Well, and I was going to analyse the Democratic response to the State of the Union as well. I could, I suppose, follow my earlier note and note the context of the word ‘peace’ whenever it appears. Twice. “America's armed forces remain the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped force for peace the world has ever known.” Oh, yeah, for peace. That doesn’t fall into the rhetorical pattern Pres. Bush has set, does it...
The second time the word appears as part of the phrase “Middle East peace process.” Now, the nice thing about that phrase is the way the two adjectives act as noun modifiers rather than as adjectives, the noun acts as a noun modifier rather than a noun, and the verb acts as a noun. The four words middle, east, peace, and process are all playing different positions than they usually do. That’s about the best I can say for that phrase. Oh for two on that word, I’m afraid.
Other than that, I’ll just say what I assume everybody else was saying. Rep. Pelosi was singularly unimpressive in delivering an awful speech about how bad this administration’s foreign policy is. An easy topic for outrage, but a dreadful one for a lecture. She chose the latter. Sen. Daschle, on the other hand, kicked ass on the economy, expressing sorrow, outrage, and resolve with a gentle folksiness that really worked for me. He stole Newt Gingrich’s ‘Opportunity Society’, and I see no reason to give it back. That said, he’s not my ideal Senate Majority Leader; one nice speech doesn’t make up for failing in that task.
Or perhaps I’m just having a grouchy day.
Redintegro Iraq,
-Vardibidian.