Truthout

President Obama once again returned to the lectern to deliver his State of the Union message - and afterwards, disquiet seemed an inadequate descriptor. During what was widely anointed the crescendo of a speech otherwise remarkable only for highlighting the vice president's propensity to touch his own skin, we were once again enjoined by the commander-in-chief, in ritualistic fashion, to acknowledge and draw encouragement from the lone American institution that still commands its citizens' respect and admiration: its fighting arm.