This Week In Political Theater

When in doubt, yell louder.

So, we had that thing last night.  Mitt got all butch on Newt and landed a right wing to the jaw.  Then Mitt tripped on his spit bucket in his own corner when he demonstrated that he actually paid LESS than 15% in taxes.  Any transient damage he did to Newt will get lost in the tax returns.  Nice work, campaign advisors.

Tonight we have the State of the Union.  More theater, as Obama stands before America and lays out a list of policy initiatives that the GOP won't even vote on, much less defeat.  Still, it will be mildly interesting to see how an actual pro handles policy.  What has been striking about the GOP debate is how content free it has been recently.  Part of this is that very little separates this yahoos, part of it is that a party that doesn't give two shits about governing really doesn't need a policy portfolio, part of it is that no one really presses these yahoos about how you increase funding for NASA, say, while cutting the budget so you can cut Mitt and Newt's taxes even more.

I would expect/hope that Obama will press hard on the Buffett Rule.  It's in the news, it's relevant to governance, and the GOP won't touch it with a ten foot pile of SuperPAC money.  I would hope he offers a defense of the XL Pipeline decision, just to shut those idiots up who think 5000 jobs in a part of the country where unemployment is already very low is worth polluting the world's most critical aquifer.

I look forward to him saying that, you know, bin Laden was shot in the face and watching the GOP reluctantly rise to their feet in applause, John McCain's teeth grinding so hard that tiny flecks of enamel shoot out of his mouth and land in Scalia's Bryl-Cremed hair.

And then, on Thursday, we get ANOTHER GOP debate.  One would hope that CNN would actually ask questions about policy and ACTUALLY FOLLOW UP THOSE QUESTIONS WITH FACTS, but I think we all know that won't happen.

This week we get to see the battle lines more sharply drawn for 11/2012.  Obama will lay out a policy agenda that stands no chance of being passed while the GOP candidates will spew forth sound bites that have basis in reality.

Huzzah!