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Credit: President Bingo

State of the Union bingo cards are available here . Refresh so each party attendee gets their own.

The speech is live-streamed at Whitehouse.org, and the live stream will feature enhanced graphs and charts accompanying the speech.

And frankly, we can't wait for Herman Cain's Tea Party response. Can't. Wait.

State of the Union open thread below...

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President Obama's speech this morning on comprehensive immigration reform was a good start to getting the ball rolling with this effort. (The transcript is here.) But that's all it was. And like a lot of Obama speeches, it was strong on philosophical substance -- though typically, it equivocated in trying to split the middle between the "poles" of the debate -- and pretty short on practical details for getting it done. He didn't even forecast a deadline for legislation.

The heart of the speech was this part:

Our task then is to make our national laws actually work -– to shape a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And that means being honest about the problem, and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bring it together.

For example, there are those in the immigrants’ rights community who have argued passionately that we should simply provide those who are [here] illegally with legal status, or at least ignore the laws on the books and put an end to deportation until we have better laws. And often this argument is framed in moral terms: Why should we punish people who are just trying to earn a living?

I recognize the sense of compassion that drives this argument, but I believe such an indiscriminate approach would be both unwise and unfair. It would suggest to those thinking about coming here illegally that there will be no repercussions for such a decision. And this could lead to a surge in more illegal immigration. And it would also ignore the millions of people around the world who are waiting in line to come here legally.

Ultimately, our nation, like all nations, has the right and obligation to control its borders and set laws for residency and citizenship. And no matter how decent they are, no matter their reasons, the 11 million who broke these laws should be held accountable.

Now, if the majority of Americans are skeptical of a blanket amnesty, they are also skeptical that it is possible to round up and deport 11 million people. They know it’s not possible. Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive. Moreover, it would tear at the very fabric of this nation -– because immigrants who are here illegally are now intricately woven into that fabric. Many have children who are American citizens. Some are children themselves, brought here by their parents at a very young age, growing up as American kids, only to discover their illegal status when they apply for college or a job. Migrant workers -– mostly here illegally -– have been the labor force of our farmers and agricultural producers for generations. So even if it was possible, a program of mass deportations would disrupt our economy and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable.

Now, once we get past the two poles of this debate, it becomes possible to shape a practical, common-sense approach that reflects our heritage and our values. Such an approach demands accountability from everybody -– from government, from businesses and from individuals.

Then, as you can see in the video above, Obama lays out his strategy for getting this done: Republicans have to come on board. Well, in the year of the Tea Parties, we wish him lots of luck on that. This is just a recipe for endless compromises in legislation the name of bringing aboard a Republican who in the end turns around and screws them when the time to vote arrives. We saw this in the health-care debate, in financial reform, and a dozen other legislative initiatives. It doesn't work with these guys.

Frank Sharry of America's Voice has some thoughts about all this:

Be sure and read Sharry's more detailed thoughts at HuffPo. He's one of our best thinkers on immigration, and the president would do well to hew more closely to Sharry's advice on this than Rahm's, ifyaknowaddimean.

Monday, President Obama spoke at the graduation ceremonies for Kalamazoo High School. The school won the privilege of having him give a speech through the Race to the Top Commencement challenge in March.

It make the evening news because there was so much news about the oil spill, the primaries, local politics and local graduations, but it probably ranks as one of the most influential speeches I've heard him give. Not because he said anything new, or different than he did before. It wasn't what he said, it was who he was speaking to and where he was speaking.

I don't remember the last United States President to speak at a high school graduation, do you? But read what Kalamazoo student Kelsey Socha wrote about her experience:

When the big day finally came and President Obama surprised us and arrived in our holding room a few hours before schedule, it was surreal, not only for the chance to hear the President speak but to have him mere inches away from us in a private setting. It was more than anyone could have dreamed of. The initial excitement never faded. Later, seeing him on stage joking with our principal, listening to our valedictorian and salutatorian speak, and finally giving us a speech that showed that he had read our essays and paid attention to our community was incredible; an experience none of us graduates or our families will soon forget. The honor went far beyond the President simply coming to our graduation or even shaking our hands. It was the fact that he made the experience wholly about us, using no political campaigns or agendas, that made it a truly special ceremony.

When Barack Obama the candidate began to rise in the 2008 primaries, one of the very first reasons I took him seriously was because I saw a man who could stand and be a role model. Whatever your politics are, whatever your disappointments are with him, I hope you'll set them aside long enough to let the thoughts he shared with those young people sink in just a little, and consider the good they do.

They are not all, they are not community, they are not food on the table. But example is important. And what he says is what he lives, whether you agree with his approach or not.

