shouting loudly

NY Times: How many times did Bush say “nectarine”?

The New York Times has created a searchable database for studying the words used during Bush’s State of the Union addresses.

The database provides a total of how many times he’s used a word in each speech, and you can see each use of a word in its context. Play with it for a minute; it’s fun.

In seven speeches, Bush has often mentioned the countries he has invaded (e.g., “Iraq/Iraqi(s)” 124 times), but he has mentioned “diplomacy” or “diplomatic” just 8 times. Here’s a choice use in context:

Americans can have confidence in the outcome of this struggle, because we’re not in this struggle alone. We have a diplomatic strategy that is rallying the world to join in the fight against extremism.

He’s used “terror” and its derivatives 145 times, but he’s used “bipartisan” just 6 times, including a goose egg this year. “Tax”? 101 times. “Uninsured”? Twice. “Opportunity”? 24. “Equality”? Once (2001). He’s used “business” 27 times, but he’s only used the word “labor” once (2004), and here it is in context:

As long as the Middle East remains a place of tyranny and anger, it will continue to produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends. … I will send you a proposal to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy, and to focus its new work on the development of free elections, and free markets, free press, and free labor unions in the Middle East.

Here are some other words that Bush has simply not used in any of the seven addresses:

minimum wage
affirmative action
contraceptive/contraception
Enron
fraud/defraud/stockholder
antitrust
privacy
copyright
bilingual (Spanish: once, in 2001, referring to a Spanish teacher)
Canada/Canadian
Mexico/Mexican

Anyway, yeah, fun toy. Give it a try.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention; thanks to Annenberg librarian Sharon Black for the tip. If only it were on her blog, CommPilings.

UPDATE TWO: One more big set of zeroes in this year’s address: hurricane/katrina/new orleans/louisiana. And folks who are helping clean up are hopping mad, according to NPR. (Follow the link to see a picture of a VERY angry man at the podium.)