There is nothing in Article II section 3 that compels the President to give a televised speech to a joint session of congress. The SOTU could be delivered in an envelope by first class mail, return receipt requested. Your "reverence" for the constitution is no more than that of those of us who think this whole big speech debacle was nothing more than a colossal waste of time and taxpayer dollars.
Obama wastes time and taxpayer dollars.
Bachmann fights to do the opposite.
Amen and amen!
Not only is that the way the report to Congress was originally handled, but let's think for a moment.
The media knows what he's gonna say, because they'll report before the SOTU: "The president will say 'blah, blah, blah.'" In other words, they know because they've had a transcript released to them.
And the members of his party, if not both parties, know what he's going to say for the same reason.
IOW, he IS sending them a report in writing, already. And they tell us before the event what he'll say. And then they release the transcript afterwards.
The only reason for this current method is to have a public dog and pony show in the media.
They've been using it to talk over national news all week long. What do I mean?
The worst unemployment news since the beginning of Obama's term came out this past week. The worst housing news since the beginning of Obama's term came out this past week.
I'm sure they weren't trying to shove that to the side. /sarc