# 2016 State of the Union address tonight 01/12/16 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 12, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971 "2016-01-12T22:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/1 "2016-01-12T22:17:21Z")
[At 9:00 p.m.](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/politics/state-of-the-union-2016-highlights/index.html) In the First Lady’s guest box will be [an empty chair representing victims of gun violence](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/08/obamas-state-of-the-union-will-feature-an-empty-chair-a-political-symbol-with-a-long-history/). (Not the first time an empty chair in that section has been used symbolically.) In response, [Rep. Steve King will dedicate an empty chair to “aborted babies.”](http://www.salon.com/2016/01/12/the_other_empty_state_of_the_union_chair_steve_king_dedicates_empty_seat_to_aborted_babies/) Also . . . somebody, for some reason, [invited Kim Davis](http://www.npr.org/2016/01/12/462792019/kim-davis-to-attend-obamas-state-of-the-union-address). I wonder which SCOTUS justices will boycott the address this year? Scalia, I’m sure. Mods, not sure whether this is GD or MPSIMS material – but something debatable is bound to come up, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/2 "2016-01-12T22:55:30Z")
Rules for the drinking game: > [@](#): > > **Sip whenever** : > > Obama says “State of the Union.” > > Vice President Joe Biden makes a funny face behind him. > > Obama mentions Cuba, the Iran deal or job growth as examples of his successes. > > The camera shows a politician you don’t recognize (but probably should). > > He talks about income inequality, prison reform or tuition-free college. > > First lady Michelle Obama looks fabulous in the crowd. > > Something happens and you think, “well, that’s going to be a GIF.” > **Gulp whenever** : > > Obama addresses terrorism, North Korea or the Islamic State group. > > Obama says his favorite phrase, “let me be clear.” > > House Speaker Paul Ryan rolls his eyes behind the president. > > Obama rejects the notion that he is a lame duck. > > Obama references the 2016 presidential race in neutral-but-kind-of-dismissive terms. > > Obama makes a dad joke. > > The screen shows Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. > **Guzzle whenever** : > > Obama gets fired up or emotional over his plan to curb gun violence. > > Only half of the congressional attendees applaud. > > Obama makes a “Hamilton” reference. > > The camera shows Sasha and Malia Obama looking bored. > > Biden tries to whisper a joke to Ryan and gets shot down. > > Obama jokes about the inept Secret Service. > > Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dozes off. > > **And finish your drink if…** > > Obama announces he’s so fed up with GOP front-runner Donald Trump that he’s running for a third term. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/3 "2016-01-12T23:06:27Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Obama announces he’s so fed up with GOP front-runner Donald Trump that he’s running for a third term. Bonus drink if they immediately cut to Hillary Clinton’s reaction shot. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/4 "2016-01-13T01:08:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [At 9:00 p.m.](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/politics/state-of-the-union-2016-highlights/index.html) > > In the First Lady’s guest box will be [an empty chair representing victims of gun violence](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/08/obamas-state-of-the-union-will-feature-an-empty-chair-a-political-symbol-with-a-long-history/). (Not the first time an empty chair in that section has been used symbolically.) > > In response, [Rep. Steve King will dedicate an empty chair to “aborted babies.”](http://www.salon.com/2016/01/12/the_other_empty_state_of_the_union_chair_steve_king_dedicates_empty_seat_to_aborted_babies/) Seems fair. Were it not for gun violence, the First Lady’s symbolic empty chair could be occupied by an actual person, currently deceased due to an excess of bullet holes in the head. While if it were not for abortion, Steve King’s empty chair could be occupied by a day-old fetus clapping wildly every time Obama says “subsidized college tuition”. Well, OK, it can’t really clap – it would be a shapeless microscopic speck jumping up and down every time Obama says “subsidized diapers”. OK, it can’t really jump up and down, or anything, really, but every time Obama says anything about abortion, the camera can cut to a microscopic smear on Steve King’s empty chair. Until, tragically, an usher shows a late-arriving guest to Steve King’s empty chair and just before they sit down, the usher courteously wipes it off with his handkerchief. Life is tough when you’re a fetus. What I think we need is yet another crusading Congressman with an empty chair with a condom sitting on it, and a little sign saying “The saddest words of tongue or pen are these: it might have been!” ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/5 "2016-01-13T01:19:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Also . . . somebody, for some reason, [invited Kim Davis](http://www.npr.org/2016/01/12/462792019/kim-davis-to-attend-obamas-state-of-the-union-address). I believe you meant to say “_some utterly contemptible fucking coward_ invited Kim Davis.” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/6 "2016-01-13T01:34:03Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I believe you meant to say “_some utterly contemptible fucking coward_ invited Kim Davis.” Exactly how is the person who invited Ms. Davis a coward? ---
