It remains immensely telling that the most powerful critiques of Bush policies came in recent days from Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who is said to have expressed doubts about Bush's plan to eliminate the tax on dividends, and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf -- you might remember him from the original cast recording -- who told the Washington Post that "before I can just stand up and say, 'Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we need to invade Iraq,' I guess I would like to have better information. I think it is very important for us to wait and see what the inspectors come up with, and hopefully they come up with something conclusive."

Satisfying that cat's curiosity seemed Bush's greatest need Tuesday night, and he presented this initial argument well, if not completely sealing the deal. Then again, this was just the beginning of the rollout of the "product" White House chief of staff Andrew Card alluded to last summer; Bush will likely speak again about the matter, and soon, and Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that next week he would present "several pieces of information which come from the work of our intelligence that show Iraq maintains prohibited weapons." Already, Powell has morphed from dove to hawk, an official signal that the administration has reached the end of its rope.

But before he got to Iraq, Bush -- always mindful not to repeat the sins of the father -- outlined something of a domestic agenda.

Much of it was traditional if inconsequential. He assailed the lack of "spending discipline in Washington, D.C.," though neither he nor the drunken sailors from both parties applauding along have stepped an inch toward doing anything about that.

Bush's chief economic argument -- "I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of dividends" -- seemed rather unconvincing. He gave a minor look at a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare, but his primary prescription for "quality, affordable health [sic] for all Americans" must have enraged presidential wannabe/former trial lawyer Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.: medical malpractice reform, to solve "the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued."

Then there was the reach for the soccer moms, the suburban voters who may be starting to cave to the pleas of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., whose bill to improve the fuel efficiency of SUVs was shanked by an effective coalition of union-owned Democrats and corporate America-owned Republicans, despite the moderate duo's new argument that reducing our dependence on our Arab "allies" could only be a good thing.

"Tonight I am proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles," the former Texas oil man said, not quite a Nixon-goes-to-China moment, since it actually hurts no corporation at all, but still, at least he could promise "to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy." Our air presumably will get a lot dirtier first: No hydrogen cars are likely to make it on the road in the next decade, and Bush is no fan of stricter fuel-efficiency standards.

As always, in the domestic section of his address, Bush seemed most sincere when talking about faith and charity, calling for passage of the faith-based initiative and his Citizen Service, urging for mentoring programs for children with parents in prison.

If a conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged, it may be that a compassionate conservative is a conservative who's had a drug or alcohol problem. Speaking about those suffering from drug addiction, Bush spoke movingly, saying, "Tonight, let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you."

Then came a couple moments of compassion for the suspicious folk reading the speech with the help of television subtitles -- whether it's Al Jazeera or Das German TV.

First came the reminder of how often other countries hold out their hands, that is, when they're not giving us the finger. "Across the earth, America is feeding the hungry," Bush said. "More than 60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the United States." Then he introduced the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa [cut to: Laura Bush's surprise balcony guest, a clapping Dr. Peter Mugyenyi, director of the Joint Clinical Research Center in Uganda. See! Republicans aren't racist!]

And then out came the cowboy.

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