First things first. I didn't watch the State of the Union address last night because for me it has become just another example of how embarrassing our Congress can act when the cameras are rolling.

I am interested in what President Bush considers his priorities and how he would like to deal with them, but I can't stand this choreographed applause, or lack of applause, or the standing ovations, or the refusal to stand for ovations.

This is so childish and irrelevant that it was preferable from my point of view to watch previous seasons of 24 - no kidding I really did - than to waste an hour of my time on Congress. I went to the internet this morning, called up tapes of the president speaking on the issues I care most about, and that was more than enough.

I also could care less about the 'other' party's response. Why do we have to even consider that? The State of the Union address is about the Executive branch of the government discussing its priorities with the Legislative branch and setting an agenda that both branches can work on. It isn't, or didn't use to be, about Republicans and Democrats, and I have no interest in a 'rebuttal' regardless of who is delivering it or their political affiliation.

But what really embarrasses me about the Republicans in Congress is the transparency and gutlessness that accompanied the recent decision by some of them to come up with an anti-Iraq War resolution accompanying the Democrats' ongoing efforts to sabotage our troops and the War on Terror. The Dems say they are certain they can pass a resolution taking President Bush to task for the recent change in strategy on Iraq, and the increase of combat troops.

They plan on doing this while our men are in combat, going into another inner city street fight, which is right up or down there with jungle fighting for complexity and difficulty. They are saying with a straight face that it is only a political repudiation of the president's policy, not a slap at the troops or an attempt to undermine their morale!

Bull! If you want our troops to do the job they signed up to do, and if you want them to succeed, and if you want a shot at a truly peaceful world, and if you want to avoid another entire generation of fighting men and women spending the rest of their useful lives arguing that they really won the damn battles while the stupid, gutless politicians screwed up the whole effort, then you shut up until the operation is over! That is how you support the troops.

They are there. That is a fact, that is reality. No amount of Congressional feel good, knee jerk resolutions is going to change that, or accomplish anything other than giving another group of manipulating politicians some wiggle room when the war is discussed in their next reelection cycle. This in no way supports the troops, because these resolutions serve only to stiffen the resolve of the very enemy our guys are fighting against.

The terrorists, regardless of which group they belong to, are watching us closely, looking for any indication of weakness. Until last summer they only had to look to the American Democratic Party to find lack of resolve. Now they have a group of spineless Republicans to add to their data bases.

If the initiative fails, if our troops aren't properly armed, led, supplied, motivated or directed, then raise hell. But I haven't heard one talking head or one member of Congress who actually has served in combat in a senior leadership role talking about this with anything remotely resembling actual experience or training. Because there are none. So shut up and let the troops do their job without being sabotaged on the home front ... again.

I joined the Republican Party not because I grew up in New York farming country, a Republican stronghold, nor because most of my immediate family members were and are Republicans, some for nearly a century. I joined because as I understood it the core philosophy of the Republican Party is for limited government, no more than is necessary to do the work of our country, and limited taxes, no more than enough to fund the limited government, with a reasonable contingency for emergencies.

That is not what the Republican Party stands for any longer, at least not in Washington, D.C. Is there something in the water down there that turns people into such spineless, ineffective, mindless wimps? Are these people high, or are their brains deteriorating?

In Iraq, we have told the elected government in no uncertain terms that we are going into the worst areas to take out the baddest of the bad guys. We have told Iran and Syria that the party is over, and we will eliminate their weapons supplies, their training facilities and their reinforcements wherever we find them. This is a major shift in direction, but it can and will be done. Count on our troops. Arm them, equip them, give them direction and an objective and they will never let the country down.

But Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, is letting them down and undermining their efforts before they even get off the ground. This is 100 percent political opportunism, created by the 2007 elections, and fear on the part of some in the GOP that they won't get to keep their plum posts for another term.

America didn't accept the Democratic viewpoint in November. It rejected the GOP. Americans are tired of scandal, insincerity, lip service, and phonies. The Dems got in because nature abhors a vacuum, not because they are preferable to the Republicans. Want to win in your next election, win in Iraq! Then tackle immigration and don't give us some sugar-coated excuse for letting a bunch of illegal aliens into the country with full benefits. Do it and do it right. That will get you back into office.

This is another argument in favor of term limits. I have outlined it before, and every time I see something like this it reinforces my belief. Two terms down there and out! Go back home and work for a living like the rest of us.

I've come to expect pro-communist, pro-socialist, and pro-totalitarian initiatives from the Democrats. We have international punks bad mouthing us all over the world and the Dems cringe and agree with the worst that is said about us, rather than standing up for this great country and all the opportunities that exist here.

The Dems act as if any flaw short of absolute perfection (their definition, not mine) is reason to scrap the entire concept of democracy. Now we have Republicans joining them.

Where is the one person in Washington D.C. who will stand up to that pipsqueak in Iran - Green Bean Almandine - and Chavez the communist bully in Venezuela?

OK, our Senators and Representatives are gutless, and have never been in a bloody battle where they took some big time hits and still came out winning. They have no experience in this area. So I'll do if for you.

Chavez, you loudmouthed punk. Eat my shorts! I hope the Saudis drive the price of oil down to $20 a barrel, not because it will make that much difference in my heating oil prices (I use more wood off my own property than oil anyway) but because I want to see you driven right into insolvency. Then we'll see what you're made of.

Regarding our Republican turncoats in the Congress, go take some knitting classes will you? Get out of government. You had your opportunity. You could have done something great. You could have been contenders.

Now, you just make me sick.

Missing Juliet Huddy and Mike Jerrick

For all I have written about the new morning TV news show on the FOX network, starring Juliet Huddy and Mike Jerrick, I found out Monday morning, much to my chagrin, that I won't be able to watch it.

When Fox & Friends was over at 9 a.m. Monday on Fox cable, I tuned in to the Fox Network affiliate Channel 61 in Hartford, all ready to see the new show. My wife and daughter came in to watch because the wanted to see Chris Daughtry, the American Idol finalist from last year who was their favorite, and was a guest for the first show.

But what I got was the same morning show that has been there for a while now. Sorry, I can't remember the hostesses name, I don't watch those shows.

We were understandably disappointed and so I went to the Channel 61 website and sent in an email asking what was going on. I got a reply in pretty short order, which I did appreciate, along with a viable explanation of the station's programming priorities.

It seems that since Mike and Juliet are syndicated, the local stations aren't required to air their show. Since the show that currently is on the local station is a money maker, the management sees no reason to scrap it for an untested show that may or may not be profitable.

OK, I understand TV programming needs and can accept that.

But I still would much rather see Juliet and Mike. So all I can say is "Good luck" and I hope they do a phenomenal job. That way, when Channel 61 reviews its programming again, if Juliet and Mike are doing well, I may finally get a chance to see them again.

I'll be waiting. And that will be my final word on the subject. For now.