Tonight at 9 PM EST, I am going to be liveblogging Bush's State of the Union speech -- which is more of a sacrifice than you might think given that I am going to skip the People of the Ethical Treatment of Animals State of Union.

Why would I want to see that? Well, here's their description,

Tired of Bush? PETA's second annual State of the Union Undress offers Americans a sexy, fun alternative to the President's State of the Union speech this evening. Watch as a sultry PETA member uncovers the truth about animal abuse while she strips off all her clothes for an enthralled audience. As she says in her rousing speech: "If the citizens of this country are truly going to distance themselves from an outdated, oppressive mentality of cruelty and violence against animals, we will be required first to cast aside our prejudice … our blindness to injustice … our fear of change … and, occasionally, our underwear."

And the girl? Very easy on the eyes,

Too bad she's an animal rights nut. Still, in order to be thorough, for you, the RWN reader, I will probably check in here and there to see what she's saying about animals or cars or gardening -- whatever, doesn't really matter.

9:03: Still waiting for this to get started.

9:05: Barbara and Jenna are in the gallery and still looking hot.

9:09: Getting started.

9:10: Starting off with lots of fluff.

9:11: George seems to have a little more pep than usual tonight.

9:12: A record 52 straight months of job growth. You don't hear that on the evening news. Still...wait, what is Nancy doing with her lips there? Looks like she's sucking on a lemon slice.

9:13: Make the tax cuts permanent. 100 million plus Americans. W. send in your checks or money orders if you want to pay more. Taxes are high enough.

9:15: I will veto any bill that raises taxes. Republican clapping, Democrats sitting their sullenly at the idea of not being able to raise taxes.

9:15: Bush will cut 100 wasteful prorams.

9:16: I asked you to voluntarily cut earmarks. You didn't do it. So now, any bill that doesn't cut earmarks in half, I veto. Republicans applaud. Democrats don't. Bush, no more earmarks that aren't voted on will go through.

He should stop here because he isn't going to top this.

9:18: Reform Fannie May and Freddie Mac. Tax free bonds to help homeowners. Cut to Hillary halfway paying attention. Expand consumer choice, not government control of health care. Republicans love it, Democrats love government control. Awesome health care reform. Republicans applaud fighting junk medical lawsuits. Democrats are apparently fans of junk lawsuits because they don't applaud.

9:20: Test scores going up. No Child Left Behind is a bipartisan achievement. Hahaah. They cut to Ted Kennedy. He's not applauding the No Child Left Behind Act, which he helped write and pass.

9:21 Pell Grants for kids. $300 million.

9:22: Working to break down trade barriers. Excellent. Working to pass free trade agreements. We want agreements with Colombia, Panama, South Korea. I hope they pass. We'll see. This will help get our products in front of 100 million new customers. Tepid applause from the Democrats for saying that American products are the best in the world.

9:24: Trade can cost jobs for Americans, too. We need to help these displaced workers find new skills and jobs.

9:27: Everybody applauds clean energy technology. Somebody really old, already asleep. Not sure who that was. We need more energy. Invest in this and that. Why are we helping India and China? International agreement on greenhouse gasses? Is that some...agreement will be effective only if every economy agrees and gives no one a free ride. Ok, nothing to it because China and India won't do it. Hillary looks bored.

9:28: Congress should double spending on physical sciences. Everybody applauds that. New spending, after all.

9:28: We no longer need embryonic stem cells. Republicans applaud. Democrats are apparently unhappy we no longer need to destroy human life for science. No applause. Pass legislation that bans cloning and selling of human life.

9:30: Stop holding up my judges! Where have the Republicans in the Senate been on this? Mitch McConnell, I'm looking at you.

9:31: I ask you to permanently extend charitable choice. No discrimination against faith based charities.

9:31: Uh-oh! Canada, Mexico, and the US meet in New Orleans. The North American Union Fruit loops are going to freak out.

9:32: Congress hasn't done anything about Social Security or Medicaid. Some other old guy asleep. Wasn't sure who that was. Bush asks Congress to give him ideas if they don't like his.

