As I hold my breath awaiting the speech, hoping it will be one that is more rather than less skillful, I decided to begin the comments with this story. There will be a dog in attendance.

{{{{enter joke here}}}}

But seriously, a German Shepherd will attend. That can only be a good thing, in my opinion, and I hope he gets lots of camera time.

How cute is this?

For them to be reunited would take an act of Congress. Rep. John E. Peterson, R-Pa., heard Dana's story and worked to change legislation in her favor. Last month Congress voted to waive the rules for Dana and Rex, and the president signed off on it.

"It just seemed like Rex ought to be hers, and today Rex is hers," Peterson told ABC News. "Every once in a while, Congress gets something right. They got this one right."

Earlier this month, Rex was formally discharged. After eight years in the Air Force, Dana hopes to start a new life as a veterinarian -- with her best friend.

"He's been by my side for so long, and he was by my side through good and bad," she said, "so I hope he'll always be there."

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Kelly

How Do You Live Your Dash?

Check out the Kids' blogs:
The CaleBlog and the Zoe Blog

And he was soooooooo cute, Kelly!  And so was the pooch. 

 Bravo, Bush!  Excellent job.

Now watching whathisname with the Allow Me To Retort.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Yawn, still with me or against me, shame on you, I'm always right, 9/11, yadda yadda, YAWN.

Okay, the hybrid stuff and the ethanol stuff was decent.

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

I didn't watch it last night - SOTU speeches bore me for the reason you just described. ALL SOTU speeches are like that. They aren't about details but surfacy ideas on the direction the POTUS wants to take the US. All of Clinton's were - if not moreso at times. I don't remember Bush 41 or REagan's speeches to be able to have an opinion, but I'm pretty sure they were all the same.

I personally think SOTU speeches should just be stopped, the White House should write a letter to the Congress detaling the route it wants to take this year, and then start going down that road.

TV has made these things shows, rather than substantial. So to expect anything there there is well, hoping for too much.

Danwhy - you knew what Bush was going to say, so why did you even spend the hour watching it. You knew whatever he said you would pretty much disagree with (except for the addicted to oil part), but that it would all be the same - either us or against us (still holds true IMO), and all that other yada yada yada. Seems like you could've spent an hour of your life doing something that you might've actually enjoyed.

BTW - I will be reading the transcript throughout the day. I find transcripts more interesting anyway, except that I don't get to watch the president's opposing party sit there on their hands with frowns on their faces which is always fun no matter what side of the aisle you are on.  

Jordan .

I watched becasue Bush is leader of the first or second most powerful country on the planet and his world views will inevitably have cause to effect the world I live in.

Secondly, the comedy was pretty good.  Watching Bush scold and waggle at the Democrats and attempt to further divide the two parties was priceless including the reaction shots from Kerry and Clinton.  Watching the Democrats give Bush a standing ovation when he announced that his social security reform didn't pass was also a great TV moment, better than most sitcoms.

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

Okay, read the transcript in about 10 minutes vs the hour I would've spent watching it on TV. Goes much faster, and probably reads better than Bush presented it (which is usually teh case with ALL speeches - good speakers or not).

Nicely written speech - with some decent vision.

The one that excites me the most is the line item veto that is being discussed!! I've always thought that the President should have a line item veto so that we can get rid of all that pork barrelling that keeps eating up our taxes.

Next is a change in energy policy which should've started over a decade ago. Now that energy prices are going high, this will light the fire under everyone to get something done about it. I saw a news story the other day about a new light bulb that was accidentally discovered. A college student (I think) was messing with some crystals that are used in LEDs. I didn't get to hear all of it, but he accidentally discovered that these crystals can glow white and produce the same amount of light that a normal bulb can do with 10X less energy than the traditional lightbulb, and will last 50X longer. That would translate to at least a 10% savings on energy each month on your pocketbook, and also reduce energy consumption. Throw in solar and wind power, and even some nuclear power, and you will see some obvious reduction in the use of oil and coal. Hard to say if we could actually reduce 75% of our oil consumption from the ME though by 2025, but I suppose it's possible if we make some major leaps in technology. In the end, improving the environment isn't going to light the fire under anyone, but helping out the wallet will everytime.

The "forming a committee" to study the issue of Baby Booming retirement will go absolutely nowhere. It was a nod to Democrats to make them feel they are going to be involved in the process of fixing the retirement instead of Bush's direction last year. Of course, it will come up with the same info that one or two other commissions figured out in the 90s which Bush had proposed last year, so this is a waste of time and money, and it's just politics pure and simple.

Didn't really read that many elements of "either with us or against us" as the feeling I got from your post, Dan. Saw a lot of Reagan visions which any one who leans left will go screaming around the house about. Reagan was continually criticized for his visions of other countries having democracies. One of the biggest criticisms was about his horrible rhetoric that could start a new world war against the USSR when he said "Bring down this wall!"

All in all, well written speech with your usual lack of meat and potatoes, but that's normal for a SOTU speech

Dan - yes, I heard about the Democrats applauding with regards to his Social Security. But please oh please don't suggest or act like Bush is causing more division between the parties. I guess you didn't watch the Alito hearings did you???? You want to talk about comedy - that was funny!!!! Everyone acts like this division is something new or different, and that Bush keeps making it worse. I'm sorry but the US has had a lot worse division through the years (I would say the division was a lot worse within the first 10 years of our country's birth), and this division has and always will be here.

Jordan .