President George wins this week's Political Sports Player of the Week Award, not for his astute play, but because he clearly dominated the news with his State of the Union Speech and its aftermath. It certainly wasn't inspired and isn't going to rally the team, either the Republicans or the country, to any particular victory. At this point in his presidency it is probably too much to ask for an epiphany, some change in direction that actually reflects competency, strength and leadership.
I think the reason so much attention focused on the speech was that we as a country truly wanted him to fix the problems of his administration. We wanted him to honestly confront the issues with Iraq, wiretaps, torture, civil rights, religion, Katrina incompetence, tax breaks for the rich, increasing discrepancy between rich and poor, health care, and all the things that Americans worry about other than terror.
When that did not happen, and so many facts were wrong, like calling for more money for energy research when he is cutting the research budget, Americans become even more disappointed in an opportunity missed. He wins this week's award, but not for very positive reasons.
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