Tuesday, 01.29.08
State of the Union assessed
By: MANDEL NGAN / Getty Images
Guest Workers for All! Entitlements for None!
28 January 2008
Matt Yglesias on Bush's SOTU self-immolation.
Pickled Bush
28 January 2008
Megan McArdle on Bush's annual pony giveaway.
The Atlantic's State of the Union
January 2008
What, after Iraq, are the problems most urgently confronting us?
A SOTU Post-Mortem
30 January 2008
Something very important happened last night. When President Bush delivered his State of the Union address, he never once mentioned the words "religious" or "religion" or "Muslim" or "Islamic" or "Islamist."
Andrew Cochran noted this lacuna unfavorably on Counterterrorism Blog, and indeed he suggested that the White House was sacrificing strategic clarity to no discernible end. As recently as last year's State of the Union, the president offered a highly dramatic account of the "totalitarian threat" posed by Sunni extremists, who, inspired by visions of paradise, are heading straight for Peoria, hellbent on imposing sharia law. So what's changed? It could be that the White House recognizes that the American public is increasingly inured to this apocalyptic style -- there's no percentage in it, certainly not at this late date. Or perhaps President Bush recognizes, belatedly, that America's enemies are best described as a band of criminal opportunists and would-be tinpot dictators, not latter-day Saladins and saints.
Robo-BushA computer analysis of Bush's last SOTU finds that "Legacy Bush" has replaced "Visionary Bush" and "Security Bush." No word on the whereabouts of "Azalea Bush." |
Twilight of the BushismsRobert Dallek and Jacob Weisberg pore over the address with WNYC's Brian Lehrer. |
Et tu, SOTU?"Message: I have thrown in the towel." Scott Johnson blasts President Bush from the right for failing to confront Iran. |
Keeping the FaithAt least one observer is pleased: Daniel Griswold of the libertarian Cato Institute applauds the president for defending free trade and immigration reform. |
