President Obama's last State of the Union speech was a solid, reasonable affair, even if his delivery was weird. He sounded frustrated, at times almost disdainful. It was, in a strange way, the presidential response to the State of the Union that Republican candidates have been describing for months on the campaign trail, especially Donald Trump. Indeed, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's official response was a response to Trump too.
Obama's tone was playground grievance: Hey, c'mon, guys, he seemed to be saying, as in, Hey c'mon, guys, when he said you're "peddling fiction" if you don't think our economy is the "strongest in the world," with 14 million new jobs and 5% unemployment and deficits reduced by three-quarters. Or, Hey, c'mon, guys, our military isn't in decline or being…
