Joining the chorus of people not pleased with President Obama’s State of the Union address is Donald Trump who has a very specific complaint: “I thought the low point was when [Obama] talked about how great China was.” Trump might simply be angry with how China is manipulating their currency and making it difficult for him to do business overseas, or might Trump actually be ramping up criticism of Obama in case he actually does decide to run for President?

During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA 10) became the closest thing to a “You lie!” moment, tweeting during the address “Mr. President, you don’t believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.” Shortly thereafter, I asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs if he had a reaction to the [...]

For those tired of hearing polite criticism of last night’s State of the Union Address ranging from “flat” to “lacking specifics” to simply falling short of expectations, well then get ready for Rush Limbaugh‘s arrival on scene, which can best be symbolized as a bull in a china shop. Rush did not hesitate to unleash a fury of insults in his assessment of the “remarkably bad” speech.

Maybe it’s me, but there’s something unpleasant about seeing a still image of Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner with a graphic reading “Hot Couples on the Hill.” But plunging ahead with tongue stuck firmly in cheek, MSNBC’s Richard Liu today offered viewers a post-game breakdown on all the “date night” pairings, the result of–can it be?–hours of hard work. As Liu puts it, “we looked at the tape, pair by pair” and discovered–yes–a pattern!

The President didn’t have a lot of laugh lines in last night’s State of the Union address, and one line–designed to be light and amusing–has provoked the ACLU. When President Obama talked up investing in high-speed rail, he joked that one of the advantages would be “for some trips, it will be faster than flying – without the pat-down.”

Not much in the way of humor–it fell flat in the hall–but more than enough to get a reaction from the ACLU: not laughter, but outrage. As Sahil Kapur reports on Raw Story:

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow ripped into rival network CNN’s decision to air the State of the Union response by Rep. Michele Bachmann Tuesday night, calling it an “inexplicable” decision.

CNN was the only major news network to carry the speech–billed as the “Tea Party response”–live, the third major speech of the night after the president’s, and the official Republican Party response delivered by Rep. Paul Ryan.

Some polls indicate a positive response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, but not everyone was happy with the speech, especially not members of Frank Luntz‘s focus group on Fox News last night. Words like “empty,” “redundant,” and “platitudes” were used by some of the focus group members to describe their thoughts about the speech.

Need more evidence that President Obama‘s State of the Union speech was an effort to effectively move to the center? Then please watch the following interview from Good Morning America in which Senator John McCain openly praises many of the president’s policies outlined last night, during an interview with George Stephanopoulos. Obama’s pledge towards reducing the corporate tax rate, free trade and medical malpractice reform seemed to please the Republican Senator from Arizona.

Last night President Barack Obama delivered his third State of the Union speech. While pundits of many stripes found the speech to be somewhat “flat and uninspired,” an instant poll conducted by CBS News indicates that the American public had an “extremely positive response” and that many optimistically saw the speech as evidence that both Democrats and Republicans can work together.

Of all the MSNBC commentators providing post-speech analysis, new 8pm host Lawrence O’Donnell provided the most unpredictable analysis of President Obama’s State of the Union Address. While Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and Eugene Robinson, all thought Obama impressively gave a speech that unified the country, proved his belief in American exceptionalism, and helped him reclaim his stature as a leader, O’Donnell was most concerned with the fact that Obama hardly said anything specific.

President Barack Obama delivered his third State of the Union speech tonight, and in an age in which opinion media so dominates political will, the reaction to the delivered text by various pundits is almost as interesting as the text itself. Take for example the initial reaction by the Fox News panel that seemed primarily unimpressed by what some may have seen as a significant move to the center by the Democratic president. Charles Krauthammer did not demure, calling the speech “flat and uninspired” and “remarkably against the trend of what the electorate said this November.”

In tonight’s State of the Union Address, President Obama spoke about about many large, aspirational goals, but also spoke specifically on one issue that doesn’t seem to go away: healthcare reform. Obama began the topic by winning the crowd over momentarily with a joke: “now, I’ve heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns about the new health care law.”

