It wasn’t easy but I watched President Bush’s State of the Union address.
I watched it at Marble Collegiate Church following a community dialogue organized by Generation Engage. Using Apple iChat the conversation was broadened to include young activists in Richmond, Va., and Raleigh, N.C.
The conversation was led by former presidential speechwriters Ted Sorenson and William Safire.
As befitting two “people of the word,” the banter between Sorenson and Safire was lively, informative and provocative, particularly when Safire likened Bush to Harry Truman.
Safire on Bush:
One of the best things about Bush is he doesn’t get depressed by poll numbers.
Sorenson had a different take on Bush:
Bush’s address will confirm my thesis that political discourse has declined since John F. Kennedy.
By show time, I was primed for Bush whose Iraq war has put the world in an uproar and “the danger zone is everywhere.”
Bush babbled on that “it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. Let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory.”
While Bush may not be depressed, he’s depressing the hell out of war-weary Americans. Unlike the clueless commander in chief, they have “a worried mind” for good reason.
