SOTU cameras trained rightward? UPDATED

Everyone else in the whole world is commenting on content, and Pajamas Media has a terrific round-up, so let me comment on superficials.

Was it just me or did anyone else think the pool camera was trained primarily on the GOP side of the room? I was stuck by the unusual angle which often obliterated the left, and wondered if the Dems preferred it, so America would not get a good sense of their hand-sitting and sneers?

I can’t imagine the Democrats thought they looked good – and reassuring to the nation – by NOT standing when when the president vowed we would not sit around waiting to be attacked, again. Kobayashi Maru has some thoughts that – while not absolutely connected to the SOTU – are still worth reading and considering. Has the whole Democrat party become tone deaf, or are they feeling so intimidated by the extreme left that they’ve simply lost their bearings? ABP wonders about this, as well.

Betsy Newmark’s students noticed the Democrats and were unimpressed.

Everyone is talking about Hillary Clinton’s odd “smiling while shaking head negatively” shot. I was more taken with her utterly stone-cold demeanor when Bush cracked a joke including her husband. Sister Frigidaire in full flower. Alessandra Stanley in the NY Times explained it all, though and made her excuses for Hillary”s traditional, predictable face-making: TV cameras often seek out Mrs. Clinton because she does not always control her features when Mr. Bush has the floor.

Awwww…bad old tv cameras, seeking out Hillary all by themselves! Hillary’s just so genuine, she can’t help her facial expressions. Actually, I believe that. I believe the eye-rolling, snarling, robo-applauding being in that chair is the genuine article. And I don’t want it in the Oval Office.

Biggest missed opportunity: When the Democrats sprang to their feet, applauding themselves for doing absolutely nothing to strengthen social security, Bush missed a chance to make a huge point to the American people. He should have looked right at the camera and said to America, “I wonder if, 12 or 13 years from now, when Social Security goes bust, you’ll remember which side of the aisle was congratulating itself for doing nothing…”

Best line: “hindsight alone is not wisdom and second-guessing is not a strategy”

That should be the ’06 campaign motto of the GOP.

The Dems would have booed and hissed, and called it unfair, and the after-speech shows would have stroked out…but it would have made the point, and been memorable. Ah, well. Glad it’s over. A new day comes – more news on the way.

Btw – is John Kerry really this dumb?

UPDATE: While no doubt Cindy Sheehan will squeeze her latest arrest for every bit of attention she can get, it’s worth noting that protests t-shirts against Clinton also got you thrown out of places. And as you see here people protest all the time. No one is being shut up. But if you’ve got a ticket to the SOTU, maybe you should grow up and dress appropriately. Tammy Bruce nails her perfectly as a malignant narcissist out to make the SOTU all about herself. The press has created its masterpiece of media whoredom in Sheehan, and I think they’re going to end up regretting it.