Forest, meet the trees

Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. Behold the address President Obama delivered last night as seen through the eyes of the chattering class (brought to you by the august Columbia Journalism Review): “So the State of the Union played out something like a slowly deflating balloon—robust and shiny in the beginning, a shriveled afterthought by the end, all leaky air in the middle. After just minutes, the metaphors felt forced, the proposals felt old.” The rest of America saw a different speech. A CNN poll showed 85% of viewers had a positive reaction to the address. In a CBS poll, “91% of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Mr. Obama put forth during his remarks.” It's a classic example of why you should beware of pundits bearing the conventional wisdom.