STOU? STFU!

Well there is good news. No, I didn't save a ton of money on my car insurance (I don't even own a car), but as far as Bush State of the Unions go this might have been his best.

It wasn't his best because it was a well organized, and delivered speech, even though it was, but it was his best speech because he didn't ask for sweeping changes, nor did he declare war on any other country. It was his best because he said nothing new. Last year he told us he wanted to privatized Social Security, and who could forget the 2002 Axis of Evil speech that led directly into our current war. This year, thankfully, Bush did without the grand doctrines and sweeping reforms marking a decisive change in attitude from Emperor to statesman. Perhaps it was an epiphany that caused the change? Or it could it be that his poll numbers have slid to their lowest point ever? Yeah, I think was the latter.

Still, it was refreshing to listen to a SOTU without gagging every three seconds, and at moments the President was even eloquent and gracious. Beginning with his praise of Coretta Scott King, into his calls for bipartisan cooperation, and even his little joke about his father and Bill Clinton (which got more laughs when they showed Hilary's face--her look could have melted steel) he showed that when his back is to the wall, he still won't apologize, but at least he'll be graceful.

Yet, while the tone of the speech had changed from previous STOUs, the rhetoric was nearly the same. The words de jour was freedom and hope, and he was pulling those out like they had an upcoming expiration date. And if he didn't make an additions to policy he certainly pulled out the old favorites, the veritable best-of-the-neocons menu. We got the tax breaks, maintaining the Patriot Act, privatizing Social Security again! (By the way, one of the few Democrat moments I can say I was proud of last night; when Bush starts whining that "someone" stood in the way of his Social Security reforms the Democrats stood up and applauded. Now that's moxie baby! Wonder how many consultants it took to put that spontaneous event together). But it was his little bit on oil dependency that had created the most buzz last night, with his declaration:

"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world..."

Fill in your own joke here. My favorite is one my friend posted on myspace.com hours before the President gave the STOU, "Bush telling me that America is addicted to oil, is like Judy Garland telling me I have a drinking problem."

But even with all the buzz circulating around that, there still was no proposal that Bush hasn't made in his STOUs since he's been in office. As several prominent Democrats mentioned, Bush doesn't back those reforms, nor does he really care about them. Sadly, it might one of the most important measures on America's agenda, because as we continue down the perilous road of being the policeman in the Middle East, we may find that busting our dealers can really cut our supply.