WHY WE'RE ON THE ROPES

I listened the SOTU while suffering a fever of 103.9, which is probably not far from what Congressional Democrats were experiencing. The speech was the same jumble of economic slight of hand, freedom kitsch, and general mendacity as I've come to expect from this president, only this time was accompanied by strange visions and cool geometric patterns whenever I closed my eyes.

Regarding Bush's lies about Social Security (Daily Howler's got the goods), to state the obvious: at this point discussions of Bush's dishonesty take place only within liberal circles, as conservatives have decided once and for all that they like him, they like his agenda, and thus are fine with, and will even help to facilitate, any dishonesty deemed fit to see that agenda advanced.

And if anyone was wondering why the Democratic Party has been largely ineffective in countering the Republicans, look no farther than rebuttles like this one. I don't think Karl Rove could have written a more mealy-mouthed, meandering satire of a bloodless Democrat. As always, it's not that what Pelosi and Reid said isn't true, all of it is, and all of their critiques of Bush are completely sound, it's just that they (or their speechwriters) seem congenitally unable to weave those negative critiques into a narrative which is on the whole positive.

Above all, when it comes to the war on terror, Democrats are still refusing to walk onto the playing field, and essentially forfeiting the game to Republicans. Note to Democrats, your response should go something like this: "Yes, there's a war on terror. Yes, it is the defining conflict of our era. And here's why George W. Bush's plan for fighting it is dead wrong, and here's our better plan."

How many more elections will it take for Democrats to realize that national security is the issue?