State of the Union

Something slightly sad about that speech. Except for the comic moment when the Democrats cheered the president for failing to pass his Social Security bill, there was no life in that chamber last night.

Since I deplore most of what this president would like to do -spend American power to bully other nations, dismantle the role of government in protecting the weakest, turn the decision making at the highest levels from rational to supernatural - I am not sorry to see his energy and his ability to cow the Congress disappear.

But one wonders whether he has managed to steer us on a course -with the appointment of judges and the alienation of a significant portion of the world - that will be difficult for those who come after him to alter.

A member of his cabal was famously heard to say that he hoped to shrink government to such a small size that one could drown it in the bathtub.

Having wreaked havoc in Iraq and the entire Middle East he has created a dilemma that has no simple solution, for us or for the rest of the world.

So we wish for a mid-term election of sensible people. And a step back from the swagger and bullying that has poisoned our nation's spirit.