A "unique" opportunity to repeat himself.

There's a lot of news coverage this morning prepping us for the State of the Union speech tonight. I find it a little hard to get excited about a State of the Union speech that follows so soon after an Inaugural Address, and the coverage of the State of the Union I'm reading this morning is saying things like:

Previewing the speech to reporters, a senior administration official said it is a "unique" speech in that it so closely follows the president's second inaugural address, and offers Bush an opportunity to build on the "ideals" outlined in that speech and make clear his specific goals and legislative blueprint for the second term.

I love the selling point that it's "unique" because it's a repetition. There's nothing new! Don't you get it? That's what makes it unique! Oh, okay, I'm being too mean: it's a repetition PLUS padding. Hey, you were going to stop being mean! Okay, so maybe there will be new details, new specificities:

[T]he signature domestic theme will be Social Security, and without offering any new specifics themselves, senior aides promised Bush would give a more detailed outline of how he envisions major changes to the program, including an option for younger Americans to divert some Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts.

(My italics.) So, "a more detailed outline." It's still an outline, still a blueprint, but it's going to be a more detailed outline. Possibly with some "new specifics."



As to foreign policy:

In the half of the speech dedicated to international issues, Bush will claim progress in both Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places, in combating terrorism and advancing freedom.

Really? Actually, I have dinner plans. I'm going to miss the speech, which I'll read afterwards, in a fraction of the time it would take to sit through it and all the tedious clapping. I don't think President Bush cares all that much about the delivery of speeches. He gets through them, and this one he's under a constitutional duty to make. I am, of course, under no constitutional duty to listen.