I'm writing this before the State of the Union (SOTU) speech by Prez Bush tonight. Like some other bloggers, I can't really stomach watching it. Part of it is the prez himself but another part is my cynicism at any such event. I doubt a single sentence of it will be true and accurate.

SOTU is less of a report on the nation to Congress and more a form of cheerleading. I'm willing to go out on a limb and give you the gist of the speech, sight unseen. Whatever the specifics in the speech, they are only there to confuse you. Here is my executive summary in the form of the Prez's notes:

We, as a country, have faced some hard times this year. (List them.) However, we've shown great strength as a country. (Use the words determination and courage.) Things are getting better and will continue to get better. Nine eleven (9/11)! Begin and/or finish by saying The state of the union is strong.

That's it. Oh, it'll take from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to deliver it in properly pompous fashion but that's the essence of it. I may have missed a bit here and there but I'd bet money almost everything in the speech can be reduced to that one paragraph. To be fair, with few exceptions, this is pretty much what the SOTU speech is for every prez, every year for quite a few decades.

Please, tell me I was wrong about this, that I have seriously misjudged the event and the content of the speech. I'll even apologize here, in this very post, if that is the case. Hmm, that almost commits me to reading the text of the speech later and I'm not too keen to do so. Well, if someone tells me I'm wrong, then I'll check the text to confirm it.