Sunday Roundup

This week we were told that the State of our Union is, as per usual, strong. President Obama, also as per usual, gave a solid speech. But it was hard to take it as much more than political theater (albeit theater with a wildly skewed entertainment-to-applause ratio). Given what we know about D.C. dysfunction, boilerplate bits like "let's work together" and "let's all come together" played like laugh lines. And despite the presidential exhortation, "let's make this a year of action," progress in Congress will more likely look like traffic in Atlanta in the wake of Tuesday's snowstorm. For some actual action, we'll have to tune into the Super Bowl, where even if the game is a dud, the commercials usually rock. Maybe next year's SOTU should include breaks featuring Scarlett Johansson or puppies and Clydesdales.