Hmmm… the SOTU. The GOP response will be to sit on their hands during most of the speech and expect the usual theatrics whenever the President calls for spending on infrastructure and things that the nation needs to do to stay competitive, but which it cannot afford without raising taxes, closing loopholes, or otherwise raising revenues. Spending cuts alone will not solve the nation’s budgetary problems.

At the same time, I hope the president uses his time to tell Congress to act on dealing with the debt ceiling - that they agreed to a budget and that they have to agree to pay for it. Deem it done (aka the Gephardt rule). Mock the obstructionism on everything that has been proposed by the Administration, including universal background checks that can help reduce gun violence across the country and should otherwise have widespread support but for the NRA demonizing anything and everything as confiscation.

Go after the GOP for blocking judicial and other nominees, including the Secretary of Defense during a time of war over nonsensical ravings about Benghazi.

Let’s not forget, that after the Hizbullah bombing of the Marine barracks that killed 241 in the building and 299 overall - President Reagan warned of retaliation, and that amounted to all of a few rounds lobbed by the battleship New Jersey against several targets in Lebanon and a few airstrikes by the Navy in December (2 months after the attacks), but otherwise tucking tail and running from Hizbullah. That move emboldened the terror group and has had long term consequences for the region. It was one of the worst failings of his presidency.

The GOP is going after the President because of the fog of war in the minutes and hours after the attack became known. All the hysterical calls for impeachment are hysterical and baseless, but that isn’t stopping the GOP wingnuts from going to ground with them and peddling this nonsense on an ever more visible stage. And they’re using it to block a nominee for Defense Secretary during a time of war, which is itself unprecedented.