What’s more tedious: the State of the Union, or SOTU blogging? I’ll pass.

The Democratic response is far more interesting — Jim Webb criticizes the Iraq war from first premises, implicitly indicting his colleagues who voted for the resolution authorizing force along with President Bush:

Many, including myself, warned even
before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy
and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading
and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most
violent and turbulent corner of the world.

… The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings
from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of
staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command,
whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long
experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held
hostage to the predictable — and predicted — disarray that has followed.

The war’s costs to our nation have been staggering.

Financially.

The damage to our reputation around the world.

The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism.

And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped
forward to serve.