SOTU

George W. Bush is preparing to give his final State of the Union address.

Final, that is, unless the Washington Post knows something I don't:

For years, President Bush and his advisers expressed frustration that the White House received little credit for the nation's strong economic performance because of public discontent about the Iraq war. Today, the president is getting little credit for improved security in Iraq, as the public increasingly focuses on a struggling U.S. economy.

That is the problem Bush faces as he prepares to deliver his seventh and probably final State of the Union address tonight.

Probably? There has been talk of him declaring an emergency suspension of the elections, but I'd always assumed he'd do away with the State of the Union once he was President-for-Life.

Oh well. Whatever. I don't think there are many folks who really care what he says tonight. After all, his credibility has dropped to near zero. The only question, I suppose, is whether we'll hear anything to match the famous 16 words about uranium from Africa, or maybe a brilliant locution like the Axis of Evil.

It's pretty much certain that there will some bashing of Democrats for not passing the FISA bill that would give immunity to the telecoms. He will no doubt claim that they have no desire to protect the nation, and are letting our ability to protect ourselves from terrists expire. But we all know it's the Republican party that is blocking passage of a bill. So, yawn.

Personally, I'm waiting with bated breath to find out the latest on our Mars program.