Pre-Game Show
Beneath the layers of self-advertisement and applause, tonight's State of the Union address puts us in a strange position as listeners: to imagine what's being left unsaid. More to the point, what should Bush say?
Apparently having mistaken the president's address for a college football game, Arianna Huffington is planning a drinking game for each time we hear 'rejectionist,' while the GOP 'party kit' includes big-gulp 'W' cups for ardent fans. (For some of last year's juvenile SOTU games see here.) The irony is that while each side gears up for an evening of taunting and cheering, neither side really has a critique of the other. Take the view from space: on the terrestrial surface both devout liberals and their W-loving enemies will drink each time the President says 'Freedom'. But from space one can't tell that the Dems are being ironic. The jeering and cheerleading just seems like sport. The louder they yell the less they have to make their real arguments known.
The stakes for the President, however, are high. Alito's confirmation proves that the president isn't completely powerless to achieve a few symbolic victories. But the one thing he promised, or at least took over from his father - that 'vision thing' - is what stands in question. Preemption, for example, is part of Bush's vision of American power in foreign affairs and thus a view of how the general political will can be shaped into a real force. It's a general principle orienting American power, and something Bush wants to stake his legacy on. Yet already in last year's SOTU Bush soft-pedalled pre-emption, and made hay out of ridding the world of tyrants. Something he hasn't really done much of. At this point, whether or not you accept the premises of Bush 43, you have to start asking yourself whether his administration is even true to itself. This year he has an opportunity to try and clear things up, yet one senses already that he does not know where to go.
Last year he 'dazzled' us with the smoke and mirrors of steroid abuse and nominal education reforms, but it was all too evident that the president could not put together a coherent speech. This year has given him no favors. The war on terror is limping. Iraq is a disaster and Afghanistan's new government is breaking bread with the Taliban it was supposed to eliminate. The Katrina debacle and failed Miers nomination lurks in the background. On top of which, his domestic agenda, such as it ever was, is stalled (Social Security reform) or a huge and unpopular mess (Health Care reform).
The country is not on the brink of collapse, but it lacks a serious political debate about its future. While critics and supporters top-up their big-gulps, all we expect to hear, from Bush and the echo chamber he's speaking in, is white noise filling the space where serious arguments should be. We suspect that the problem will be not what Bush says, but that he won't say very much at all.
Apparently having mistaken the president's address for a college football game, Arianna Huffington is planning a drinking game for each time we hear 'rejectionist,' while the GOP 'party kit' includes big-gulp 'W' cups for ardent fans. (For some of last year's juvenile SOTU games see here.) The irony is that while each side gears up for an evening of taunting and cheering, neither side really has a critique of the other. Take the view from space: on the terrestrial surface both devout liberals and their W-loving enemies will drink each time the President says 'Freedom'. But from space one can't tell that the Dems are being ironic. The jeering and cheerleading just seems like sport. The louder they yell the less they have to make their real arguments known.
The stakes for the President, however, are high. Alito's confirmation proves that the president isn't completely powerless to achieve a few symbolic victories. But the one thing he promised, or at least took over from his father - that 'vision thing' - is what stands in question. Preemption, for example, is part of Bush's vision of American power in foreign affairs and thus a view of how the general political will can be shaped into a real force. It's a general principle orienting American power, and something Bush wants to stake his legacy on. Yet already in last year's SOTU Bush soft-pedalled pre-emption, and made hay out of ridding the world of tyrants. Something he hasn't really done much of. At this point, whether or not you accept the premises of Bush 43, you have to start asking yourself whether his administration is even true to itself. This year he has an opportunity to try and clear things up, yet one senses already that he does not know where to go.
Last year he 'dazzled' us with the smoke and mirrors of steroid abuse and nominal education reforms, but it was all too evident that the president could not put together a coherent speech. This year has given him no favors. The war on terror is limping. Iraq is a disaster and Afghanistan's new government is breaking bread with the Taliban it was supposed to eliminate. The Katrina debacle and failed Miers nomination lurks in the background. On top of which, his domestic agenda, such as it ever was, is stalled (Social Security reform) or a huge and unpopular mess (Health Care reform).
The country is not on the brink of collapse, but it lacks a serious political debate about its future. While critics and supporters top-up their big-gulps, all we expect to hear, from Bush and the echo chamber he's speaking in, is white noise filling the space where serious arguments should be. We suspect that the problem will be not what Bush says, but that he won't say very much at all.
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