this political cherry goes pop

(Being this blog's first commentary on United States politics)

Quick thoughts on the (at the moment rather recent) 2007 State of the Union:

Overall positives:

While in terms of intention, it was obviously barely more than a caclulated ploy, the use of four Americans (basketball player Dikembe Mutombo, "Baby Einstein" developer Julie Aigner-Clark, "Subway Superman" Wesley Autrey and soldier Tommy Rieman) as examples of the "spirirt and character of America" certainly provided additional deserved recognition, for the most part. I add this qualification because I'm a little iffy about the whole Baby Einstein concept, as it has lead many good-intentioned parents to think that television is appropriate for two-year-olds, despite the reccomendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

As for the other three, nothing but kudos galore, assuming none of them turn out someday to be entangled in some sort of Jessia Lynch* thing. But perhaps it's cynical of me to even allow the possibilty...

Anyway, I can't help but remark that Autrey is something of a character in addtion to being an unbelievably courageous person; he has stated something along the lones of saving a man's life being, you know, a great way to start the new year, and when Bush said "he insists he's not a hero", Autrey's reaction was smile-inducing, like that of a comedian laughing helplessly at his own roast.

Negatives: Well, as a registered Democrat, I'm perfectly aware of all the foibles and evils of this administration, and will try to skip over those (like, hey, wouldn't it be great if Bush and Cheney apologized and resigned on the spot? Then burst into hot ash?) in favor of some nitpicky points:

• Apparently we need a brand new civilian reserve corps, rather than an expansion of the one we already have. (The source of both would of course be the same corpse reanimation laboratories we used in Vietnam, hence the origin of the term "corps".) Someone explain this to me. Preferably in a way that doesn't result my anus shifting to "drafted" status.

• When giving background to Mutombo and his story, Bush failed to mention the athlete's hometown of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, instead saying he was born in the mysterious far-off land of "Africa". Oh, white people; when will we learn (myself included)?. Also, something about the way he said the word bothered me, but I can't put my finger on it, so I'll leave it that that.

• Once again, both my home state of PA and current residence of NC were snubbed for the prestigous title to which the Address's name obviously refers. The system is probably rigged.

• The Dub managed to keep The Smirk under control; however, when the applause got really serious (as after references to our troopes), he continued with that godawful post-applause "for me?" smile. No, sorry, that's only the sound of our near-unanimous support of the armed forces, in utter contrast to your every effort to harm and demoralize them. Good god, what's the point of writing at this point? Something, that's for sure. I'll know after a night's rest.

* Note that I still consider Lynch herself in high regard — the bruhaha with her is usually related to the question of whether the events leading to her capture and injuries were somehow "contrived" by the military, which I find implausible, given that such power could theoretically have been used instead to, you know, accompolish goals and earn good press for that. Granted, Lynch herself admits there was some exaggertation — only increasing my respect — but to a certain degree, that's what's to be expected in any war. Mayhap I'll take that idea back at some point...

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