Today's must-read:

Q Here's what Jim Webb, senator from Virginia, said in his Democratic response last night. He said:

"The President took us into the war recklessly. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable and predicted disarray that has followed."

And it's not just Jim Webb, it's some of your good Republican friends in the Senate and the House, are now seriously questioning your credibility because of the blunders, of the failures. All right, Gordon Smith --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Wolf, Wolf, I simply don't accept the premise of your question. I just think it's hogwash. Remember --

Q What, that there were no blunders? The President himself says there were blunders --

Read it all.

Ever want to know the full list of gchat/googletalk (the chat feature inside gmail that uses the jabber protocol) smileys? Here they all are!

A forgettable State of the Union speech, overall. No human-animal hybrids, or references to steroids. Overall, actually, quite a snoozer.

The one bright spot that I felt occurred afterward, with the Democratic response. For the first time in years, I felt like the Dems hit back hard and strong. Senator Webb's closing statement that if Bush didn't lead, that "we" would, was great. I'm glad that others agree with me.

This worries me.

Good ads are a rarity in politics.

So tonight, feel free to join me at Tonic, in the fond hope that we'll get to see the President issue a stirring call to arms for human-animal hybrids in the State of the Union speech.

On a more serious note, let's check those polls:

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Jan. 16-19, 2007. Adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Approve 33 Disapprove 65

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Nancy Pelosi is handling her job as speaker of the House?

Approve 54 Disapprove 25

Wow. Pelosi is killing him! Something tells me the SotU won't help Bush out unless he makes his getaway in a hydrogen-powered car.

I was waiting for the bus to take me home today when I noticed two WMATA employees chatting to passengers at the stop while simultaneously monitoring radio traffic on their sets. Apparently, a series of manhole covers had exploded on 16th st, derailing traffic.

As they stood and joked with the riders, a car driving down 14th st hit his horn in frustration that some pedestrians weren't walking fast enough. Immediately, one of the WMATA guys looked over and said to the car, "Hey, where do you think you are? New York? This ain't New York! That's not how we do it!" to which the other riders all chimed in with their stories of how New York drivers stank, or of "that time" they saw someone in DC incongruously hitting their horn in a non-DC fashion.

Second only to our habit of waiting in lines patiently, people here simply do not use their horns. It's what makes DC such a great city. (The downside is that this similar level of politeness extends to the metro escalator system...DC riders never do more than simply cough when someone stands on the left-hand side)

If it's going to be this cold, it should snow. Falling snow in DC make the entire town seem different, somehow.

I'm hoping it will stick, but for all of you complaining about the cold, here's some july grass to keep you up:

For now, I'm hoping for more white flakes.

For some of us, MLK day comes late. But an icy cold sunny day is a good way to spend it.