Many of us watched the spectacle on Tuesday night that occurs
every year: the nation’s chief executive giving his State of the
Union address before the congressmen and senators on their turf.
President Barack Obama's speech had some big themes in it, but
many of them were DOA, according to Republicans after the
address. The term “State of the Union” is enshrined in the
Constitution but only states that the president “shall from time
to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union
and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall
judge necessary and expedient. The yearly ritual began with
George Washington on Jan. 8, 1790, with a seven-page address,
although for decades from Thomas Jefferson onward the speech was
delivered in written form and read to Congress by a clerk. These
days, it would be shocking for a president to omit mention of
the economy in his address. Whether in boom times or bust, it’s
a topic voters seem eager to hear about. Remarkably, George
Washington did not ment