State Of The Union: There's a great article over on Slate about how the SOU became the dog and pony show it is today. Just imagine a president these days saying "I must say to you that the state of the Union is not good." Gerald Ford said that in 1975, which does not seem so terribly long ago. Admitting that there are problems is always an absolute prerequisite to useful debate on solutions. I remember a similar feeling of disbelief/nausea during the 2004 primaries and general when it seemed like we were having a Sunshine-off.

In other SOU news, for those of you wishing to drown the pain of incompetence, corpulent rhetoric, and idolatry (what else could the American Idol style clap-o-meter they've got going during the speech be?) with ethanol, I direct you to the official State of the Union Drinking Game.

All grievances aside, the SOU is still a very important yearly event as it indicates not so much what the administration will focus on, but what they want to be seen to focus on, which is just as informative.