Top story: President Obama is expected to talk about the economy and North Korea’s latest nuclear test. Lord knows what attendee Ted Nugent will talk about.
- Tonight’s State of the Union speech could be the last chance President Obama has to “go big” on policy initiatives. (First Read)
- “Am told North Korea’s provocative act will get a mention tonight by POTUS in the SOTU, a mention that wasn’t likely planned before last night.” (Chuck Todd)
- “Elections establish fundamentals. Speeches create atmospherics. Former far more vital than latter.” (Larry Sabato)
- “Michelle Obama invites 102-year-old FL woman who waited 3 hours to vote to SOTU.” (Andrew Kaczynski)
- Rand Paul will be giving the Tea Party response. (National Review)
- “Ted Nugent invited to SOTU by Republican congressman. He threatened to kill Obama & called Hillary a worthless”, well, you know. (Arif Rafiq)
- Nugent is the guest of Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, who wants to impeach the president. (The Caucus)
- A history of the phrase “the state of our union is strong” as well as the presidents who have said otherwise in their state of the union speeches. (The New York Times) and (The Atlantic Wire)
- Tonight will mark the 100th anniversary of the modern State of the Union speech. (Politico)
- State of the Union trivia. (U.S. House of Representatives)
- The State of the Union typically offers a lot of empty promises where it concerns the environment and green energy. (The Great Debate)
John Flowers