I thought the President did a great job with his State of the Union address last night. The presentation of the honored guests, of course, was extraordinarily moving. Even my Momma got verklempt. That is to say, of course she got verklempt ---despite her dislike of this President.
I wish there had been more purple-tipped fingers in the audience, but I was glad to see those that were. Some had said that such a display would be somehow inappropriate or shallow or whatever ---but I strongly disagree. If there is anything I can say I know about the Arab mind, it is their appreciation for the symbolic gesture. They are far more attuned to that sort of thing than most of us unsentimental, asymbological Occidentals. They are surely in favor of what they saw last night.
As for the domestic side of the address, Bush has not only touched the third rail of American politics, but he is actively shorting out the whole grid. And still standing. I do not pretend to understand the numbers on Social Security, but Bush seems to be wide open on a lot of reform options ---options that he very shrewdly noted to the country last night have been proposed by many leading Democrats. Reading the Leftist blogs will acquaint you with the utter desperation of the Dems' opposition to meaningful SS reform ---and I am unsure of why. Is it really just a partisan thing? They need to come to the table with some real willingness to make the system work well into the future. As it is, I suspect they simply don't want to have to anger the baby boomers.
Anyway, George W. Bush held the floor last night to great effect. He owned the hour and I am pleased with his resolve.