Thoughts On The State Of The Union from the mind of Zeke_Wilkins.

While I watched the State of the Union address Wednesday night I tried taking notes on topics mentioned that I wanted to comment on. Unfortunately due to the fast pace of the speech, the lack of details in many instances, and the scatter-shot manner in which topics were covered I was not able to take copious notes. Rather, I have tried to grade the President on several factors as well as make comments and ask questions below.

Presentation: A-

The President seemed to have done well. I cannot remember many gaffes, be he did say "nu-cu-ler" again, so he's marked down for that. He gracefully resisted the urge to respond to Democratic boos when mentioning the dire situation of Social Security. He cleverly named ideas proposed by Democrats regarding reworking Social Security.

Content: B-

The President was able to discuss some specifics on his idea for the partial, voluntary privitization of Social Security. However, I was disappointed with how the President's immigration policy got short shrift. His proposal for an immigration policy that makes it easier on migrant workers while "resisting amnesty" sounded oxymoronic. The structure in which topics were covered was not at all intuitive to me, and his one-line mention of "a culture of life" seemed more like a token throw-in to pro-lifers rather than a rallying point of his agenda.

Relevence: A-

Despite the shortcomings in content, one area shone through: the elections in Iraq. It was this point that made the whole speech relevent. The power of freedom, the moral value of democracy, and the importance of U.S. actions abroad were perfectly illustrated in the presence of the Iraqi woman whose father had been murdered under Saddam's Baathist regime, and had now been able to participate in Iraqi self-governance.

Questions:

When was the last time a President was booed during a State of the Union address?
Did the Democratic response seem at all apropos?