By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

“Find out who’s running the book, and when you have found out that it is Nobby, take it off him.” –Terry Pratchett, The Truth

Joe Biden will deliver his 2022 State of the Union Address less than one-half hour from now, Leader Pelosi having helpfully set the date long past omicron’s peak, and “events, dear boy, events” having fallen out so to change the subject from the million dead due to the combined pandemic policies of the former guy and Biden himself. Let’s look forward and not back!

Im order to preserve the integrity of my vascular system and ensure continued brain function, I will deny myself the pleasure of waiting for Biden to slip a cog, not that I think his medical advisors will permit that, and read a transcript later. I might weigh in when the carnage is over.

For those of you following along at home, I can’t really recommend drinking games; they want your cognitive faculties impaired, as anyone who’s been following the war coverage can see. I looked, too, for a SOTU Bingo card, but couldn’t find one. Here, however, is a post on betting; our more speculatively inclined readers might enjoy it. Here’s a sample:

Length of State of the Union address

• Over 65 minutes
• Under 65 minutes

What will President Biden say first?

What will President Biden say first?

What will President Biden say first?

• Europe -300
• European Union +200

What will President Biden say first?

What will President Biden say first?

• Coronavirus +200
• Pandemic -300

What will President Biden say first?

What will President Biden say first?

• Economy -500
• Inflation +300

What will President Biden say first?

• Primary/Primaries -135
• Mid-term/Mid-terms -105

SOTU Word Bingo Odds (Biden to say word at any time)

• Democracy -700
• Build Back Better -400
• Infrastructure -400
• Jill -250
• Allies -225
• Universal Pre-K-225
• Georgia -200
• Pennsylvania -180
• Estonia -130
• Michigan -130
• Scranton -130
• Virus -130
• Wisconsin-130
• Baltic-110
• Finland -110
• Florida -110
• Cold War +100
• Ireland +100
• Navalny +100
• Obama +100
• Ohio +100
• Sweden +100
• Insurrection +120
• Latvia +120
• Lithuania +120
• Poison +140
• Predecessor +150
• Scandinavia +150
• Thug +160
• Propaganda +175
• AUKUS +200
• Trump +200
• Tyrant +200
• Fascist/Fascism +250
• Nazi +250
• Boris +300
• Politovskaya +300
• Sedition +300
• Former guy +400
• Stalin +500
• Fox News +700
• Antifa +1000
• Brandon +1000
• Mayor Pete +1000

As for the first item: Not “Democracy.” “Democracy.” Readers may choose to make other additions and corrections, or change the odds.

As usual, this post does not update; readers may track the debate in real time in comments.

Please keep your comments as informative and analytical as possible. Write for the reader who hasn’t seen the SOTU, and comes to this site in lieu of watching it on TV. There are no points at NC for knee-jerk, context-free one-liners (“Boo ____!” or “Yay!”) that only those who are also watching can make sense of; that’s for Facebook or Reddit.

I think it adds more value if you take a moment, use your critical thinking skills, then comment, and readers can discuss what you say. That way, those who cannot watch the SOTU — or can’t stand to do so — can get a good idea of ??what really happened by reading what you write after the fact. This is what the NC commentariat is so very good at, after all. Last time, the times before that, and this time. Thank you!

Enjoy!