Reponses to the Speech, Comments on the Man

By: Danny Schechter

Missing words in last night's State of the Union sermon: Osama, risks, costs of war, consequences of war, collateral damage, alternatives to war, duration of war, Putin, France, Germany, democracy. Newsweek's Howard Fineman called it: "liberation theology, but from the right this time." Maureen Dowd was on fire in her op-ed gallery at the NY Times; "There was no smoking gun last night. There was merely a smoky allusion... The axis of evil has shrunk to Saddam, evil incarnate. Iran and North Korea were put aside with the dismissive comment: 'Different threats require different strategies.'"

It was a masterful performance but was it persuasive? From the constant invocation of the name of the most high in the sky, HE who blesses the United States of America, GOD or G-D as is your preference, we have put ourselves in holier hands. But what about the people?

Hooray for Hardball

Most of the post-speech commentary was as bland as the official Democratic response - measured, respectful, somewhat fawning. I never thought I would be saying this but Chris Mathews on MSNBC was in fine form, tearing apart some of its sanctimonious, dismissing the policy proposals, making fun of the references to Hydrogen cars, a clear sop to environmentalists, questioning the use of 50 million AIDS victims as appropriate, and then questioning the sally against Saddam. It was a rare moment of real Hard Ball, Hard Talk, or Hard anything.

Ted Kennedy who seemed to be sleeping through the speech, was then at his fighting best and rallying the faithful to fight back. His tone was far sharper that Governor Locke who had just delivered the official we democrats can do it better speech. His points were well made, but his delivery and tone - too boring.

A fascinating measure of what people were thinking was provided by Frank Luntz, the conservative pollster who put together a focus group equipped with those devices that the people who make TV pilots use to measure moment by moment reaction. He charted the reaction which showed that Republicans in red hung on approved of every word while Democratic approval started dipping the moment Bush started speaking with those strange cadences, smirks, stares, and points with overdone emphasis. At points, he looked lobotomized.

Practicing for the Performance

Thanks to the Chicago Tribune, I learned that Bush actually rehearsed parts of his speech before he gave it to an invited audience. When all politics is media politics, it is essential to get it right for the cameras. Check this out:

"Hours before President Bush delivers his State of the Union address to the nation Tuesday night, the White House will deliver a sneak preview to a select audience of Republican lobbyists and executives. In an e-mail invitation sent Monday, the administration asked top strategists and opinion leaders to attend a closed-door 'State of the Union Briefing' inside the White House complex. It's a mission in political choreography... The invitation, obtained by the Tribune, was sent to nearly 70 top GOP strategists, pollsters, and conservative groups such as American Cause, founded by Pat Buchanan. Personnel from AT&T and Eli Lilly & Co., companies that could be affected by the administration's weightiest proposals, also were invited."

Performance Art

It was a skitzy performance. The first half was about his concerns for the American people, his compassion for those menaced by drugs and others in need for recovery, as well as much focus on tax cuts that Democrats says haven't worked and can't. He was self-assured, a well practiced speaker who you couldn't misunderestimate this time. No flubs. Only one use of the I-word. Bush the Bad looked like a human being. Here was Bush the beneficent finally acting on AIDS (after being pressured into doing so).

But then the turn came and soon Bush the belligerent was staring down Saddam and the rest of us, threatening to disarm Iraq. There was no mention of regime change which is our policy. Soon he was promising to bring freedom to Iraq if they want it or not. Iraqis interviewed on CNN this morning didn't seem to want it and I didn't see any menacing government officials threatening to kill them if they said the wrong thing. One a farmer, said we have to bring freedom to our country, not you.