted by the idea that I should write the White House and inform our beloved truthspeaker that the bird he has in mind IS an American vulture and that he wouldn 't get anywhere trying to have a conversation with a bird. But I have abandoned the notion as a lost cause; I suppose he does not actually understand half the stuff that Karl Rove instructs him to say in public.

SOTU was blatantly hypocritical, as is well documented here, and I suspect most will see right through it. (Though it's early yet, with 13,000 responses so far, cnn.com's non-scientific survey of readers gives him Ds across the board.) Democrats have a tremendous opportunity to lay out clear, different proposals, that show the country they have something concrete to offer--whether a national low-cost health insurance plan, a milestone table for bringing troops home from Iraq, whatever. I'm not optimistic they will. Too few have had the spine to even stand up to the withering president (witness the roll-over on Alito), much less lay out anything of their own. It's too bad, because even a proposal doomed to failure could, with enough public support, force Republicans to take SOME kind of useful action.

The Republicans took the House in 1994 based in part on their Contract with America. Talk all you want of its ills, and that much of it never actually happened; it won them the election because it carried with it a clear, straightforward national plan that people saw as tangible and specific. Such a proposal from Dems could do the same thing--the mood of the country seems prime for it--if they're able to put it together.

J.D. Crowe's cartoon in this morning's Mobile Register sums it up perfectly. Arms folded defiantly across his chest, a smirking Bush says, "None of your beeswax."

How come there's no mention of Cindy Sheehan's arrest in the Capitol before the SOTU and the false statements about what happened and why?

True to form, the president continues to say one thing and do the opposite. "Candor" is roughly translated into "doublespeak" in BushCo lingo. The president will undoubtedly get a bit of a bounce in the polls by talking nice to the congress and the nation. But the reality is, we can expect more of exactly the same from this administration. I found myself tearing up from excruciating boredom last night, and when I sought a diversion, I started reading right-wing blogs. Guess what? There were hardly any wingnut bloggers posting on the SOTU. Why do you think that is? Bloated satisfaction? Utter contentedness? Arrogant feelings of superiority? Or have they no need to listen, because they're keen on the open secret--Bush doesn't mean anything he says. Perhaps it's an amalgamation of these explanations. Or maybe they were just too punch-drunk over Justice Alito's win. What ever the explanation, I found it rather telling that progressive blogs were actually focusing on, reasoning through, and thinking about Bush's doublespeak, while the wingnuts snoozed.

Candor, apparently, is limited to his terms, his way.

The AP reported this morning that Cindy Sheehan was arrested in the capitol gallery and removed just before the speech event began. Their reason, as quoted in the article, was her "unlawful conduct." The only conduct cited was the fact that her T-shirt bore a protest slogan.

I understand the administration not wanting this on camera (I think she was seated five or seven rows back, so her shirt would have been obscured anyway). But were her actions "unlawful"?? Has protesting the government in a place they can actually see it become a crime? I know there are a lot of points to make about the speech, but this assault on personal liberty has me fired up more than the annual slew of policy promises.

The true stat of the union was exposed by the capital police with the arrest of Cindy Sheehan for unlawful wardrobe. How ironic that on the day the nation loses voice of Coretta Scott King, we witness the stifling of free speach at our nations capital. She was arrested for unlawful protest while sitting peacefully in her seat. Where is the outrage? Why is this getting so little attention from the mainstream press and even from outlets like Salon? The true state of the Union is that while our troops are dying to bring democracy to Iraq, we are dismatling it at home.

As I watched this State of the Union address I kept nodding off, even though I wasn't tried. But maybe it use because I was tried of hearing the same old hypocrisy. The most salient point came after the address, when the statistics of viewer’s reactions was shown by ABC. Although the majority agreed with what President Bush said and planned to do, 68% didn't think he would get any of it accomplished. Can't be because of the Democrats. They can't even muster a filibuster.