US Order of Succession

As of January 2014

President - Barack Obama
Vice-President - Joe Biden
Speaker of House - John Boehner
Senate pro Tempore - Patrick Leahy
Sec. of State - John Kerry
Sec. of Treasury - Jacob Lew
Sec. of Defense - Chuck Hagel
Attorney General - Eric Holder
Sec. of Interior - Sally Jewell*
Sec. of Agriculture - Tom Vilsack
Sec. of Commerce - Penny Pritzker
Sec. of Labor - Thomas Perez
Sec. of HHS - Kathleen Sebelius
Sec. of HUD - Shaun Donovan
Sec. of Transportation - Anthony Foxx
Sec. of Energy - Ernest Moniz
Sec. of Education - Arne Duncan
Sec. of Veteran Affairs - Eric Shinseki
Sec. of Homeland Security - Jeh Johnson

Other high US officers:
White House Chief of Staff - Denis McDonough
OMB Director - Sylvia Burwell
EPA Administrator - Gina McCarthy
Trade Representative - Michael Froman
UN Ambassador - Samantha Power
Ecomonic Advisers Chair - Jason Furman
Small Business Admin - Jeanne Hulit
National Security Advisor - Susan Rice
White House Counsel - Kathryn Ruemmler
Pres. Senior Advisor - Valerie Jarrett
WH Press Secretary - Jay Carney

*ineligible

State of the Union 2014

"I agree with Republicans like Senator Rubio..." is a phrase that was in this year's address

A teacher helped a student, an entrepreneur added a job, an auto worker fine-tuned a car, a farmer exported some crops, a rural doctor gave a kid some asthma medicine, a man took the bus home, and Norman Rockwell served some apple pie.

I was going to do a live-feed type reaction column, but my mind drifted after a while, I must admit. I've never had that happen before during a State of the Union address before from either party.  Yes, they're scripted, but it still provides insight into where the White House is, what they hope for. It gives us lines to read between.

Pres. Obama started on a positive note, a patriotic note, and mentioned how the war in Afghanistan was finally coming to an end. (It's still one of the most violent places on Earth, but at least we're leaving.)

The part of the SOTU that stuck out to me was this one, early on:

"Some require congressional action, and I'm eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still, and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do."

What he's saying is that if Congress doesn't do what he wants, he'll just do it anyway via executive order. After that he lists a series of goals, and maybe I'm cynical, but I just take a "we'll see" approach to whatever he promises. I remember feeling similarly listening to Bush's 2005 SOTU address. We're going to go to the moon again? Really?