UPDATE 9:59 PM: On the whole, I thought that was a good speech. It began with several stories of generic Americans, and it ended with the story of one American that brought the whole hall, Democrat and Republican, to its feet. In between, Obama offered an agenda for the year and gave some marching orders for Democrats running in the midterm elections. I thought the high point came when Obama said it was time to "give America a raise," promoting a Herman Cain-like "ten-ten" $10.10 minimum wage. The low point came when he barely touched on drones and NSA surveillance. Here's the whole speech:


ORIGINAL POST 5:45 PM: What is President Obama going to say tonight? You have your theories, and we have ours. Stranger staffers will be reacting live to the State of the Union and its many responses in the comment thread below and on Twitter. Join us, won't you?

And don't forget—I'm going to be talking about the State of the Union and its surrounding hootenanny on KIRO radio from 8 to 9 tonight, and we'll be showing Kshama Sawant's Socialist Response right here on Slog starting sometime around 7:15 pm.

6:13 PM: What to make of this?

Four Supreme Court justices did not attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday. Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotamayor weren't not in attendance for the speech.


6:22 PM: Obama puts Congress on notice:

Our job is to reverse these trends. It won’t happen right away, and we won’t agree on everything. But what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require Congressional action, and I’m eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still—and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.

7:02 PM: Suspense killing you? Want to skip ahead? The full text of the speech is here.

7:18 PM: Obama: "We believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation. And next week, the world will see one expression of that commitment when Team USA marches the red, white, and blue into the Olympic Stadium—and brings home the gold."


7:25 PM: And it's all over except the responding...