The WaPo Scares Me

[elfs]

From the Washington Post, Jan 28, 2008:

For years, President Bush and his advisers expressed frustration that the White House received little credit for the nation's strong economic performance because of public discontent about the Iraq war. Today, the president is getting little credit for improved security in Iraq, as the public increasingly focuses on a struggling U.S. economy.

That is the problem Bush faces as he prepares to deliver his seventh and probably final State of the Union address tonight.

"Probably final?" "Probably final?" Is the WaPo joining with the National Review in wondering if the only thing that can preserve the WaPo way of life is a coup?. Maybe they've been reading Philip Atkinson's Conquering The Drawbacks of Democracy again.

Comments

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

...deliver his seventh and probably final...

o.O

That idiot should be fired.

[lovingboth]

So what happens when there's a change of President normally? One gets skipped? Does a one-term President only get to do three?

[whipartist.livejournal.com]

Isn't it possible though unusual to do a midyear state of the union address?

[abostick59.livejournal.com]

David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo quotes this:

inally, President George W. Bush is set to deliver his next State of the Union Address on January 28, 2008. It is widely believed that this will be his last address before leaving office on January 20, 2009, but assuming this is incorrect. Bush has the right to deliver either a written or oral State of the Union in the days immediately before leaving office in 2009. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Ford, and Carter chose to do this. Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, chose not to.

"Probably" is correct, no foul from the WaPo. Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Georgie never gives a speech when he doesn't have to, but the possibility remains.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. That resolves it better. I had a "WTF?" moment when I read that.

[blaisepascal]

The only requirement is "He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union...". As Toby Ziegler pointed out on the TV show "West Wing", he could fulfill that Constitutional duty by buying Congress a subscription to the New York Times.

There's no requirement that it be annual, no requirement for it to be on or about the anniversary of his inauguration. No requirement for it to be a speech, even. Washington sent papers, not speeches.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

It's apparently possible for him to give one at any time. As someone else pointed out, a minority of presidents have given a SotU address just before
turning the office over to a successor.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

I had the same kind of moment when I heard an announcer on the radio tonight describing Bush warming up for the speech, saying "as if he knew this would be his last SotU speech." I'd thought they were annual as well.

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

"Probably final?" "Probably final?" Is the WaPo joining with the National Review in wondering if the only thing that can preserve the WaPo way of life is a coup?. Maybe they've been reading Philip Atkinson's Conquering The Drawbacks of Democracy again.

Mmm ... wouldn't he get one more SOTU address in January 2009, just before the Inauguration? Or would the next President be the one to deliver that?