# Did you watch the 2011 State of the Union? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 26, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091 "2011-01-26T20:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/1 "2011-01-26T20:32:39Z")
Did you? I didn’t, at least not most of it. I was thinking about it, but then I saw **House Hunters International** was going to Norway. :o I tuned in a couple times got bored, and tuned out. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/2 "2011-01-26T20:35:45Z")
Heck, I watched most of it and I’m Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/3 "2011-01-26T20:41:34Z")
Meant to, totally spaced and missed it. DVR means I don’t channel-surf much live TV. Caught a few bits on the morning news and then just read various online commentary. ---
**Author:** ![mundylion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundylion/32/3604_2.png) [@mundylion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mundylion)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/4 "2011-01-26T20:42:57Z")
I gave up on the SOU speech years ago. I can’t stand all the phony applause. Every damn phrase, no matter how stupid, gets a standing ovation. From one side of the audience only, of course. I understand they tried to screw that up by ‘integrating’ the parties last night but I don’t know how that turned out. Early presidents mailed the message to congress. Good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/5 "2011-01-26T21:08:49Z")
I didn’t watch but listened. Still, I voted yes in your poll. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/6 "2011-01-26T21:18:02Z")
> [@mundylion](#): > > I gave up on the SOU speech years ago. I can’t stand all the phony applause. Every damn phrase, no matter how stupid, gets a standing ovation. From one side of the audience only, of course. I understand they tried to screw that up by ‘integrating’ the parties last night but I don’t know how that turned out. > > Early presidents mailed the message to congress. Good idea. Worked out pretty well, actually. I not only watched it all, but watched the analyses, and the Republican (starring some young hair-do) and Tea Party (starring Crazy-Eyed Killah lady) responses afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/7 "2011-01-27T03:04:59Z")
Not really. I tuned in about halfway through, but when I saw that both Joe Biden and John Boehner looked like pictures of boredom, I decided that I probably wasn’t missing much. So I popped in a DVD. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/8 "2011-01-27T03:05:36Z")
I was at work. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/9 "2011-01-27T03:09:39Z")
I watched part of it. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/10 "2011-01-27T03:16:33Z")
Politicians are universally liars, I seldom bother to listen to political speeches since they are meaningless. What they do has meaning; what they say doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/11 "2011-01-27T03:26:23Z")
It was on and I listened to it mostly. I love my president but all that applause and the generic cheer-leading mentality got boring quick. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/12 "2011-01-27T03:42:42Z")
I watched it, though it was a bit long this year. OTOH, I’m enough of a political junkie that I’d watch one of those stem-winding 4-hour Politburo speeches if I understood Russian. Although I don’t watch every SOU address, this has been a tumultuous past couple of years, so it’s helpful to get a rough summary of how the issues play in DC, in amongst the platitudes and pablum. Plus, you know, he’s the Messiah. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/13 "2011-01-27T04:53:08Z")
I missed the first twenty minutes, but I stuck through to the end, including a few minutes of the talking heads. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/14 "2011-01-27T09:52:39Z")
No. I \*am \*interested in what was said - but not so much listening to how it is said. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/15 "2011-01-27T13:28:35Z")
I watched it (sort of) on the White House website the next day, while reading the transcript on [NBC.com](http://NBC.com). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/16 "2011-01-27T14:29:56Z")
I didn’t see the point. Anything interesting will be repeated in the news later. I think the YouTube interview will be a lot more interesting, but I probably won’t watch that live, either. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/17 "2011-01-27T15:23:54Z")
I watched the whole thing but I’m a big dork like that. Missed the GOP response but I read Ryan’s speech. I thought the “cheerleading” was a lot less this year with the mixed seating. The pop-up Whack-a-Mole thing was always an eye-roller and I didn’t feel it as much this year. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/18 "2011-01-27T15:33:33Z")
Heck no - there was a basketball game on! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/19 "2011-01-27T15:56:31Z")
I watched it on [whitehouse.gov](http://whitehouse.gov), the “enhanced version” that had little charts and graphics to the right of the video…sort of like Colbert’s “The Word” but not nearly as fun. I also caught the Republican and Tea Party reactions. My brother was watching and we were chatting online during it, and so were some of my friends on Facebook. We commented on each other’s comments. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091/20 "2011-01-27T16:17:50Z")
No. Had class. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-watch-the-2011-state-of-the-union/569091.md?page=2)