The State Of George W. Bush

The State Of George W. Bush
By David Corn, The Nation. Posted February 3, 2005.

Whether speaking about the Iraq war, gay marriage or Social Security, in his State of the Union the president re-affirmed that he does not reside in a reality-based community.
George W. Bush knows what to do with a bully pulpit. From the days of Thomas Jefferson to those of William Taft, the State of the Union was a written message delivered by presidents to Congress. Woodrow Wilson turned it into a speech. Subsequent presidents used the State of the Union as a high-profile opportunity to promote their political agendas.

Bush went beyond that this evening. He produced grand and effective political theater. In the middle of the address, he transformed the war in Iraq — which even after the historic election there arguably remains his largest liability — into a single, powerfully poignant moment. Exploiting the tradition of inviting symbolically significant guests to sit with the First Lady, Bush introduced the mother of a US Marine killed in Fallujah and an Iraqi human rights advocate whose father had been assassinated by Saddam Hussein and who had voted in Sunday's election....