State of the Union, continued

I think no politically savy person expects the "State of the Union" address to apprise Congress of the present state of the Union, so much as to outline the direction the President would like to take the country in the future.

So what is the current condition of our nation? If you want an answer to that, this is not the blog for you; untrained in the arts of politics, economics, and sociology, I am inadaquate to attempt any reasonably sufficient answer. I do know, however, that yesterday was very remarkable in aspects other than its being the date selected for the delivery of the State of the Union.

Samuel Alito was sworn in today as our nation's 110th Supreme Court justice, after being confirmed by a Senate vote of 58 to 42; the decision was almost entirely along party lines, with only one Republican and four Democrats casting votes contrary to partisan expectations. With Alito sworn in, the retirement of Justice O'Connor, who submitted her letter of resignation last July (effective upon finding a replacement), became official.

As Justice Alito's confirmation formalized Sandra O'Connor's resignation, Alan Greenspan's retirement today opened the way for Ben Bernanke to take the helm as the Fed's 14th Chairman.

Civil rights activist, and widow of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King passed away today. No one has been nominated, confirmed, or sworn in to take her place. [Perhaps my liberal friends will comment that the death of Mrs. King is an apropos and prescient comment on the direction of civil rights, in as much as her passing coincides with ascention of Justice Alito to the High Court, but I am not so cynical.] In his preamble to the State of the Union address, President Bush commented that "Tonight we are comforted by the hope of a glad reunion with him who loved her most." [This was a change from the original submitted to the media, "Tonight we are comforted by the hope of a glad reunion with the husband who was taken from her so long ago."] I was unsure if he were referring to a reunion between Mrs. King and her late husband, or Mrs. King and Jesus.

A recap:
Justice Samuel Alito in
Sandra Day O'Connor out
Alan Greenspan out
Ben Bernanke in
Coretta Scott King out (no replacement)

There has not been a date in recent memory whose events so aptly reflect the truism that the rate of change in our world increases with each passing day. These are indeed times of change.