The Embarrassing State of Our Union


Are you going to a party tonight to listen to the empty ritual of State of the Union speech? Me? No. I’ll be watching or listening, whatever I think I can handle in a given moment. I’ll be trying to avoid shallow, inane commentary. I can’t guarantee the following won’t be shallow or inane, but I’m fairly sure they won’t be part of the confused 33% (or 28%, depends who you read).

I’ll be at home, grumbling, and choosing from among these possibilities.

  • Think Progress blog “will respond in real-time to the President’s speech. They will fact-check the Presidentís statements and provide sharp, detailed analysis of the facts behind the rhetoric.”
  • Mic Check Radio, the American Progress “Action Fund’s daily online tear-sheet for radio hosts and producers, goes live from our own radio studio, broadcasting a Progressive Talk Radio Special. Christy Harvey, a frequent Al Franken show contributor and founder of MicCheck, will host the program, offering insight, analysis and humor.”

Tomorrow, among the thousands of radio signals, you will find the following.

  • John Podesta will be on the Diane Rehm show. Listen on NPR or online.
  • George Lakoff will be on the Brian Lehrer show on New York Public Radio. You can listen from their website if you aren’t in NYC.

The Center for American Progress has published a series of in-depth stories and talking points on the topics likely to be covered in the speech.

At least by listening, watching, and typing with Progressives during the speechifying, you might be able to convince yourself that it isn’t your fault that so much of the world thinks so little of the U.S. You know it is the unstable George Bush who continues to unite the world, against him. Even he seems to smirk less and acknowledge more lately, even while he has yet to acknowledge the deteriorating state he has caused within our union.

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Connecting the dots of political news stories that whip me into a screaming frenzy, while fighting the rise of extremism and reinforcing the necessity of community.