On instant gratification

But meaningful achievement, lasting success – that doesn't happen in an instant. It's not just about the twist of fate, or the lucky break, or the sudden stroke of genius. Rather, it's about the daily efforts, the choices large and small that add up over time. It's about the skills you build, the knowledge you accumulate, the energy you invest in every task, no matter how trivial or menial it may seem at the time.

On giving back

And once you start juggling those classes and activities and that campus job; and you get caught up in your own dramas and anxieties; you may feel like you've got enough on your plate just dealing with your own life. It might just be easier to turn the channel when the news disturbs you; to avert your eyes when you pass the homeless man on the street; to tell yourself that other people's problems really aren't your responsibility.

But think for a minute about the consequences of that approach here in this community. What if those Kalamazoo Promise donors had said to themselves, “Well, I can pay for my kid to go to college, why should I pay for other people's kids too?”

Think about the consequences for our country. What if our Founding Fathers had said, “You know, colonialism is pretty oppressive, but I'm doing OK, my family's doing OK, so why should I spend my summer in Philadelphia arguing about a Constitution?”

What if those abolitionists or those civil rights workers had said, “You know, slavery is wrong, segregation is wrong, but I just don't have time for all those meetings and marches, so I think I'll take a pass.”

And I want you to think for a minute about the extraordinary men and women who've worn our country's uniform and given their last full measure of devotion to keep us safe and free. What if they had said, “You know, I really do love this country, but why should I sacrifice so much for people I've never even met?”

You and I are here today because these people made a different choice. They chose to step up. They chose to serve. And I hope you'll follow their example. Because there is work to be done, and your country needs you.

My hope: That all of the anger, conflict and disappointment felt right now between liberals and progressives and in-betweens and sometimes-liberal-sometimes-nots can be set aside long enough to remember to serve side-by-side, together.

Talking Points Memo

The key passage in the Wehner Memo (the leaked memo written by Karl Rove's deputy, Peter H. Wehner and reported this evening in various news outlets).

Let me tell you first what our plans are in terms of sequencing and political strategy. We will focus on Social Security immediately in this new year. Our strategy will probably include speeches early this month to establish an important premise: the current system is heading for an iceberg. The notion that younger workers will receive anything like the benefits they have been promised is fiction, unless significant reforms are undertaken. We need to establish in the public mind a key fiscal fact: right now we are on an unsustainable course. That reality needs to be seared into the public consciousness; it is the pre-condition to authentic reform.

Remind you of anything?

Also included is a nice encapsulated history lesson: "For the first time in six decades, the Social Security   battle is one we can win -- and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country."

In other words, this isn't about the fiscal soundness of Social Security or the babyboomers moving toward retirement or anything else. As Wehner himself says, this is the best chance the opponents of Social Security have had in six decades of trying to phase-out the program.

And this allows us to see the whole matter clearly. Social Security has been around for seventy years. How many people do you know who really don't like Social Security? Back when I was younger I'd go spend part of my summer at the subsidized retirement community where my grandparents lived. And I don't remember many people who lived there bad-mouthing Social Security. And those folks had lived under the program for pretty much all of their adults lives.

Let me tell you first what our plans are in terms of sequencing and political strategy. We will focus on Social Security immediately in this new year. Our strategy will probably include speeches early this month to establish an important premise: the current system is heading for an iceberg. The notion that younger workers will receive anything like the benefits they have been promised is fiction, unless significant reforms are undertaken. We need to establish in the public mind a key fiscal fact: right now we are on an unsustainable course. That reality needs to be seared into the public consciousness; it is the pre-condition to authentic reform.

Remind you of anything?

Also included is a nice encapsulated history lesson: "For the first time in six decades, the Social Security battle is one we can win -- and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country."

In other words, this isn't about the fiscal soundness of Social Security or the babyboomers moving toward retirement or anything else. As Wehner himself says, this is the best chance the opponents of Social Security have had in six decades of trying to phase-out the program.

It seems that Senator McCain is being very critical of Donald Rumsfeld's handling of the war planning effort and the president for making a stump speech on board of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

TSP Exclusive: Senator John McCain said "We are paying a price for mistakes that were made." On the Imus show.

McCain responded to talk show host Imus this morning, when Imus asked Senator McCain:

Imus:"What's going on in Najaf? Is that going door to door, is that the way to do it?

McCain: "I think we have to now, but we are paying a heavy price for a number of mistakes we made early on after the quote "Mission was Accomplished". We also should never have let these people take over Fallujah, which is has become a basic sanctuary for them. We are paying a heavy, heavy price for not having a lot more troops over there of the right kind. Particularly right after the conflict was over. But we have to win this. God bless these brave, young people. They are incredible, they are the most courageous people that I have ever...

