State of the Union: Long on Long, Short on Lofty (WP)

[diamond14]

State of the Union: Long on Long, Short on Lofty

By Tom Shales
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; Page C01


We like a confident president, but we don't like a cocky president, and George W. Bush had too many moments of cockiness last night as he delivered his third State of the Union address to both houses of Congress and the viewing nation. Often the words of the speech were written to sound lofty, but Bush had such a big Christmas-morning grin on his face that they came out sounding like taunts -- taunts to the rest of the world or taunts to Democrats in the hall.

The speech was pretty much so-so, and Bush's gung-ho delivery -- something approaching the forced jollity of a game show host -- lacked dignity and certainly lacked graciousness. Bush has never been big on those things anyway.


Over on the Fox News Channel, Fred Barnes, sounding as if he had walking pneumonia, allowed as how he'd heard George W. Bush deliver many an important and eloquent speech over the years, "and this was not one of them." It takes courage to say something like that on the Fox News Channel, normally a Bush cheering section. Someone noted that Bush is considered a master of the half-hour speech and State of the Union 2004 had dragged on for twice that length.

Bush's speech was on the perfunctory side with the by-now- predictable list of oratorical ingredients. There has to be a guest star in the audience, a tradition begun grandly by the great communicator Ronald Reagan. And so Bush had, among others in the audience, representatives of U.S. troops plus Adnan Pachachi, president of the Iraqi Governing Council, who got that prime gallery seat right next to Laura Bush, who was looking slightly hypnotized as usual.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33872-2004Jan21.html?nav=hptop_ts

[cybildisobedience]

1. Wow....

Shales has been a little bit inconsistent with Bush. Sometimes he takes a dig, sometimes praises him (always throws in the requisite jibe at Clinton), but this is scathing.
Loved the line about Laura --
Could it be even the media whores are beginning to fear they've created a monster?

[kskiska]

2. dupe

.