Keller @ Large: State Of The Union Will Be Forgotten Soon

BOSTON (CBS) - I did my civic duty and watched the president's State of the Union Address Tuesday night, and if you followed along on Twitter, thank you.

If you've never live-tweeted an event, I suggest you try it sometime. When it's over, you have a telling document of the things that caught your eye enough to write about, and the things that didn't.

The speech was generally straightforward, but when the president said "we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth," I wondered – what on Earth does that mean?

And are they freer to write their future on Mars?

By the way, I learned Tuesday night that we intend to send astronauts to Mars. I didn't know that, and I question it.

I thought the president spoke effectively and with genuine passion when he talked about the plight of working people.

But those moments competed with hollow claims about our country being "tight-knit," which it most definitely is not right now.

As much as the president seemed liberated to express his frustration with the opposition, he still seemed constrained by Washington's strict ban on candor.

The suits in the chamber applaud so much, it stands out more when they don't applaud. I was surprised no one did when the president called for higher taxes on the one-percent "to help more families pay for child care and send their kids to college."

That's not exactly the Occupy movement in there.

And please, Mr. President, if you're going to call for a high level of political discourse, you really can't start gloating about your political victories seconds later. Wait a full minute, at least.

Anyway, it's over.

Does any non-partisan doubt that by next Monday it will be almost entirely forgotten?

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.