Liveblogging the SOTU

In case you missed it:

9:13: starts sotu by mentioning Coretta Scott King and hoping for a reunion with her husband at the Rainbow Bridge. Sam Seder: Too bad he named a Supreme Court Justice who's going to reverse most of the gains MLK made.

9:14: Calls for civil tone in debate. OK, Republicans, you go first.

9:16: Invokes 9/11 and mentions terrorism.

9:17: Mentions the fight against terror

9:17: Third mention of the word "freedom"

9:18: Mentions purple ink on Iraqi fingers

9:19: Mentions that half of people live in Democratic nations. Does not mention that the U.S. is no longer one of them.

9:20: Says terrorists are trying to break our will. Could not see if the hula jaw was working.

9:21: Gotta get 'em there so they won't come here.

9:21. Workin' the jaw.

9:22: We will never surrender to evil. Translation: We will be at war forever, and I can do anything I want while we're at war.

9:22: That jaw is really working.

9:22: Lies that we have killed or captured many terrorist leaders.

9:22: Says we have a clear plan for victory in Iraq. Says we are continuing "weconstruction efforts." Does not mention whether it's wabbit season in Fallujah.

9:23: Mentions Iraqis showing their courage. Does not say it's because they might get blown up on their way to work.

9:23. Says work in Iraq is difficult because enemy is brutal. Does n ot say it's because he doesn't know what the hell he's doing.

9:24: Says he's confident in Iraqi victory. Says we are winning. Does not mention "truthiness." The morons present give him a standing ovation. Says Iraqi forces are increasingly taking the lead. Tell that to Bob Woodruff, asshole.

9:25: Closeup of jaw working. He stops when he realizes it's a closeup.

9:25: Brands anything that disagrees with him as defeatism. Works the jaw.

9:26: Says those in public office have a duty to speak with candor. As of when, Georgie?

9:27: Smirks.

9:27: Invokes the sacrifices of the soldiers. Says they know what it's like to fight house to house....to see a comrade killed. That's more than he knows.

9:28: Invokes Dan Clay, who was killed in Fallujah last week. Dan's father Bud is present. Applause. (Snarky trivia note: "Bud Clay" is the name of Vincent Gallo's character in The Brown Bunny, which Roger Ebert regards as the worst movie ever made. In the film, Gallo receives a blowjob from Chloe Sevigny.)

9:29: Mentions terror. Says we support democratic reform across the Middle East. Does not mention that he favors dictatorship here.

9:31: Mentions Hamas. Take two drinks. Says Hamas must recognize Israel. Huge ovation.

9:31: Lauds "first steps to reform" among his buddies in Saudi Arabia.

9:32: Mentions "small clerical elite" holding Iran hostage. Does not mention the small clerical elite which holds our government hostile.

9:32: Says we will not allow the Iranian regime to obtain nuclear weapons. Speaking directly to citizens of Iran, he says we respect their rights to choose their own future, as long as they choose a free and democratic Iran.

9:33: Mentions AIDS again. Does not mention the $15 billion he promised last time that he didn't deliver on.

9:35: Gets belligerent, claims that other presidents have done the same warrantless searches he has. Says that if you are getting calls from Al Qaeda, he wants to know about it "because we will not wait to be hit again." Presumably if you are getting calls from Cindy Sheehan, he will want to know about it too.

9:38: Implies that warrantless spying is going to go on indefinitely.

9:38: Says our economy is healthy, talks about creating 4.6 million new jobs. Does not mention how many jobs were lost and what those jobs pay compared to the lost jobs.

9:39: Implies that everyone who lost a job to India is a bigot.

9:39: Says this economy could not function without immigrants. Republicans applaud politely, confused.

9:41: Asks for tax cuts to be made permanent. Yes, creating an even larger deficit is the way back to prosperity. Says this year he will cut programs that are performing poorly. (Translation: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Veterans' benefits)

9:42: Jesus H. Christ...he just asked for the line item veto. Under what rock in the Rose Garden did he find that one?

