State of the Union address

Did anyone watch the State of the Union address last night? Anyone? Hello? Is this microphone even on? You in the back…? Crickets? Anyone?

Well, you didn't miss a whole lot. Bush took a defensive stance this time around, repeating all his usual talking points. But mainly he asked for people to give his new Iraq plan a chance, which, if public opinion is any indication, he will not get. A showdown has been brewing over this all last year, probably coming to a head this fall.

The only other thing he said that was of any interest was his energy proposal - using a variety of means to cut gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next decade. Seems decent enough, right? Gasoline consumption…a topic that was probably added in the address to keep political opponents on their toes. The environment, natural resources and dependency blah blah blah, always a topic to fall back on. Everybody cares about the environment, right? Even better, everyone cares about rising gas prices, right? Who would want to talk about all this war stuff? Let’s chat about our dependency on gasoline consumption and rising gas prices and fuel efficiency and…and…Anyway, Congress could probably use this as a basis for legislation, pass a few related measures, then just continue to amass evidence of climate change and global warming, let other enviro groups take the lead, and wait for a more eco-friendly president to try and pass sweeping reforms. Brilliant!

So all in all, it was an exciting night. *sigh*