Quod equus vos veho una

Tonight at nine, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, fulfills a Constitutional obligation of his office by addressing a joint session of the Congress of the United States of America to "recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient..."

In the last decade or so, fewer and fewer over the air and cable operators opted to air the State of the Union Address or its Loyal Opposition Response, for which there is NO Constitutional requirement (which could surprise one faction of the party delivering it since they read aloud the entire Constitution to mark the start of the 112th Congress). No word on what plans South Carolina's Joe Wilson has for tonight, but one lives in hope of civility and comity (but is sometimes disappointed).

This year, perhaps in light of November's election results, it'll be live on 'The Big Three' and Fox-though the CW is sticking with Hellcats and TDC is hanging tough with Dirty Jobs. I'm not sure what to make of MTV remaining with Teen Mom 2, considering some of what will be discussed might be of interest to Leah and Kailyn, among others. On the other hand, The Food Network is hunkering down with Cupcake Wars, so I shouldn't be too hard on MTV, I guess.

It's worth noting the nature and variety of outlets, other than conventional television that will provide the President's State of the Union Address. In light of the plethora of presentation avenues and the urgency of the times in which we live, I hope you find the time to watch it as most observers, irrespective of their politics, concede the President can be both eloquent and persuasive.

One of the buzzes making the round in the blogosphere is that 'the traditional seating' by parties in Congress for the address, which also has no Constitutional mandate but is a tradition (= habit), will be abandoned somewhat as a refutation of recent current events. Perhaps, in deference to the rehabilitative struggles Representative Gabrielle Giffords faces in learning to walk again, it might be a fine gesture if our elected leaders can demonstrate that "you can stand alone, or with somebody else, or stand with all of us together. If you can believe in something bigger than yourself, you can follow the flag forever." Starting tonight at nine would be no later than the right time, as far as I am concerned.

-bill kenny