9:43: Whoa. Designated Family Shithead joke. Says that two of his father's favorite people are approaching retirement age -- himself and Bill Clinton. Makes dire remarks about Social Security; Republicans erupt in enthusiastic applause. I wonder how watching these guys go nuts over Social Security privatization is going to play in Peoria. Gets even more hysterical as he continues talking. His bold plan: Create a commission to study the problem. Oy.

9:47: Here comes his health care plan. Make wider use of electronic records to control costs. Calls for health savings accounts "so that people can buy insurance with the same benefits that big corporations get." (How is that going to happen?) Calls for tort reform this year. He spends 1-1/2 minutes on health care, which means he hasn't got a frickin' clue.

9:47: Announces that we are addicted to oil. Announces a 22% increase in energy research, invest in coal-fired plants, wind power, and nuclear energy. Talks about hydrogen and hybrid cars. Wants more research into ethanol. Sounds like Archer-Daniels-Midland got hold of him. Calls for reducing oil imports by 75% by 2025. This is all well and good, but how is he going to do this and keep his contributors in the energy industry happy? Or are they going to get all this government investment?

9:52: Says we're going to keep our edge in education. Announces American competitive initiative, including giving American children "a firm grounding in math and science." Does not say whether this includes the study of so-called "intelligent design." Supercomputing is a "promising technology"? Does the name "Cray" mean anything to him?

9:54. Calls for children to opt for more math and science curricula and institute rigorous standards. Does not say whether this includes intelligent design. Dobson must be having a coronary.

9:55: Talks about the U.S. as a compassionate nation. Touts drop in welfare cases, but does not mention the people tossed off the rolls. Says the number of teenaged pregnancies has dropped over 12 years. Gives credit to commitment to "a life of personal responsiblity" and abstinence education. Does not mention that abortions have INCREASED during his term over the number of abortions during the Clinton years.

9:57: The Alito welcome: Talks about judges who won't legislate from the bench. Gives thanks to Sandra Day O'Connor for her service and for retiring, thus allowing him to name Strip Search Sammy the Stem Cell Alito to the court.

9:58: Calls for a ban on human cloning, including human/animal hybrids. This is ostensibly aimed at Rick Santorum's attempt to locate a cross between a woman and a collie, allowing him to have man-on-dog sex while still not committing bestiality.

9:59: Tepidly says he supports ethics standards strengthening. This is met with equally tepid applause.

10:00: Encourages adults to get involved in the lives of children, including an initiative led by Pickles, who looks drugged. His speech is getting really slurred. Funny...when Hillary Clinton used to talk about this, it was called "It takes a village to raise a child" and everyone laughed at it.

10:01: It's been about 45 minutes. He's starting to head into Clinton territory, with none of the Clinton substances.

10:02: Calls for reinstatement of the Ryan White Act to provide for better access to AIDS drugs. This is met with very tepid applause from Republicans, who want the wages of sin to be death. Talks obliquely about prevention, which may be translated as "keep your legs closed, bitch!"

10:04: He's starting to sound like Bluto, exhorting the troops to a really futile and stupid gesture.

10:04: It's over. Thank God. Brian Williams is already fellating him on the air, Timmeh belabors the obvious by noting the divide in Congress. These guys think he has little chance of getting any of this through. Andrea Mitchell says there was nothing conciliatory about this speech and his military vision is "We can't retreat" and nothing more. David Gregory comes along. He notes the mix of conciliation and confrontation. Wonders if it's too far into the Bush presidency for him to get the parties to come together. Williams says Bush is frustrated with what he sees as a large part of the population that doesn't agree with his message, that this is a nation at war.

Timmeh says that he should then ask for sacrifice from Americans. Notes that he was flanked by the Congressional leadership that Bush says was informed about the eavesdropping. Timmeh says it's going to go to the Supreme Court, and that what the Court says about this eavesdropping will determine the Bush legacy. Of course, with Sammy Alito on the Court, we all know how they will decide.

OK, I've had quite enough of this.