One last State of the Union note. I found this introduction to an NPR interview with a Clinton speechwriter and a Reagan speechwriter on Monday's Morning Edition on a two-term president's last SOTU a little odd:
STEVE INSKEEP, anchor: It's a moment for any president to reflect on his accomplishments, as President Clinton did in his last State of the Union in 2000.
CLINTON: Never before has our nation enjoyed at once, so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis and so few external threats.
How is it that NPR plays that clip thinking that it represents Clinton's accomplishments, instead of his utter cluelessness in retrospect about the gathering storm of 9/11?
I think it's symbolic of the media's tunnel vision that Clinton is never in any way held responsible for the growth and growing confidence and daring of al-Qaeda on his watch.
It was a polite interview with both speechwriters (Clark Judge for Reagan, Terry Edmonds for Clinton), but when Inskeep asked Edmonds if it was hard for Clinton to draw attention for his last SOTU, Edmonds waxed: "I think it was never hard for President Clinton to catch people's attention because he was such a rock star president."