What is errie about President Bush making his "Mission Accomplished" speech abourd the USS Abraham Lincoln is the views that Abraham Lincoln expressed in a letter that he wrote in 1848 to his law partner William Herndon. If you take out the word "neighboring" in the first sentence, it could have been written at any time in the past year: "Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever HE shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, WHENEVER HE MAY CHOOSE TO SAY he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure."

Lincoln then goes on to explain why the Framers gave Congress, and not the President, the power to declare war: " Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending ... that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that NO ONE MAN should hold the power of bringing this oppression on us."

The emphases that I show are Lincoln's, not mine. Lincoln was speaking of the war against Mexico, which he considered was entered into illegally, and under false pretenses. The whole letter gave me an eerie feeling - a sort of "deja vu" in reverse.

The Republicans like to say that they are "the party of Lincoln." But they certainly don't agree with Lincoln about pre-emptive war.

Fehrenbacher, Don E., ed., "Abraham Lincoln: A Documentary Portrait through his Speeches and Writings;" The New American Library of World Literature, Inc., NY, 1964; pp. 59-60.

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/01/con04026.html

Out of the mouth of babes. Severn Suzuki speaking to the UN Earth Summit Conference in 1992, in what may be one of the best speeches in history. Transcript here.

As true now as it was 18 years ago.

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Excuse me?

You know I was trying to think about who he was tonight and it's interesting... he is post-racial by all appearances. You know I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. You know he's gone a long way to become a leader in this country and passed so much history in just a year or two. I mean it's something we don't even think about. But I was watching him and said "Wait a minute, he's an African American guy in front of a bunch of white people and there he is President of the United States and we've completely forgotten that tonight". Completely forgotten it.

I think it was in the scope of his discussion; it was so broad ranging, so in tune with so many problems and aspects, and aspects of American life that you don't think in terms of the old tribalism, the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard and very subtle fact -- it's so hard to even talk about it -- maybe I shouldn't talk about it, but I am. I thought it was profound in that way and I think in terms of the seduction tonight -- I don't think he did anything tonight out of love for Republicans or deep understanding of people who disagree with him. He's probably incredibly frustrated by the failure of a single Republican Senator to step up and say "We've got to do something about health care. I'm challenging my caucus on this one. I'm with you buddy. I'm a profile in courage." Not a single Republican. That has got to frustrate a guy who has tried to reach out.

If only Tweety's brain was post-racial. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that MSNBC is going to do some apologizing tomorrow.

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Showing that once more that Republicans have no class and no respect for government and Americans, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina yelled out "You lie!" when President Obama reassured Americans that his health care reform plan did not include illegal aliens. Politico:

"There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false - the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally," President Obama said.

A loud voice from the Republican side of the hall answered, "Lie" -- my colleague Glenn Thrush reports it was Rep. Joe Wilson (R - S.C.) -- drawing a second "It's not true," from Obama and a shake of Nancy Pelosi's head.

The bill is designed to exclude those immigrants, though some Republicans have called for more explicit bans on funding for illegal immigrants and have claimed the bill will funnel money to illegal immigrants.

FactCheck.org described those claims as "false" and noted that one version of the legislation already includes an explicit bar on federal funding for illegal immigrants' health care.

Disgusting. Can you imagine the uproar if a Democrat had so little class as to do that during one of Bush's speeches? To be fair, Wilson was condemned on both sides of the aisle. Even McCain said that Wilson should apologize.

There is an http://act.ly/iq petition going viral, asking @CongJoeWilson to apologize for yelling "YOU LIE" in President Obama's speech.

If you'd like to sign,please click here.

UPDATE: Joe Wilson is being challenged by Rob Miller for SC-02. You can donate to Miller's ActBlue page here.

UPDATE #2: Wow. In less than two hours, challenger Rob Miller has raised over $11K. Clearly quaking in his boots at the disgust leveled at him, Wilson has issued the following apology:

“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

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I've been watching Ted Kennedy since I was a kid and have many memories of him giving speeches -- some great, some not so great. But my favorites may have been his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last summer, even when we knew he was dying of brain cancer.

I especially remember these lines:

For me this is a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.

And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

It's sad that he didn't live to see a health-care reform bill finally pass. In his memory, in honor of his service, and in the name of everything he stood for, we need to pass it more than ever.

Sotomayor and the White House have responded to the Senate questionnaire in record time. The answers are posted on the Senate Judiciary Committee site, along with transcripts of most of her speeches. Sotomayor and the administration should be applauded for the thoroughness, transparency, and speed of their response.