On the day of the president's State of the Union address, here's some food for thought about the state of the media in this country and the SOTU.

From Steve Benen at Political Animal:

"But there's an important detail to keep in mind. Politico noted that Bachmann's "response will be streamed on the Tea Party Express's web site, while Ryan's will be carried by national networks."

"As it turns out, that's no longer accurate. CNN announced late yesterday that it will broadcast all three speeches -- President Obama's national address, Ryan's response, and Bachmann's response -- on the air, in their entirety.

"I'm really not sure what to make of this. In fact, I'm a little surprised CNN would agree to this, just as a matter of fairness -- viewers will hear one speech from a Democrat, followed by a speech by a far-right Republican, and then followed by another speech by a far-right Republican? If a liberal Dem announced this morning that he/she is delivering some remarks reflecting on the SOTU tonight, would that also be aired on CNN's national airwaves in its entirety?

"For that matter, I can only hope that Paul Ryan isn't positioned as the "middle" -- literally and figuratively -- between the president and Bachman. The Ayn Rand acolyte is, after all, a hard-core radical, intent on destroying Medicare and Social Security. Bachmann's wild-eyed craziness shouldn't make Ryan appear reasonable by comparison, but it might." 

And speaking of the SOTU address, it's rather pathetic when liberals are reduced to breathing a sigh of relief when it's reported that this so called Democratic president: "won't propose cuts to Social Security in the State of the Union but cautioned that he is unlikely to rule them off the table, either."

Instead of Obama's predicted centrist (where one only finds yellow lines and dead armadillos), corporatist, competitiveness buzzwords address, if he were a true, visionary, common good Democratic president, he would give a 21st century New Deal State of the Union address like FDR's Second Bill of Rights: Necessitous Men are not Free Men.