“I regret all this cheap and tawdry imitation of English royalty.”
Posted by Zach Wendling on 29 January 2008 | 3 responses
– Sen. John Sharp Williams of Mississippi, upon Pres. Woodrow Wilson’s decision to deliver the State of the Union as an address rather than in writing. The ritual has only grown worse over the years.
As always, I did not watch the State of the Union Show last night. It is simply political theatre, and bad theatre at that. Besides, it has been a long time since anyone took George W. Bush seriously.
In case you missed it too, I did search through the transcript to find the one nugget of vital information every SOTU includes. Here it is, along with previous conclusions:
The state of our Union is . . .
- 2008: Strong (implied)
- 2007: Strong
- 2006: Strong
- 2005: Confident and Strong
- 2004: Confident and Strong
- 2003: Strong
- 2002: Never been stronger
- 2000: Strongest it has ever been
- 1999: Strong
- 1998: Strong
- 1997: Strong
- 1996: Strong
- 1995: Stronger than it was two year ago
- 1994: Growing stronger
Whew, how reassuring.
3 Responses to ““I regret all this cheap and tawdry imitation of English royalty.””
1975, President Gerald Ford, after more than five months in office: “I must tell you that the State of the Union is not good.”
It was his pardon of Richard Nixon, and not his honesty, that resulted in his narrow defeat to Jimmy Carter the next year, IMHO.
I don’t watch much anymore, D or R. When I want drama, true or fictionalized, I go see a movie.
Ah, another reason to like Gerald Ford.
I’d watch an Obama SOTU. The rest can go back to writing it… or starting a White House blog
If things look pretty much the same a year from now as they do today, I can well imagine a new Dem prez saying something a bit more negative.