"This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead."

That is the second sentence of Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address. Bush wastes no time in applying what Ramage calls a "stasis" approach. Taken in social context, it is clear that the "decisive days" mentioned here refer to the time when the decision must be made as to whether or not the United States should go to war with Iraq. In his opening statement, Bush does not directly ask a "proposal question," but instead he implies one: "What should we do about this thing?" As Ramage mentions, the SOUA is not typically a time to try to suggest something as drastic and controversial as war. Yet Bush, from the very start of his address, is preparing his audience to digest a rhetorical act that will attempt to frame going to war with Iraq as the best possible answer to the looming question of "what should we do about this thing?"

What happened to choices B, C, and D?

Near the end of the speech, Bush comes off as either utterly confident, or profoundly ignorant:

"In two years, America has gone from a sense of invulnerability to an awareness of peril; from bitter division in small matters to calm unity in great causes. And we go forward with confidence, because this call of history has come to the right country."

Perhaps "language is the only reality" is the basis for Bush's statements here? If he says it enough times, maybe it will become true? The idea of "ambient persuasion," I suppose, would be Ramage's take on that strategy. At play here is that notion that is people hear something said enough times, it takes on an air of truth. And Bush certainly needed the power of that air of truth, as even before the bombs were dropped, I don't think the state of this country in regards to the war could be described as one of "calm unity" or "confidence" with any reasonable degree of accuracy. It's difficult to say, exactly, how ignorant Bush was to this dissent, or if he was simply too caught up in his own priorities.

Either way, it's tragic.