US: The longest standing ovation during the State of the Union speech on Wednesday evening came when President George Bush introduced two guests in the gallery from Pflugerville, Texas. They were Ms Janet and Mr Bill Norwood, whose son Byron, a Marine sergeant, was killed in Iraq.
Looking up at them, Mr Bush related what Ms Norwood had written to him after her son's death. "When Byron was home the last time, I said that I wanted to protect him like I had since he was born," she stated.
"He just hugged me and said: 'You've done your job, mom. Now it's my turn to protect you.'"
A wave of patriotic emotion engulfed the chamber as the Norwood parents got awkwardly to their feet.
Mrs Norwood then fell into the arms of Iraqi woman Ms Safia Taleb al-Suhail, who had been sitting beside First Lady Laura Bush. Mr Bush gazed up at the gallery, clenched his jaw, his lips working as if to stifle a sob, as the two women embraced tightly, crying.
Moments earlier, the second-longest ovation had been given to Ms Suhail.
Her father, Mr Bush said, was killed by Saddam Hussein's intelligence officers 11 years ago and she wanted to thank the American people, and most of all, the soldiers, for ending the "Saddam occupation" and allowing her to vote on Sunday.
She held up a finger still faintly purple with dye from voting, then raised a second finger to give a 'V for Victory' sign. Cheers welled up from the throats of hundreds of Congress members.
Many had stained their own fingers on ink pads at the chamber door and they pointed them heavenwards like baseball fans after a home run.
It was the most dramatic moment in what has become the show-business hour of American politics. It began with the President making his usual theatrical entrance, walking up to the podium like a film star at the Oscars, receiving the applause and back-claps of friend and foe alike. He sported a red tie, this year's political fashion colour.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also wore a red tie as did several senators, including Joe Biden, Dick Lugar and Harry Reid. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison wore a bright red suit.
Then came the ritual jumping up and down for standing ovations marking the end of almost every sentence the President uttered. While he grinned and winked, the TV cameras picked up the strained smile of the loser in the election, Senator John Kerry, who fingered his red tie and smiled bravely throughout.
The Vice-president, Dick Cheney - his bright crimson tie along with the president's making the podium a little "red state" - smiled benignly throughout, savouring a night of triumph that neo-conservatives have long waited for.
Mr Bush's fourth State of the Union address came in the wake of good news for an administration bent on spreading democracy, mainly the successful elections in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Georgia and Ukraine. There were no phrases like "axis of evil" in this speech.
But there were still three villains on Mr Bush's global landscape. Syria took the place of Iraq alongside North Korea and Iran.
There were no declarations of empire-building either, though we were left to guess what Mr Bush meant when he directed his remarks to the Iranian people: "As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."
There was no sniping at "Old Europe" as happened last year, but rather a recognition of the fact that Europe sees a convergence of interests in helping the new Iraqi democracy get off the ground.
Nor was there any indication of when US troops might leave Iraq. "We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe they can wait us out," Mr Bush declared.
He didn't this time mention Weapons of Mass Destruction or al-Qaeda links as justification for invading Iraq, but couldn't resist repeating the line which always got a cheer in campaign speeches: "Our men and women in uniform are fighting terrorists in Iraq, so we do not have to face them here at home."
Altogether, there were 61 interruptions for applause during the address, and the Democrats joined in when the sentiment did not irritate them too much. But for many of Mr Bush's utterances on domestic programmes, the Democrats stayed sitting.
There was no Democratic cheer when he said he supported a constitutional amendment "to protect the institution of marriage", a promise which is unlikely to amount to anything.
In a recent interview Mr Bush candidly expressed doubts that such an amendment could get through Congress.
When the President emphasised that any judges he nominated deserved an up-and-down vote in the Senate, there was raucous cheering from the Republicans, and more sitting on hands by stony-faced Democrats.
One of the President's first actions after being re-elected was to resubmit to the Senate a list of two dozen judges who had been filibustered by Democrats who thought them too conservative.This was a declaration that they will be pushed through this time, even if it means changing Senate rules.
But the most jarring note of partisan rancour came when Mr Bush spoke about his plans to semi-privatise social security by allowing Americans to use some of the money they now pay as social security tax into an investment account. An audible chorus of "No" came from the Democratic bloc when Mr Bush said: "By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt." This is what the social security trustees say, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the programme will stay solvent for another 10 years, and even then will still be able to pay 80 per cent of benefits.
Sitting behind Mr Bush - and for some reason not wearing a red tie - the House Speaker Dennis Hastert seemed to narrow his eyes and scan the audience looking for any lack of enthusiasm among his own Republican flock. Some of them have expressed unease about interfering with a popular programme.
The Democrats bristled again when Mr Bush said he would allow workers to put some of their social security taxes into investment savings accounts that "will provide money for retirement over and above the cheque you will receive from social security".
What he didn't say was that the cheque would be smaller. There was also no mention of the estimated $750 billion that the US would have to borrow by 2015 to make up the shortfall. There is a huge problem in maintaining social security at its present level later this century and Mr Bush said no option was off the table.
But many Democrats believe that it is a manufactured crisis - just like Iraq - and that Mr Bush is really trying to make every American a Republican by uncoupling them from a New Deal government programme and linking them to Wall Street. This will be the big fight in the president's second term, and will be the one that determines his legacy for most ordinary Americans.
The full text of President Bush's State of the Union address may be read at http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/special/2005/