Free Republic

With tensions running high ahead of President Trump's first State of the Union speech, it was unclear what kinds of outbursts or demonstrations the evening might produce. It's considered gravely disrespectful for lawmakers to disrupt presidential addresses, but some - such as Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who yelled "You lie!" at President Obama in 2009 - have done it anyway. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats Tuesday not to interrupt Trump and instead "let the attention be on his slobbering self." She said that if Democrats want to protest, they should join the group that will not attend...

Marco Rubio had his awkward pause for a gulp of water. Joe Kennedy had his ... drool? The Democratic congressman's mouth corners appeared especially shiny during his response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address — and many online were quick to accuse him of drooling during his address. The alternative theory was an overzealous application of lip balm. “Marco Rubio had dry-mouth during his #SOTU response in 2013. Joe Kennedy has drool-mouth,” tweeted Frank Luntz, the prominent Republican pollster. >>>More...

Melvin appeared on the National Geographic Show “Dog Whisperer” and according to a blurb about the show Jake and Scout wandered into Leland’s yard one day. They were on the show to help with Jake, who is very protective of Leland and won’t let anyone approach him. NASA astronaut Leland Melvin with his dogs Jake and Scout. Credit: NASA.

President Obama is coming to Massachusetts later today for a pair of fundraisers in Boston and Brookline. The Globe's White House correspondent, Donovan Slacker, is in the traveling pool, riding aboard the presidential jet and getting a front-row seat for his speech. The Globe and boston.com have prepared an extensive set-up package, including stories about: * The president's Massachusetts contributors. * His happy hosts in the South End. * The Massachusetts connection to Obama's White House message team. There's also an online photo gallery to accompany that story.

United Nations: The world body this week invited Zimbabwe's dictator, who starves his own people for political purposes, to its World Food Day — where he compared President Bush to Hitler. We kid you not. ... Also on hand at the celebration was Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who used the occasion to accuse the U.S. and our allies of threatening "all life on the planet." Chavez praised Mugabe's policies, and said Venezuela was enacting similar "reforms." Mugabe and Chavez were photographed embracing happily, like the two birds of a feather they are.