Twang-harangue

Listening to just the audio portion of a televised speech can alter one's perspective, so I have to admit that I listened to, but did not watch, Bush's speech at the Deere-Hitachi factory in North Carolina.

To me, Bush sounded more off-pitch than usual. At one point, the Bush twang-harangue got so thick I wondered, Why are you so contemptuous of us?

But hey, that's just me. Wes Pruden thought that Bush's speech conveyed — here it comes — almost Reaganesque optimism.

Somehow I didn't feel optimistic being told that it was a truly innovative privilege for Americans to have higher medical insurance deductibles.

It didn't make me feel optimistic being told that the Hartsell family of North Carolina saved $2,200 on their 2004 federal taxes (lucky duckies) because of the Bush tax cuts when I know that paying for the Bush war is going to cost them much more than that for a long, long time to come.

And it only made me feel insulted to hear the Texas oilman say: "I mean, one of these days, hopefully, the President sits down, opens up the crop report and says, my, we've got a lot of corn, it means we're less dependent on foreign sources of energy." Yeah, right.

And I don't even want to imagine what totally ruinous ideas are being propulsed through Grover Norquist's lower intestines when Bush talks about the unfairness to taxpayers when the federal government has to step in and meet the pension obligations of huge corporations that have crapped out on their responsibilities.

Still, the speech had its fun moments.

Like when Bush said: "This economy of ours is on the move" [pick your outsourcing country of choice] and "We've been wise with your money." Bush's speechwriters are way wicked.