Wonkette

Stock up on whisky and bullets, because there’s another Bush speech next week: the State of the Union address. Forgot about that one, did you? MORE »

Wow, it has been frozen in that position since he delivered the Democratic response to the State of the Union: MORE »

Last night, four Supreme Court justices — Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer, and Justice Samuel Alito, sworn in just a few hours earlier — attended the State of the Union. The SCOTUS at the SOTU always presents tricky issues. The judiciary is the least political of the three branches, so how should its members comport themselves at this most political of events? To clap, or not to clap; that is the question.

But it’s not just about the clapping and the standing; the justices also need to monitor their facial expressions. A reader asked us: “Did you notice Clarence Thomas wince when Bush mentioned wiretapping (9:35ish)? And Roberts smile? In the same shot.”

We didn’t catch this — but it’s not that surprising. The squeaky-clean Chief Justice isn’t afraid of someone eavesdropping on all his calls — he probably tells off telemarketers politely. But Justice Thomas wants some privacy for all those calls to 1-900-BIG-JUGS.

After the jump, additional analysis of reactions from the robed ones.

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8:54 PM Welcome. Wonkette (Original Wonkette) household is tuned to the ‘SPAN right now, where the pandering and gladhanding can be watched without interruption. Everything’s overlit and we’re hoping someone brought a flask.

8:57 PM Arresting Cindy Sheehan. So best. Not clear what they arrested her for, but I trust they’ve been listening to her phone calls and therefore know better than us.

8:59 PM OMG: Wolf on CNN just reference how “good” Dick Cheney looks. Brokeback correspondent? Now a cut to Laura’s box (as it were). Where’s REX?

9:00 PM Mrs. Alito could start crying at any moment. Is that on the drinking game? Who will start crying first, Mrs. Alito or Anderson Cooper?

9:02 PM The Veterans Affairs guy is the one assigned to stay away tonight. Seeing as how he’s the one of the ones demonstrably not doing his job, great planning.

Tipsy typing continues after the jump.

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* House Republicans say corruption is a perceived-reality: “We must realize that the Majority we have all worked so hard for is in jeopardy.” Leadership race will likely become a “referendum on how seriously the party is taking” the scandal. [WP, NYT]
* Republican lawmakers call for White House to disclose records about Jack Abramoff; Abramoff met with Bush during at least six “social occasions.” Anonymous source: “The White House is making too much of a mystery out of this and needs to release the dates, times, details and photos of the visits. It’s not like [Abramoff and Mr. Bush] were plotting to overthrow Iraq.” [LAT, WT]
* Bush will use State of the Union to preview midterm campaign themes and paint optimistic portrait; speech avoids “ambitious” proposals. Senior administration official: “America ought to be leading the way, working to shape events. We’re always better when we’re out there shaping events, rather than being shaped by them.” [LAT, WT]
* Challenge of Bush’s State of the Union falls on William McGurn, the director of White House speechwriting. McGurn: “He seems in a good mood. Part of his good mood, we hope, is that we give him something good to read that reflects what he wants to do.” [NYT, USAT]
* Interior Department offered emergency services and personnel to FEMA in the “immediate aftermath” of Katrina but received a delayed response. [WP, NYT]
* Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.): “I think that the Democrats have to do a much better job in making their case on these issues. These last-minute efforts, using procedural maneuvers inside the Beltway, I think, has been the wrong way of going about it.” [WT]

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• Administration to propose major shift in nuclear energy strategy; program would import spent fuel for “recycling.” [WP]
• Expansion of Health Savings Accounts will be tenet of State of the Union address, Bush says. [WSJ, NYT]
• Democrats seek even more documents related to Katrina. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.): “What do they have to hide? Why don’t they just come forward and say, ‘This is what we knew, when we knew, and this is how we reacted?’” [NYT]
• Partisan divide over eavesdropping widens as Bush visits the NSA and Sen. Hillary Clinton calls his justification “strange” and “far-fetched.” Ken Mehlman: “Not only are the Democrats not learning from costly policy mistakes, they are not learning what happened from the political mistakes of 2002 and 2004.” [WP, NYT, WT]
• Administration rejected 2002 proposal by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) to lower the standards for getting wiretaps of non-citizens approved. [WP]
• Bush “seems unlikely to reshape the political landscape with his speech”; no major initiatives expected. [NYT]
• Samuel Alito makes “victory lap” on Capitol Hill; Bush renominates Brett Kavanaugh to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. [WP]

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