THE PROCESSION: One more quote from Lileks. I think he's absolutely right that the SOTU speech is is the first of several comming in short succession, with a definite pattern and buildup in mind:

Compared to last year, an underwhelming speech - but the more I think about it the less that bothers me; it’s probably the right speech for the time. Hard bones to gnaw, not fresh meat you can chomp and bolt. This will be seen as the first of four speeches - the SOTU, the Bush/Blair speech, Powell’s UN speech, and Bush’s address from the Oval Office the night the war begins. I think it was written with that procession in mind, which might explain its tenor.