Bill Maher appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and not only expressed his continuing disappointment with President Obama but also took CNN to task for deciding to air Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s Tea Party response to the State of the Union. Although Obama received a grade of C+ from Maher, his harsh criticism was not just limited to the President.

The White House has taken more care than usual that President Obama’s State of the Union address not leak to the press early, advising reporters that their advance copies of the text would be sent out very close to the speech’s scheduled start. Those efforts appear to be for naught, however, as The National Journal has obtained a copy of the SOTU from a Hill staffer, and posted the entire thing online.

Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, and Michael McCaul, a Republican, together encouraged all attendees of tonight’s State of the Union address to wear black and white lapel ribbons in honor of the Arizona shooting. Such a symbolic attempt at civility predictably did not make Rush Limbaugh happy.

Could the new era of civility come crashing down as a result of one embarrassing rejection? House Majority Leader Eric Cantor invited Former Speaker of the House and current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to sit with him for tonight’s State of the Union Address, but Pelosi has made it clear she already has other plans.

You didn’t actually think Keith Olbermann would go away quietly, did you? The former MSNBC star and Countdown host has kicked off the next phase of his mercurial career with plans to cover tonight’s State of the Union address. He won’t be on the anchor desk at NBC, of course, but on his couch (or something) covering the speech–and the reaction–via Twitter.

Olbermann, who made a triumphant (too strong?) return to Twitter last night, promising “the reports of the death of my career are greatly exaggerated.”

It turns out Congress isn’t as overcrowded as it sometimes seems during the annual State of the Union address. Maybe you’ve noticed when the President walks into the chamber how the members of Congress are falling out of the aisle into POTUS’ path and–sheer coincidence of course–into the path of the television cameras. Hey! That’s my Congressman totally shaking the hand of the President! I’ve got to vote them back into office whenever they run again or whatever!

At Monday’s White House briefing, The Blade‘s Chris Johnson asked Gibbs about a 1996 questionnaire that indicated Obama’s support for same-sex marriage, and I followed up by asking if the President was any closer to revealing his “evolved” personal beliefs on the subject. Gibbs pointed to previous remarks by the President, and said it’s an issue that he “thinks a lot about,” but there are no immediate plans for him to address the issue.

Remaining true to his earlier promise not to change his tone in response to any call for civility, Rush Limbaugh today offered his unapologetically blunt assessment of President Obama’s State of the Union address. Here’s a hint: Rush is not looking forward to it.

Daniel Hernandez, the young man who essentially saved Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ life after she was shot in Tucson, Arizona, has been invited to be President Barack Obama‘s guest at tomorrow’s State of the Union address, as has the family of Christina Taylor Green, the young girl who lost her life in the shooting, NPR is reporting.

Tomorrow night President Obama takes center stage to give the State of the Union address and ABC‘s Jake Tapper predicts that the speech will aim to win over centrist independents. Obama himself previewed the speech over the weekend, suggesting that the focus will be on making America competitive, creating jobs and reducing the debt.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on CNN‘s State of the Union and told Candy Crowley that when searching for areas of the federal spending to cut, there is no reason why the military’s budget should not be looked at as we draw down from both Afghanistan and Iraq. Although Powell warned that the only way to seriously tackle the deficit issue is by coming up with a plan to fix social security, Medicare and Medicaid, but neither party is addressing this issue.

Every week on ABC‘s This Week viewers can always count on conservative commentator George Will to provide a unique perspective on current events, yet what many might find surprising is that he often delivers laugh out loud funny moments to thoughtful political discussions. This morning Will unleashed a humorous assault against the insignificance of the State of the Union address calling it and overrated and interminable speech, and that’s Will just warming up.

Senator John McCain appeared on Face the Nation and told Bob Schieffer he’s pleased with the new civil tone in Washington and happy to sit next to Democrats at the State of the Union address. Yet McCain, not only wants to sit away from his friends, but also wants everyone to stop cheerleading so the President won’t be distracted. Where’s the fun in that?