Up until tonight, if you wanted to watch a State of the Union (typically just called a ‘Presidential Address’ during the President’s first term), you had to do it via television. If you got your TV over the air, this meant selecting among the NBC/ABC/CBS affiliates in your area, with their respective commentators. If you got your TV over cable, this meant selecting among CNN/MSNBC/Fox News, each of which adds tons of spin (CNN mostly spins about its own importance, while MSNBC and Fox News color things with a biased, politicized brush).

Tonight, for the first time, you can watch the President’s address directly from http://www.whitehouse.gov/ . Now, the only spin will be that coming from the President’s mouth. Love him or hate him, won’t it be nice to praise (or spit fire at) him directly, without the filter of some overexcited, hyperanalytic commentator?