State Of The...Distraction

     For over a century, Presidents mailed it in.  While Presidents Washington and John Adams got up in front of Congress to let them know how things were going and what they thought ought to get done, President Jefferson thought it was a bit too much like the King of England puppeteering Parliament.  He sent them a written report and it wasn't until Woodrow Wilson -- pretty much the father of the notion of an autocratic "unitary Executive" -- that Presidents returned to addressing the House, Senate and other high-placed Feds* most of the time.

     It used to be fairly ceremonious and solemn.  In recent years, it's taken a turn for the performative, from party-color ties to color-coordinated outfits (a quiet and at times charming way of making a statement) to, well, actually making statements: yelling them out or waving signs.  The most recent State of the Union address had several choice examples of beclowning, from the tragic to forthright Bozohood.

     Despite the spectacle, the speech isn't where things get done; Congress and the President, the Supreme Court and the Cabinet, the diplomats and the Pentagon all have to get back to their jobs the next time the Feds flip the sign over to "OPEN," no matter what the President said, what guests were there or who yelled out what.  The mandated task here is for the Present to let Congress know what's up and what he'd like the Feds to do, and presumably they will take notes and pay it as much or as little attention as they ever do.
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* The Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs, the Supreme Court Justices and the Diplomatic Corps (all of them?) have standing invitations.  But hey, don't worry -- one Cabinet member gets picked to sit it out far away from Washington, just in case.  Presumably, that lucky individual's got a list of names to call on to fill the vacant jobs, and most of them won't say, "No thanks, look what happened to the previous crew," when the phone rings....