I was at the Drinking Liberally/DL21C/DFNYC party for the SOTU speech. Much as I agree with Paul's assessment of Bush's banality, there is one glaring fact I haven't seen anyone comment on.

As with his "Iraqi surge speech", there's nothing new here. Usually by the last two years, a President is looking to create something for his legacy, which means a new initiative that usually goes nowhere, but at least sounds good in a SOTU speech. Nope, no initiative.

Instead, he's giving us the same ol' garbage, repackaged in new rhetoric. For example, last year he said, "America is addicted to oil." This year, it's "the serious challenge of global climate change." But there is still no plan to deal with it.

Or education -- all he wants is an extension of the miserable failure of a "No Child Left Behind" act.

Taxes? Please!

Health insurance? More privatization, combined with tax deductions only rich people can use. Poor people -- the ones without coverage -- don't pay federal income taxes, so a tax deduction is of no use to them.

On the "war on terror", he has at least admitted (sort of) that whatever it was we invaded Iraq to accomplish is not what we're there doing now. But his only "solution" is escalation.

Meanwhile, even as Bush is saying nothing, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is telling Congress there's no such thing as a Constitutional right of habeas corpus -- next thing you know he'll be using the same argument to say there's no right to freedom of speech, religion, the press, or anything else.

How much longer can we take this before it will require a second American Revolution to restore freedom in this land?