State of the Union

Well, it's over. I you read my preview on Monday, you can probably guess how I felt about it. Suffice to say, if you were expecting the President to deliver anything different from previous speeches, you went to bed disappointed. A lot was said in the speech, of course, but I don't believe the majority of it will even be remembered in six months (except, of course, for the scary parts). Prove me wrong, reality, prove me wrong.

If you need more details, the gang at Wonkette had a thoroughly snarky live-blog discussion of it. A less snarky, more substantive dissection was provided by Tim F. at Balloon Juice. You can pick one, depending on your tastes.

Finally, the Democratic response-- delivered by Sen. Jim Webb-- was even better than expected. Half on the economy, half on our Mideast policies, Webb clearly outlined where those in opposition to the President stand and how they'd like to proceed. He ended the speech with this: "Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way." This is your new Democratic majority. And they mean business.

Here it is-



And with that, I am off to bed at last. Feel free to throw in your own two or three cents.