Reaction To The State Of The Union From Around The Right Side Of The Blogosphere

There didn’t seem to be much excitement around the right side of the blogosphere about Bush’s State of the Union speech — and I mean that literally. There didn’t seem to be a lot of scathing criticism (although the immigration portion of the speech predictably rankled a lot of bloggers) or soaring praise. In fact, most of the nuggets from around the blogosphere on the State of the Union speech were about side issues, rather than things the President actually said. Still, here they are:

“There’s not doubt that Dikembe Mutombo, who was seated next to the First Lady, and who the President was “proud” to call an American citizen has done some great work on behalf of charity. But this was also the same guy – a married father of 6 – who was getting oral sex from whores at the notorious strip joint “The Gold Club” in Atlanta. As a Sixers fan I’m also upset because Dikembe couldn’t stop Shaq in the 2000 NBA Finals.

But to his credit, Mutombo is also responsible for the single greatest pick-up line ever (even if there’s a dispute as to whether he actually said it) – “Who Wants To Sex Mutombo?”, which has achieved the status of urban legend.” — Bull Dog Pundit, Ankle Biting Pundits

“No matter what is said, who applauds, who abstains, none of these weasels are able to overcome their own weakness and the inertia of our system. They will not work together, they will sway with the polls, they will waste most of every dollar they spend, they are a force of idiocracy, not good.

Our entire way of life is actively under attack by tens, maybe hundreds of millions of Muslim nuttahs and yet we are unable to maintain our stones after several thousand deaths in this war?

FFS people, we are living more prosperously than, oh say 99.99999999999999999% of all humans ever. We have lost an understanding of how different the lives of most other earthlings are. We are so coddled, we require instant victory and lack the fortitude to endure discomfort, let alone actual sacrifice. I do not minimize the sacrifice, or loss of those who have been affected by these efforts, but in context they are small next to the goals and dangers.

A good look at our Congress reminds me why they are hardly an answer to any big problem. W is not much, even as a figurehead, but he’s all we’ve got. I have some hope for a military win, only because the alternative is a loss that will cripple us for decades and so we must prevail.” — Uncle Jimbo, Blackfive

“I had to laugh at this passage (From Webb’s rebuttal):

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. “When comes the end?” asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

Did he? Does anyone really think the Korean War ever came to an end?” — Captain’s Quarters

“9:01: Laura looks fab in red. Smart of her to avoid royal blue, navy blue, and orange in order not to telegraph any administration support for either the Colts or the Bears.

…9:09: Hypocrite Hand-Shake Watch. Dennis Kucinich leans in, but gets no kiss.

…9:27: Immigration talk. Obligatory shot of the Tanc, who shakes his head, sadly.

…9:34: Asks for up-or-down votes for judges by appealing to the fact that the American people deserve a quick-acting, fully staffed judicial system. Pelosi looks down and scratches the back of her neck.

…9:46: Talks about more troops in Baghdad and Anbar. Is Pelosi even listening? She’s chewing the inside of her bottom lip. Stop that, Nancy. You know you’re on screen the whole time.

…9:51: Increase of Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 in next five years. Ooh, cute Marine. Who is he?” — Mary Katharine Ham

“Imagine that you’re John McCain. You’re running for president for the second time, and this time you’re widely considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Knowing that, you’ve got to expect that whomever is directing the television coverage of tonight’s speech is going to point the camera your way. You’re going to be on primetime TV, no doubt. With that in mind, you’re going to want to stay awake. If you’re McCain, who will be over 70 by 2008, you’ll want to make doubly sure to demonstrate your alertness and vigor. You definitely won’t want to slump in your seat, out cold, when Bush starts talking about Iraq. And yet that’s exactly what McCain did tonight, napping on camera for ten agonizing seconds. Lack of self-control? An expression of contempt? Embarrassing in any case.” — Tucker Carlson at Hardblogger

“Still, it’s revealing that the Democrats stand up when the President mentions Darfur—where there are no US troops and won’t be any US troops—but sit on their hands when he mentions Iraq—where there are US troops and where there will be US troops fighting hard for a while to come. What possesses a group of people to take Sudan more seriously than Iraq as a crisis? What possesses a group of people to rank the importance of international crises in an inverse relationship to those crises’ effect on US national security?” — Hot Air

“There we go. The magic, meaningless words: “Comprehensive immigration reform.” Everybody stand up! Other low moments so far: The commander-in-chief mentioning “battery research,” “wood chips,” “agricultural waste,” and “global climate change.” Inspiring rhetoric from those overworked White House speechwriters.” — Michelle Malkin

“Bush mentions disrupted plots. I thought it was particularly smart for the president to mention plots that have been disrupted. The American people don’t hear enough about the successes that we’ve had in this war and that certainly contributes to the notion that the ongoing efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are for nothing.

There’s a fine line between scaring the American people about the threats against the homeland and mentioning the successes of those that protect homeland. I thought the president stuck the right balance tonight.” — The Political Pitbull

There were two important lines about Iraq that Speaker Pelosi (along with many her Democratic colleagues) declined to applaud at all. One was the president’s call for us to “find our resolve, and turn events toward victory.” The other was his statement that “nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the Middle East [and] to succeed in Iraq.” — Paul Mirengoff, Powerline

“It was telling that more Democrats clapped longer and louder for a free Darfur than victory in Iraq.” — Erick from Redstate

“Anyone else notice how the Dems didn’t stand up en masse and applaud when the President talked about the pursuit of victory and security in the WOT? Telling, but not exactly ‘revealing’ to most of us.” — Sister Toldjah

“The highlights of the Bush speech:

1. Surrender to Al Gore’s pseudo-science. (“And these technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment, and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.” )

2. Surrender the borders. (“Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border — and that requires a temporary worker program.” )

3. Put on Jimmy Carter’s sweater. (“Let us build on the work we’ve done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years.” )

Tough times call for tough leadership. Look at George Bush run.

But the good news was Pelosi rejected Bush’s domestic plans out of hand.

In fact, old Pelosi gave an on-going analysis, blinking up to 30 times a minute as the president spoke, according to Broadcasting & Cable. Nice to know Blinky Pelosi brings the maturity of a grandma to politics.” — Don Surber

“The War on Terror – take the fight to the enemy. A standing ‘O’ and number of whistles. Nancy really looks uncomfortable now.

We uncovered all kinds of al Qaeda plots and we owe a debt thanks to those who put their lives at risk to stop these plots. Nancy jumped out of her seat at that one.

Hillary looks like she’s about to fall asleep.

The best, and most accurate, line of the night so far:

“In the six years since we have been attacked on September 11, and I wish I could report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not. And so it remains the policy of this government to use the every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty to find these enemies and to protect the American people.” — Kim Preistap, Wizbang

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