SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

THE SPEECH – The president's final State of the Union was fairly routine.  No surprises.  No memorable phrases.  A fitting speech for a president who speaks well, but not brilliantly.  From Fox:  President Obama, with an eye on cementing his legacy and countering the narrative on the Republican campaign trail, used his final State of the Union address Tuesday night to defend his economic record – and, in stark language, downplay the threat from the Islamic State.  “Over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands,” the president said, arguing that ISIS fighters “do not threaten our national existence.”  The remarks on ISIS are sure to rile Republican critics who say the president’s strategy for confronting the group is inadequate – particularly just hours after ISIS was blamed for another deadly attack, this time in Istanbul.  Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the leading candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, tweeted afterward that the address was “less a State of the Union and more a state of denial.”  Cruz is right.  No one is seriously saying that we're in World War III with ISIS.  But Americans, acutely aware of the great lessons of the 20th century, are saying that we'd better nip this threat early or we'll surely face a larger war, and ISIS will have more powerful weapons, including weapons of mass destruction.  Why is that so hard for Obama to grasp?

THE OTHER SPEECH – The much more interesting speech was the Republican response to the president, given by Governor Nikki Haley of  South Carolina.  These responses to State of the Union speeches are hard, and hazardous.  The president has the glamour, the prestige, the House chamber, the fawning applause.  The responder has one TV camera and a chilly room, or maybe the family garage.  Haley did reasonably well.  Her TV makeup was inadequate, and the lighting harsh.  Her eyes sometimes looked welded open.  But she has a calming style and spoke sensibly, although you might not agree with her swipe at Donald Trump: 

From RedState:    Suffice it to say that Haley nailed the speech.  Which is interesting, because the speech was only incidentally about Barack Obama's State of the Union. Well, maybe a bit more than 'incidentally;' but this speech was primarily to let Donald Trump know that after Iowa and New Hampshire comes South Carolina. And that Nikki Haley has no intention whatsoever to make life easy for Donald Trump while he's down there..."Today, we live in a time of threats like few others in recent memory. During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation."
"In many parts of society today, whether in popular culture, academia, the media, or politics, there’s a tendency to falsely equate noise with results."  If Trump gets the nomination, Nikki won't be his V.P. choice.  But if someone else gets it, she'd be fine, and strong. 

SAILORS STILL HELD – From CNN:  Washington (CNN) Despite 10 American sailors being in Iranian custody, President Barack Obama stuck to his State of the Union script Tuesday night and made no mention of the incident, instead touting his nuclear deal with Tehran.  The sailor, in small boats, were captured just hours before the speech in waters near Iran.  The fact that Iran felt comfortable in holding them shows that it has no fear of Barack Obama.  The fact that Obama didn't mention them shows that Obama has no respect for his own sailors.

January 12, 2016