9:33: Immigration. We're doing more worksite enforcement. No catch and release. We will have doubled border patrol agents. Bush wants lawful way for foreign workers to come here. We have that don't we? We must find a sensible and humane way to deal with people who are here. Ehr...harass them until they leave? I don't think that's what he is going for.

9:35: Condi -- still looking kind of foxy. Bush, lots of people have become free and it is inspiring. Terrorists are still around though. Grim reminders -- terrorists oppose liberty, depise America, and want to subject millions to their violent rule. We will stay on the offense. We will deliver justice to our enemies. Even Democrats stand up for that.

9:37: It's interesting that he lumped Palestine as one of the countries where terrorists are fighting against freedom since the government, on both sides, is comprised of terrorists. We're sending more Marines to Afghanistan (cough cough because NATO isn't up to it cough cough). Afghanistan is important.

9:39: The surge is working in Iraq. The Iraqi people realize something dramatic has happened. Our troops are doing a great job and everyone appreciates it. Applause line for the whole chamber.

9:42: 80k Iraqi citizens are fighting the terrorists. 100k new Iraqi troops from Government. Few realized we could have this much progress. Republicans applaud. Democrats are apparently unhappy about progress. No applause. We beating Al-Qaeda into the ground. Osama Bin Laden is complaining that Iraqis have turned on him. Some may deny that the surge is working, but Al-Qaeda knows it is. They're on the run and we will defeat them. Even Democrats stand for that.

9:45: Our troops from the surge are starting to come home as they succeed. We will give troops all they need to protect our nation. I want Congress to meet their responsibilities by fully funding the troops.

9:46: Our enemies in Iraq have been hit hard, but they are not yet defeated. American troops are shifting from leading to partnering with Iraqis. 20k of our troops are coming home. No timeframe. Everyone applauds that. Any further drawdown will be based on conditions in Iraq and recommendations of our commanders. We have come this far, let's not screw everything up by yanking people out too quickly.

9:48: The Iraqi government is slowly but surely doing the right thing. It's vitally important we succeed in Iraq. It would be a disaster if we failed. When the momentum favored Al-Qaeda, they said they wouldn't rest until they attacked us in Washington. We won't rest either until they've been defeated.

9:51: The Palestinians have elected a President who wants peace? Really? When did that happen? This afternoon? A peace agreement for a Democratic state for the Palestinians this year? That's crazy talk.

9:52: Iran's rulers are bad people. They support terrorists and are causing problems for us in Iraq and are enriching uranium. We like the people or Iran. Leaders of Iran, come clean about the nukes, cease support for terror, and we will confront those who threaten our troops and defend our interests in the Persian Gulf. Sounds hollow. What have we done to confront the Iranians helping the insurgents attack our troops so far?

9:53: There was a plot to fly a plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles and blow up planes. We stopped it. Our ability to track terrorists will be disrupted if you don't act by Friday. Republicans cheer ensuring our security. Democrats don't clap.

9:56: We oppose genocide in Sudan. We lead the fight against global poverty.

9:57: We provide half of the world's food aid. When was the last time you heard that brought up? We have treated more than a million with our Aids relief. Double our initial committment to fighting AIDS to 30 billion? Good grief. That's way, way, way, way, way, too much. Sounds like legacy building to me.

9:59: We have increased funding for veterans 95%. Improve the system of care for our wounded warriors that Shalala and Bob Dole recommended. Lots of applause. Sounds good.

10:00: More childcare, transfer unused education benefits to spouses and children, sounds good. That we can support. Everyone should military families. Absolutely.

10:01: "We the people..." Beacon of hope for millions. Trust the American people and the state of our union will remain strong. Confidence in freedom's power. Let's do the people's business.

Summary: Bush did a better job than he usually does. The earmark stuff was fantastic. Keep supporting the surge -- good. The Aids relief and forcing a Palestinian peace agreement -- not so good. All in all, not perfect, but a pretty good state of the union and if he sticks to his guns on earmarks, it'll be a big deal.