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/7 "2016-01-13T01:48:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Seems fair. Were it not for gun violence, the First Lady’s symbolic empty chair could be occupied by an actual person, currently deceased due to an excess of bullet holes in the head. > > While if it were not for abortion, Steve King’s empty chair could be occupied by a day-old fetus clapping wildly every time Obama says “subsidized college tuition”. > > Well, OK, it can’t really clap – it would be a shapeless microscopic speck jumping up and down every time Obama says “subsidized diapers”. OK, it can’t really jump up and down, or anything, really, but every time Obama says anything about abortion, the camera can cut to a microscopic smear on Steve King’s empty chair. > > Until, tragically, an usher shows a late-arriving guest to Steve King’s empty chair and just before they sit down, the usher courteously wipes it off with his handkerchief. Life is tough when you’re a fetus. > > What I think we need is yet another crusading Congressman with an empty chair with a condom sitting on it, and a little sign saying “The saddest words of tongue or pen are these: it might have been!” How many aborted fetuses can you fit in a chair, anyway? Oh God, my mind went to a Truly Tasteless Jokes Place… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/8 "2016-01-13T02:06:25Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Exactly how is the person who invited Ms. Davis a coward? Whoever it was could at least have the balls to admit making the invitation. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/9 "2016-01-13T02:07:42Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Exactly how is the person who invited Ms. Davis a coward? Point. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/10 "2016-01-13T02:15:09Z")
> [@mage-girl](#): > > How many aborted fetuses can you fit in a chair, anyway? > > Oh God, my mind went to a Truly Tasteless Jokes Place… :eek: Mine went to a Medieval Philosophical Exercise place . . . debatable which is worse . . . ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/11 "2016-01-13T02:21:08Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Whoever it was could at least have the balls to admit making the invitation. Maybe it was the Pope. (Has anyone seen her?) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/12 "2016-01-13T02:25:28Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Maybe it was the Pope. > > (Has anyone seen her?) I don’t really care that she was invited. Both the Congress and the President make all sorts of statements with who they invite. I just think they should freely admit to whomever they invited. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/13 "2016-01-13T02:28:08Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Exactly how is the person who invited Ms. Davis a coward? > [@asterion](#): > > Whoever it was could at least have the balls to admit making the invitation. NPR’s is now reporting that Kim Davis got a ticket through Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan’s office via the Family Research Council. Jordan’s office confirmed it only after being named by NPR. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/14 "2016-01-13T02:34:35Z")
I love watching Paul Ryan sitting behind Obama. His sour look is somehow more entertaining than his predecessor. I love that his role requires him to resist clapping even for the controversial idea that we should…cure cancer. “Yeah, that sounds like a leftist, liberal thing, I can’t appear to support that.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/15 "2016-01-13T02:36:18Z")
“Change the way we manage oil and coal resources . . .” I hear some bowels opening in boardrooms . . . ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/16 "2016-01-13T02:36:36Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I don’t really care that she was invited. Both the Congress and the President make all sorts of statements with who they invite. I just think they should freely admit to whomever they invited. According to CNN it was [Jim Jordan of Ohio.](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/politics/state-of-the-union-kim-davis/index.html) (Is it me, or is this one a bit boring?) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/17 "2016-01-13T02:38:11Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Whoever it was could at least have the balls to admit making the invitation. It’s not a secret. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/18 "2016-01-13T02:38:54Z")
“Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world . . .” And those surly-looking generals **gotta** stand up for that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/19 "2016-01-13T02:39:35Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > It’s not a secret. It’s not now. It was earlier today. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971/20 "2016-01-13T02:45:16Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > It’s not now. It was earlier today. Really? How so? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2016-state-of-the-union-address-tonight-01-12-16/742971.md?page=2)