There are better rituals

You know I bet the only guy crying more than John Boehner in the District of Columbia right now is Paul Ryan. Poor Ryan, he spent all day lifting quotes from The Fountainhead and shellacking his hair to a Reagan-like density only to be undercut by some discount magic-mirror lady from Romper Room. Hey, Michelle, at least Obama can read a teleprompter. Someday perhaps, Ryan will have his revenge.



And there, in a nutshell, is why the actual presentation of SOTU's suck. Quick name a really memorable one? The best part is seeing which "promising" Republican is going to crash and burn like Jindal vs. the Volcano. This year, we got two. Bonus!

Here's this year's SOTU in summary, you may recognize it next year when the only thing that changes is who is sitting next to the First Lady.

"Here's something almost half-way decent for the base --- psych! And here's a little something for the Washington Post Editorial Page. Now to demonstrate I'm not as crazy or dangerous as the other side -- though I'm also not nearly as entertaining. Oh, and the State of the Union is strong. See ya' in 2012!"

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]