#state of the union

Hate and fear have no place in the United States. Join our #TrumpWatch BINGO during tonight’s State of the Union to ensure discriminatory rhetoric does not become policy. #SOTU

Michelle Obama wore green Azzedine Alaia cardigan and dress for her husbands State of the Union Address!

First Lady = FLAWLESS

If you’re watching the #SOTU tonight, you might as well have fun. Enjoy my official Trump State of the Union BINGO card – unfortunately, “I know words, I have the best words,” didn’t make the cut. #SOTUBingo

mattbors:

Instant State of the Union Comics

The TL;DR version

kevcirilli:

Obligatory photo of the duck dynasty guy who a GOPer invited to #sotu @politico #washington

ICYMI: yes that was the guy from Duck Dynasty at the SOTU. Thankfully Cory Remsburg got more attention in the end. 

“Because our mission – not only as Republicans, but as Americans, is to once again to ensure that we are not bound by where we come from, but empowered by what we can become. That is the gap Republicans are working to close. It’s the gap we all face: between where you are and where you want to be.”

- Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) in the official GOP response to the SOTU

shortformblog:

I first met Cory Remsburg, a proud Army Ranger, at Omaha Beach on the 65th anniversary of D-Day.  Along with some of his fellow Rangers, he walked me through the program – a strong, impressive young man, with an easy manner, sharp as a tack.  We joked around, and took pictures, and I told him to stay in touch.

A few months later, on his tenth deployment, Cory was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His comrades found him in a canal, face down, underwater, shrapnel in his brain. 

For months, he lay in a coma.  The next time I met him, in the hospital, he couldn’t speak; he could barely move.  Over the years, he’s endured dozens of surgeries and procedures, and hours of grueling rehab every day. 

Even now, Cory is still blind in one eye.  He still struggles on his left side.  But slowly, steadily, with the support of caregivers like his dad Craig, and the community around him, Cory has grown stronger. Day by day, he’s learned to speak again and stand again and walk again – and he’s working toward the day when he can serve his country again. 

“My recovery has not been easy,” he says. “Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy." 

Cory is here tonight.  And like the Army he loves, like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg never gives up, and he does not quit. 

The story behind Cory Remsburg, Michelle Obama’s guest for the night, from the SOTU speech.

TENTH DEPLOYMENT. Something to think about.

ourtimeorg:

What did you think?

kategardiner:

. @redrawnoxen for @newsweek #sotu #sotu14

Live SOTU illustration is happening over at Newsweek.

theatlantic:

How Presidents Talk About Women in SOTU Speeches

Though contraception is rarely mentioned in State of the Union addresses, it might make an appearance tonight, since President Obama is expected to highlight the protections of the Affordable Care Act, one of which is free birth control. If so, it would be in keeping with a general trend of women and women’s issues playing a greater role in State of the Union speeches over the years.

Read more.[Image: Brad Borevitz]

Prescient post by the Atlantic - though the mention of women so far in the SOTU was far more direct than just talking about contraception: it was equal work for equal pay.

theatlantic:

The State of the Union That Left ‘WASHINGTON AMAZED’

In the early afternoon of April 8, 1913, Woodrow Wilson took a trip down Pennsylvania Avenue. His destination? The U.S. Capitol, where he would deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress. 

It was a brief journey that would be repeated by subsequent presidents every year, with varying proportions of enthusiasm and obligation—and with a few notable exceptions—for the next century. It would be conducted with such regularity that the State of the Union address ranks, at this point, among the most routinized of our political spectacles.

At the time, however, Wilson’s speech was revolutionary. In that it was a speech at all.

Read more.[Image: Library of Congress]

Before 9pm ET tonight, take a few mins to read this short piece about the speech that started the SOTU tradition.

Margaret Cho offers her mini-guide to surviving the Trump presidency.

Did Obama reveal the plot synopsis for Episode 7 during his State of the Union speech?

The Deep State has leaked Trump’s Notes for the 2018 State of the Union address. From Operative X

Obama’s State Of The Union In 8 Words Or Less.