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January 25, 2012 | | STATE OF THE UNION President Obama struck a populist tone at last night's State of the Union address, speaking out against income inequality and touting a revamped "Buffett Rule" that calls for people making more than $1 million a year to pay at least 30 percent in income taxes. "Now, you can call this class warfare all you want," the president said. "Most Americans would call that common sense." But instead of trying to bridge this ideological divide, writes The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart, Obama should have embraced it—he squandered an opportunity to trumpet the vital role of American government in making capitalism work. Plus, Howard Kurtz, Michael Tomasky, Paul Begala, and more columnists grade the speech; also, watch video highlights. DARING When President Obama stepped into the House to give the State of the Union, he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and said, "Good job tonight." The reason? American commandos had just dropped into Somalia by helicopter, killed nine pirates and captured several others, and freed two aid workers, including an American woman, who had been held captive for months. In a statement this morning Obama said he authorized the operation on Monday. "Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home," Obama said in the statement. Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, a Dane, were kidnapped by two truckloads of gunmen in October on their way to the airport.
FLORIDA The air war in Florida is in full swing. After receiving a $5 million donation from the wife of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Newt Gingrich's super PAC promptly spent it all on television ads in Florida—and then some. Winning Our Future, the pro-Gingrich PAC, announced it was spending $6 million to play an anti-Romney ad on Florida's airwaves. The ad accuses Mitt Romney of being identical to President Obama, playing clips of the former Massachusetts governor praising his heath-care program and calling himself a moderate. Romney's PAC, Restore Our Future, has already committed to spend at least $7 million on the air in Florida before the Jan. 31 primary.
FIGHTIN' WORDS Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels made Republicans regret he was not in the running for the party's nomination with his stern rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night. "We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have-nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves," Daniels said after the speech. "So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last, to restore an America of hope and upward mobility, and greater equality." Obama seemed to point to a politics that transcends party in his speech; Daniels said that Republicans place greater value on business than Democrats and criticized the president's decision to nix the Keystone pipeline. Meanwhile, in the Tea Party response to Obama's speech, Herman Cain, reading from his notes, criticized the president's "scripted rhetoric." He also said Washington is out of touch with the people. VERDICT Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will not go to prison for the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians. Wuterich pleaded guilty to leading the 2005 killing of civilians in Haditha, saying he ordered his troops to "to shoot first, ask questions later" as they raided houses after a roadside bomb attack. But the military judge accepted a plea bargain that called for no jail time, so Wuterich's punishment will amount to a demotion—to private—and a pay cut. Needless to say, Iraqi officials are angry over the decision. "Iraqi blood isn't so cheap," said one Kurdish lawmaker.
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