2015 State of the Union

Last night President Obama gave his 6th (though by his count his 7th) State of the Union address to Congress and the nation. The State of the Union is prescribed by the Constitution and it requires the President to update the Congress on the current state of the country, however, the event has come to be dominated more by tradition than by Constitutional requirement. Either way, it is one of the most important political events of the year, and one of the rare moments when the President is able to speak to Congress,the Supreme Court, the Joint-Chiefs of Staff, and the people at the same time. While the speech may be more theater than substance it is still an awesome show of power as it calls for essentially the entire government to assemble in one room. It is also a true confluence of linkage institutions as you can see the media, political parties, interest groups, and campaign rhetoric all on display. Here is a video to help provide some historical background on the event:

 I hope you took some time out of your midterm preparation to watch some of Obama's speech, but if you didn't the good folks at PolitiFact.com have taken the liberty of transcribing and annotating the President's speech. In their version PolitiFact fact-checked Obama's speech to see if his claim's are valid or simply political versions of a humblebrag. Check out the results:

Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated

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