Last night's State of the Union Speech was, as always, a fascinating spectacle -- a view into the pageantry and hypocrisy that is Washington. As the president entered and exited the House Chamber he was showered with handshakes and back slaps from Democrats who ordinarily wouldn't have given him the time of day. They were eager to be seen by the cameras as the president slowly made his way to the rostrum. Just to put a pinpoint on the hypocrisy of it all, the biggest annual grandstander during the Bush years has been Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, who always wore red (ironically) so as to be more noticeable on TV, and who made a big show of whispering sweet nothings in Bush's ear while grasping his hand and sporting a huge smile. Never mind that this is the same McKinney who introduced a resolution of impeachment against President Bush in 2006! Alas, Ms. McKinney was defeated in the 2006 midterm elections and was prominently missing from last night's speech.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were present, however. Hillary sat dour and stone faced through the speech, managing to clap on occasion but clearly uncomfortable watching George Bush stand where she thinks she will be standing next year. I'm sure she spent the evening composing her own version of the speech in her head, which would focus on her having raised taxes, instituted a universal health plan and removed all US troops from Iraq -- all within the first 100 days of her presidency. She just can't wait!

Barack sat next to his new best friend, Teddy Kennedy, who was so intently reading the evening's program that he looked positively mesmerized. Perhaps it was the cocktail menu for the after-party. In any event, Obama has put his fate firmly in the hands of the Kennedy family, and though it may play to the base, one wonders how those images and speeches will look during a general election campaign should he make it that far.

And it is always interesting to see what the Democrats, as the opposition party, clap and cheer for in the president's speech. They gave a rousing ovation to Bush's support on global warming, alternative energy research and African AIDS relief. But they were stone silent on making the tax cuts permanent and passing a long-term bill to protect the ability for our national intelligence community to eavesdrop on terrorist's foreign communications, including providing tort protection for telecommunications companies who work to assist the government. What a big surprise -- they want to spend more of our money, appease the ACLU and protect the interests of the trial bar.

Perhaps most depressing was watching the Democrats stand and cheer the military's effort in Afghanistan and Iraq, and particularly the portion of the Bush speech that addressed the surge's success. After spending almost the entire first year of their majority trying to derail the surge and abandon Iraq, the Democrats actually had the nerve to stand and applaud the very success that they had worked so hard to destroy.

I guess de Tocqueville was right when he wrote that "In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve".