First impressions? Well, he obviously pushed hard to play Mr Bipartisan, and truth be told if he follows through on his promises (given his SOTU record, it’s hard to tell how much he made up), then I’ll be happy.

Naturally he brought up some stalwarts, lots of terrorism fearmongering, social security, renewable energy, education. It seemed more careful this time around, and the speech, if considered all by itself, wasn’t that bad. I just don’t believe it was anything but words.

I’ll have a more detailed analysis, as well as one with Webb’s response, tomorrow.

Last one before the SOTU. As you may remember from earlier, General Casey is out and Lt General Petraeus is in. Now, he’s a proponent of the escalation, but I’m noticing that he lacks the administration’s general optimism concerning the situation.

“The escalation of violence in 2006 undermined the coalition strategy and raised the prospect of a failed Iraqi state, an outcome that would be in no group’s interest, save that of certain extremist organizations and perhaps states in the region that wish Iraq and the [United] States ill,” Petraeus told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

…

“None of this will be rapid. In fact, the way ahead will be neither quick nor easy, and there undoubtedly will be tough days,” Petraeus said. “We face a determined, adaptable, barbaric enemy. He will try to wait us out. In fact, any such endeavor is a test of wills, and there are no guarantees.”

Yikes. And this is why the plan is flawed inherently. The only actual way for a flat victory is to, quite literally, eliminate every single extremist in the Middle East as well as somehow guarantee that no more will be created. The enemy is not a state entity, that’s why the enemies tend to be a hodgepodge from nations all over the area.

A test of wills, that’s what the Iraq Fiasco has become. Here’s the problem: they live there. We don’t. We can only sit over there for so long, they can hibernate for decades. A decision will have to be made sometime soon.

Yes, the SOTU is tonight, but there’s a lot more going on in the country. Specifically, there’s that Scooter Libby business. And just to coincide with today’s event, there’s a bombshell defense coming out that may drag both Rove and Cheney deeper into the situation than we had thought before.

Rove was one of two sources for Novak’s story. The other was then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Nobody, including Rove and Armitage, has been charged with the leak. Libby is accused of lying to investigators and obstructing the probe into the leak.

Cheney’s notes from that meeting underscore Libby’s concern, Wells said.

“Not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder,” the note said, according to Wells.

Interesting. Now, I’m not going to claim I understand this situation very well, but from the looks of things we’re going to see the whole scandal blow open a lot wider than it was previously.

Pop on over to DailyKos to get a much better analysis than I can give.

Caution: this is an Insomnia Post. Poor writing may be contained within.

It had to happen eventually. George Walker Bush, the United States’ 43rd president, has achieved the impossible. He has surpassed his father and tied Jimmy Carter for the 2nd least popular president of all time, currently sitting at a dismal 28% in the latest CBS poll.

Now, for a little perspective, I point you at this little nugget, discussing the most and least popular presidents in as long as we’ve bothered to record it. I find it intriguing to compare Dubya to Aitch-Dubya.

Not surprisingly, the numbers tend to spike in times of war. The record holder for highest approval rating? President George W. Bush, who topped out at 90% in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. His father is the runner-up, with an 89% rating during the first Gulf War. Harry Truman scored 87% in April, 1945, following FDR’s death and during the final stages of World War II. FDR achieved 84% after Pearl Harbor.

The all-time worst numbers belong to Harry Truman (23%), who also holds the record for the biggest range in approval rating. George H. W. Bush eventually sank to 29%. Carter hit 28%, and Nixon was at 24% before he resigned.

So add that up. George HW Bush went from 89% down to 29%. His son went from 90% to 28%. Congratulations, Bushie, you managed to one-up your dad in both directions, and you broke his record for the most squandered national unity, trust, and approval in our young nation’s history. You should be proud.

I watched Why We Fight last night, and that really pounded this point home to me. Thinking about Jacques Chirac saying “we are all Americans” (not in the film, but it did happen), and seeing on screen demonstrations in Tehran in SUPPORT of the United States and our fight against the terrorists who attacked us, then thinking about Freedom Fries and our battle with Iran now, well… it depressed me.

If nothing else, Bush’s presidency can be defined by his haphazard, or perhaps bullheaded, defiance of international goodwill and subsequent ruining of his country’s good standing both inside its borders and out.