State of the Union, Part II

Whose Addiction? - Bush's surprisingly partisan speech. By John Dickerson:

Per my previous post: John Dickerson of Slate says it well:

"In 2005, Bush cast himself as groping for solutions to national problems
together with Democrats. Tonight, he depicted those who oppose him as lazy,
retreating, and negative. 'There is a difference between responsible criticism
that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but
failure,' he said later in the speech. 'Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And
second-guessing is not a strategy.' He welcomes criticism in theory. But in
practice, he sees it all as defeatism, second-guessing, and 20-20 hindsight.

Politics is about defining your enemy. That's what the president did in
his 2006 State of the Union. But change the tone? This year, there can't have
been a person in the room who took that commitment seriously."

Maybe it was meant to be a political power play. Maybe he was throwing down his gloves to the Democrats. Maybe he's getting sick of being beaten up for bad decisions that led to the ongoing war in Iraq. If so, he needs to grow up. I just found all of it offensive.