Open Thread for the State of the Uniom Speech. Update!

Looking forward to tomorrow’s State of the Uniom. pic.twitter.com/xdBUU3Pvo5

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 29, 2018

I think this screw up is probably a good indication of how FUBAR'd this speech is going to be.

Also how FUBAR'd the actual state of union is regardless of how Trump might describe it tonight. 

Like I said before, I'm not watching.

However I also knew that whatever I posted in this slot would invariably receive tons of comments about the speech, so why not leave a space for those very comments?

To start you of here are a couple of things to watch for.

The audience will be filled with both Dreamers and representatives of the #MeToo movement.

Melania Trump is expected to end her self imposed exile after the Stormy Daniels story broke, and make an appearance at the speech as well. (Maybe she can get a seat in the #MeToo section.

Those who do watch the actual televised speech will also have the opportunity to enjoy an advertisement calling for Trump's impeachment paid for by billionaire Tom Steyer. So that will be nice. 

I will update this post as information about the speech becomes available.

P.S. And on a serious note, whatever you do, do NOT play a drinking game which has you take a shot every time Trump tells a lie, or you are certain to die from alcohol poison.

Update: Apparently Melania got her own ride to the SOTU:

In a break with longstanding tradition, Melania Trump opted to ride with the guests she invited to share her first lady's box during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. 

The motorcade ride, from the White House south lawn to the Capitol building, is just a handful of minutes, but for a first couple who has not been publicly seen together since New Year's Eve, the separate cars were another in a string of isolated movements from a very independent first lady.

Haven't yet confirmed where this latest statement (obtained by Buzzfeed) came from. But notice the signature on this statement is quite different from the one sent in her name by Michael Cohen earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/EgOIjbSG3E

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) January 30, 2018

Somehow Daniels (Well we have to assume it's Daniels.) was pressured into stating that she did NOT have an affair with Trump, even after passing a lie detector test saying she did for interview in In Touch magazine, but clearly Melania ain't buying it.

Update 2:

Hissing and some boos in the chamber as the president says “chain migration” allows people to bring in a “nearly unlimited” number of extended family

His proposal would limit family-sponsored migration to spouses and minor children

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) January 31, 2018

Wait, nobody called him a liar? This would be the perfect time to call him a liar.

Update 3: I feel their pain.

Here's the generals reacting to increasing our nuclear arsenal 😐 #SOTU pic.twitter.com/l6Ujnk3JIg

— Dan Milano (@DanMilanoHere) January 31, 2018

Update 4: And the hits just keep on coming.

"So today, I am keeping another promise. I just signed an order directing Secretary Mattis to reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay." #SOTU: https://t.co/Njo52YOlc2

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 31, 2018

More nuclear weapons, more prisons, more racism. Lucky us.

Visibly distressed President reacts to Alabama and Mississippi results from last night.

I saw this over at the Obama Diary and I could not resist.

This from the Boston Herald:

A resurgent Rick Santorum swept primaries in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday night, upending the race for the Republican presidential nomination as he sought to push Newt Gingrich toward the sidelines. 

Mitt Romney was running third in both states.

So here we are already in March and the GOP race for the nomination is STILL completely undecided, as Mitt Romney looks less and less like a sure thing.

This is how the delegate count broke down in Mississippi and Alabama:

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum picked up at least 29 delegates Tuesday after winning the Alabama and Mississippi Republican presidential primaries. 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich added at least 24 delegates and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got at least 22. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was being shut out.

No wonder the President is laughing.

Yes the radiation cloud from Japan's crippled nuclear plant IS headed toward Alaska. But NO it should not present a health hazard to its residents. (He says hopefully.)

There is a lot of information about this to be found over at  Jeff Master's Wunder Blog, and the proprietor, Mr. Masters, has a PHD and is a well respected expert on Meterology, so I am pretty sure he knows what he is talking about.

Here is a diagram of the anticipated trajectory of the radioactive cloud.

And for Alaskans here is the pertinent information.

There will be some radiation from Japan lofted to high altitudes today by the low pressure system affecting the region, and if the radiation manages to escape being rained out, it could potentially be transported thousands of miles over the next week. A run of the HYSPLIT model following the path of a radioactive cloud emitted at 12 UTC (8am EDT) this morning shows the radioactivity being lofted 4 - 5 km in altitude and being transported over Alaska over the coming week. After a week of transport, this cloud will be considerably diluted, and I strongly doubt the radioactivity would be harmful to human health if rain or snow were to carry it to the ground over Alaska or Canada, assuming that the radiation levels currently being advertised at ground level in Japan are correct.

I am choosing to be comforted by Doctor Master's assurances, but I would personally feel much safer without the "assuming that the radiation levels currently being advertised at ground level in Japan are correct" qualifier. I am not saying I don't trust the Japanese exactly, it is just that they have demonstrated a desire to downplay the potential danger since the beginning of this catastrophe, and that makes a me a little uneasy.

I will feel tons better once scientists on the ground in Alaska test the air and determine whether it presents a legitimate danger or not. And let me just go on record as saying that nuclear energy has just become my LEAST favorite alternative to fossil fuels.  Just in case anybody is taking a survey.