I have mixed feelings. The Kantian in me disapproves. The Jeffersonian approves.
What do we really get out of it? I think it is mostly a drinking game, and I wonder if it really has any other practical application besides being mostly a drinking game. I think it's unfortunate if the narrow-minded members of the Republican congress are the ones who end the tradition, but I'm not altogether against ending it. I guess I would prefer if it were the president himself who ended the tradition.
"The state of the union is strong..." (applause) "It is the citizens of this great nation, the greatest nation there ever was, that makes it strong..." (applause) "We will make Washington a better place..." (applause) Rah! Rah! Rah! Go USA. We're number one (applause) Thank you and God Bless America. (applause)
I would much prefer that the congress and the president actually work for a living, rather than making soundbites. I just wish it was Obama who ended it, and that would please the Jeffersonian in me. But if some unnamed GOP operatives are putting out (for political reasons) in a little-read publication to see if it gets any traction, and if the tradition ends that way, it will have been for the wrong reasons, and that offends the Kantian in me.
The SOTU needs an overhaul, but I thought it was Constitutionally mandated that "the President shall report to Congress on the state of the union" or something like that.
