It almost seems as if Bush’s speeches have become better over the past four years. That’s not necessarily a matter of content but more the result of his growing confidence and the fact that events have moved his way. Having kept an economic meltdown at bay - for which there may still be a hefty bill down the road - and having been able to formulate a bold and successful strategy to counter terror have both contributed to Bush’s credibility as a statesman. His speeches haven’t changed but they, like the man himself, have been given context and from that perspective the success of the Iraqi election was an enormous boost right before this State of the Union. The net result of all of this is that Bush has now moved the political center to the right, witness Hillary’s steady march rightwards, and by doing so he is shedding the image of the radical from the right with an agenda that is dividing the world. Let's see if Europe is reading it that way too later this month when he visits the old continent.

So, a mature and statesmanlike George Bush whose vision is steadily becoming acceptable to those who doubted his capabilities and thus his plans can consequently expect much smoother sailing domestically and internationally in the years ahead, but that’s an optimistic assumption on my part.

That the meta-level analysis. On the operational level this State of the Union was pretty much to the point and didn’t have any real surprises for those who have been following the Bush journey. Safia Taleb al-Suhail’s presence was moving and so was that of the parents of Marine Sgt. Byron Norwood who died in Fallujah. While these appearances are scripted, it was a good move to have them there and honor them; but when an emotional Safia (whose father was killed by Saddam) embraced Janet Norwood it brought the house down and, I have to admit, it brought a tear to my eyes. It highlighted the bond that has been forged between Iraqis and Americans and that is something which in my mind has had very little attention in the media. And Safia’s hug was a lot more genuine and spontaneous than congressmen dipping their fingers in ink which really is borderline behaviour.

Anyway I wasn’t the only one watching, here are some useful insights from around the sphere:

James Joyner thought that having Safia and the Norwoods present was exploitative;
Tyler Cowen has taken the opportunity to recycle his oeuvre on Social Security;
Greg Djerejian found it business-like and good but not great;
Powerline argues that Bush came out swinging on Social Security and Iraq;
Kevin Drum wondered why he bothered to listen at all;
Steven Taylor thought it was pedestrian with nothing really new;
Kevin Aylward has a mega-roundup of reactions;
Matt Yglesias was right to point to the interesting piece on DNA testing;
and Joe Gandelman's laptop died but see what he has to say later on.