Suuure, he saved the economy

I don't much care what the president says he firmly believes, because Andrew Wilson made a good case to the contrary, at least on the economic end of things, and even the anecdotal evidence augers ill for Democratic claims.

Meanwhile, editors at the Washington Times tried to put the whole State of the Union address in context, as did Daniel Goldman over at First Things. Nile Gardiner "cannot think of a US president in modern times who has attached less importance to human rights issues." Sarah Palin was not impressed. And Gerard had the president pegged long ago as "the very model of a modern metrosexual."

I missed the best part of the kabuki theater (over to you, Randy Barnett), but without having seen that thoroughly unpresidential moment, one thing I noticed right off the bat is that after alluding broadly to prosperity and want in American history, the president's "takeaway" thought was "It's tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable."

I am not so tempted. But then I don't have his unbridled faith in progress.

For a good illustration of how the president thinks -- or how his speechwriters think he thinks -- see Joe Carter's word cloud comparisons of various SOTU addresses. George Will one-ups that by talking about the president's "divided brain."

Two parting questions: what is this "fiscal restraint" you speak of, Mr. President? And what did Christopher Buckley say about the state of the union speech that merited such a vulgar but hilarious evisceration from Ace?