As President Bush prepares to deliver the State of the Union Address tonight to a joint session of Congress, his poll numbers are now at the lowest level of any President since Richard Nixon. This, of course, is a direct consequence of his continuing the fight in a war a majority of Americans no longer support. Congressional support is growing for a variety of resolutions that would indicate opposition to the troop surge in a non-binding way, and there are efforts to try and use the power of the purse to actually block the surge. Katrina Vanden Huevel lists the various players and their legislation in this piece in which she urges Congress to use its power to bring the war to a close. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, U.S. troops are already beginning to put into place the new strategy of "clear and hold" by establishing outposts in the neighborhoods. The strategy was primarily formulated by General Petraeus, who will testify before Congress today as part of his confirmation as a four-star General. He will then leave for Iraq to take command. The early effort, according to this piece in the Washington Post, will involve stabilizing the mixed neighborhoods before moving on to the tougher parts of town. He is certainly going to need time to accomplish the mission, if it is even possible.

Meanwhile, Al Qaeda is still trying to put together another attack against us here at home, the recent Chinese satellite kill joins a list of other threats facing the nation, and our staunchest ally in the Middle East is suffering a crisis of confidence that may embolden the radical Islamists to even more extreme action.

2007 is shaping up to be a sobering year.