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Finally, a Politico piece with which most warring partisans and virtually all Americans would agree, "10 SOTU gripes hours before speech":

1) The speech doesn’t accomplish anything.
2) The action is predictable.
3) So are the storylines.
4) The speech is overhyped.
5) The format is outdated.
6) Enough with the press releases.
7) And the standing ovations.
8) And the invited celebrities.
9) And the fashion.

and

10) The whole thing is just boring.

Yet each year the media hype multiplies with a rabbity exponentiation--which, I suppose, is necessary to compensate for the oppressive fact that the whole thing is just incredibly boring.

***

As if to prove how boring, an accompanying Politico piece reprints the House Republican Conference's talking points, which insomniacs everywhere should keep at their bedside:

With President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) Address on deck tonight, House Republicans have a unique opportunity to counter the President’s message with one of more opportunity, more prosperity, and less government. It is no secret that the president is expected to give an aggressive speech that will lay out a very liberal agenda for his second term. It is critical that we are on offense.

There's a bit more, but you're probably dozing off already ...

Comments

[dr.e]

Zzzzzzzz..... Thanks for the nap. Now I'm refreshed and able to participate in Fat Tuesday!

[Robert Lipscomb]

I love the State of the Union address - and the rebuttals.

Presidential election campaignsgo on for a year or two of sound bites: commercials, campaign speeches, opening and closing statements for "debates", "debates", television "news reports", and so on. The SOTU is something else again.

The president gets to stand and look at the House, the senate, the Supreme Court, Americans and people around the world and tell a complete, whole story of where he stands and where he intends to go. There is no real time limit. There is no Mitt Romney interrupting him. There is nowhere to hide. The supposedly most powerful man in the world is held accountable in public.

Of course there are no big surprises. That is a good thing. Freedom of the press (lazy, incompetent and biased as they might be) ensures a remarkable amount of transparency in our government. If you have ever had to go through an annual review, you know that while there are rarely surprises, there is something especially onerous about justifying your last year of work. You cannot get by with comparisons of co-workers, no grading on the curve ("Well, I don't suck as much as Mitt Romney.") Let's face it we are the most demanding bosses in the world.

If that is not enough, one (or two) of his co-workers who wishes him the worst gets rip him apart in rebuttal, uninterupted with no real tme constraints.

Then they pass everything around to everyone in the company for review and comment.

Imagine telling Caesar Augustus to submit to that. Then, try to get everyone to believe it is boring.

The most btrying for me were Bill Clinton's. Then, I realized that the 60 seconds he spent on some small arcane matter (not worthy of a SOTU address) was one of the most important things in the speech to a million or more people. If Obama has a line about the USPS, and if you find that boring, imagine being a postal employee or their family.

I know, I am always the contrarian. :-)

[Peter G]

If Obama weren't such a compelling speaker I'd be tempted to agree with you, or rather that Politico piece. I used to like to watch Clinton too. George not so much but I did out of some demented foblo. Lately however the GOP replies have been such comic gold, particularly the TP reply, that I wouldn't miss it for the world.

[Robert Lipscomb]

Obama calls out the Supreme Court over Americans United.

A congressman yells, "You lie!"

Ted nugent in attendance.

Maybe one congressman will cane another one to death.

[Beauzeaux]

Robert -- You're correct in every detail. But I still can't watch. I read about it the next day. The full text is readily available. The real-time viewing is both far too slow and far too compelling at the same time, if that makes any sense.