Once again, in terms of political theater, President Barack Obama has managed to flummox both critics and angels alike. Reviews of his State of the Union address have been more mixed than a Kansas Cuisinart stuck in a tornado on puree. Notwithstanding the ritualistic 79 applause breaks by his Geek Chorus, the production could best be described as a work in progress. Nowhere near Pulitzer Prize Luncheon territory; but not destined for a trip to Joe Allen's flop wall either. Think "Tony & Tina's Wedding" with added intellectual posturing.

Producers of the rival big show in town, "Burning Down the House," immediately dismissed Obama's script as more radical agit-prop dramaturgy, but most independent scribes saw it as an old-fashioned sports melodrama featuring a beleaguered coach giving a locker room halftime speech invoking the spirit of his old friend Sputnik while exhorting his team to pull together and defeat the villainous adversary, Doctor Deficit. Lesson being, if you're going to borrow, steal from the classics.

Read the rest of this op-ed on AOL News.

Thanks as usual to Gina Misiroglu of Red Room, who put me in touch with the AOL people. It's just one of the great ways she's bringing traffic to Red Room and getting attention for Red Room's authors.