Betting on the SOTU

I was looking for something else, and came across this in an Aussie paper:

The latest craze is gambling on US President George Bush's State of the Union address, which falls midway between Christmas and the Superbowl - another great betting event.....

The online betting agency bodog.com claims it has already recorded its highest ever volume in political action in five years.....

The 8/1 odds on 70 or more standing ovations represents good value. At the other end of the scale, they are offering 5/1 on 15 or fewer.

Most of the money is going on how many times Bush uses the words "evil", "Iraq" and "Patriot Act".

Around 90per cent of the action is on the President saying "Iraq" 16 times or more, which is priced at 7/2.

The smart money says he will use the word "evil" twice (2/1) and Patriot Act six to nine times (3/2).

The over/under is 70 standing ovations in a speech under an hour? I know we're supposed to love dear leader, but isn't that a little creepy even for the Stepford congressmen. ("We all love deficits now.") I mean, if this presidency we're a movie, wouldn't you have walked out by now?

And I'd like to put some money down that he's not going to say Bin Laden, that he's going to say the word victory 5 times, and that there's going to be a "new" word that will be overemphasized, like the sudden emergence of "victory" in December. I'm not sure what that word will be yet, but we should get some set up in the days before the speech.