Watching the Dear Leader

I really, really promised myself that I wouldn't watch the State of the Union address. I can barely stand to listen to Bush for more than a few seconds at a time anyways, and this year Bush is not expected to unveil any major new products (a la war on Iraq, "axis of evil," Social Security, etc.). Yet here I am watching my fuzzy ABC station. I'm such a junkie...

But, as long as I'm here, two things I'd like to share. First, heard on Air America Radio today by a friend of mine at YLS:

Here is what Air America Radio had to say about the coincidence of the State
of the Union and Groundhog Day falling on the same date:

"It is an ironic juxtaposition: one

involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little

intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a groundhog."

Second, the telepundits chronicling this little spectacle for ABC have spent the last few minutes talking about the harsh line Democrats are now taking on Republicans, and bemoaning the partisanship in Washington, and talking about how Bush's speech may attempt to elevate the tone. Which makes me think: they expect this from a President whose chief political advisor said just a few weeks ago that "Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world, Democrats have a pre-9/11 view"? Whose vice president told a member of the opposition party to "go fuck [him]self?" Really, have journalists learned nothing from the last few years?