The State of the Union is...

... what? No really, what is it?

I know what they told me, but what is it really? I'm looking for the truth here - if we can find any.

But truth is hard to discern in a culture of lies.

The Truth

This is an administration that has lied about bi-partisanship (remember Bush in 2000 saying he would bring the parties together - and now we are the most divided we've been in decades), lied about Iraq (they were no imminent threat), lied about education (No Child Left Behind is the biggest disaster in education in the last 50 years), lied about the budget (we're bankrupting the country to finance the war, period), lied about taxes (the tax cuts support businesses and the wealthy, not the middle class), lied about Medicare (the prescription drug plan is already a financial disaster), lied about Katrina (the government is more worried about rebuilding Iraq than taking care of its own), and lied about homeland security (the administration has been graded a "D" and "F" in implementing the changes recommended by the 9/11 Commission).

So where do we get that the State of the Union is... Strong?

Even after the make-believe that was recited last night, we might conclude the State of the Union is "determined" at best, right? Or maybe cautious or resolute. But Strong?

How about comical, frustrating, outlandish, or depressing?

What about bullying, arrogant, devious and untruthful?

I don't know if there's one perfect adjective, but I do know that no matter what we are told out of the left side of the mouth, it is not in sync with the right side of the mouth. And that makes the state of our union frightening.

More of the same.

I tried.... I really tried.... But try as I may, I could not bring myself to watch the entire address last night. It was just too painful - my head actually hurt.

In fact I made it through only about 10 excruciating minutes. What did I learn? Hmmm... it seems we're at war with terror and we have some troops in Iraq who need to stay there till their mission is complete. And apparently anyone who opposes this is an isolationist, is unpatriotic, and is a detriment to our "mission."

Wow, really? I hadn't heard. When did that happen? I'm glad I found that out - I feel so well informed.

Now where's the remote...

Send in the Clowns

And what's with Congress? Why the Hell don't they just all stand up the entire time? Apparently if it's worth clapping about, then it's worth standing about. And every sentence this President states is apparently worth clapping about. They ought to just remove all the chairs, it would save time.

Maybe everyone claps because he completed a sentence without making up a new word in the process. Yeah, I'll clap for that too.

But what a bunch of bloviating blowhards this batch has become. "Let's make it a show, shall we." This isn't an honest speech to the nation anymore, it's an effort in narcissism. How pathetic we have become.

The bottom line

In the end, last night we were told that the economy is great, even though all indicators point to a looming recession. We were told that we're winning the war on terror, although how exactly does one win a war on an idea? We were told that education is one of our most important goals, although we've seriously cut education funding and forced ridiculous testing programs on schools that can't afford it and must cut real educational programs to fund the testing programs.

But we were also chastised time and time again for not being a unified voice - for not towing the "company line" just because. We were being told in no uncertain terms that we are now a strongly divided country.

Maybe there was a little truth squeaking out last night after all.

You just needed to listen closely to hear it.