It's almost cliché at this point, sitting back and analyzing an Obama speech word by word. We all know the hard facts. Obama spoke for 70 minutes. He paused for applause 86 times and referred to himself in the 1st person 114 times. The talking heads and blogosphere have beaten this point home again and again ad nauseum. What concerns me is what I believe to be the biggest story for the State of the Union, but has nothing to do with what he said, but rather what he didn't say: "Thank You."
A full transcript of his speech can be found HERE
Okay, so he did say "thank you" twice during his speech. 
At the end he gave a very broad thank you to the American people and, again in the middle, he specifically singled out the First Lady saying:
"And by the way, I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier. (Applause.) Thank you. She gets embarrassed. (Laughter.)"
At the end he gave a very broad thank you to the American people and, again in the middle, he specifically singled out the First Lady saying:"And by the way, I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier. (Applause.) Thank you. She gets embarrassed. (Laughter.)"
I honestly felt this was a genuine moment of levity, and it added a humanizing effect to a president who, I feel, appears ice cold at times. That being said, I was mortified when this was the only personal "thank you" he offered to the guests in the gallery. Everyone in the section surrounding the First Lady was personally invited to attend by the Obamas. Do you recognize the young woman in uniform standing next to Michelle Obama? You should.
The two officers standing to Michelle's right, clapping for her while she's singled out for praise by the President for her work on childhood obesity, are Sergeants Mark Todd and Kimberly Munley. These are the officers who are directly credited for taking down Major Nidal Malik Hasan during his shooting rampage at Fort Hood Texas. Despite the rush to classify this as a "workplace shooting", Hasan's attack at Fort Hood was the worst TERRORIST attack on US soil since September 11th, 2001.14 People were killed on November 5th when Major Nidal Hasan walked into the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood and opened fire on a crowd of unarmed soldiers. (I'll stress that 14 people were killed, not the 13 the media reports as Private Francheska Velez was 9 weeks into her pregnancy when Hasan gunned her down. )
Sergeants Todd and Munley were directing traffic
nearby when Hasan started his attack, arriving on scene minutes later. In a hail of gunfire Munley shot Hasan 4 times at close range while Todd disarmed and cuffed Hasan bringing the attack to the end. 31 people were injured, including Sgt. Munley, who was shot multiple times in both legs, requiring the total replacement of her left knee, a surgery she had mid January.
nearby when Hasan started his attack, arriving on scene minutes later. In a hail of gunfire Munley shot Hasan 4 times at close range while Todd disarmed and cuffed Hasan bringing the attack to the end. 31 people were injured, including Sgt. Munley, who was shot multiple times in both legs, requiring the total replacement of her left knee, a surgery she had mid January.Let us not forget, Eric Holder and the Department of Justice, due to indirect pressure of Obama's administration (thanks to the outrage of American citizens), announced he would reconsider the location of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other high-profile terrorist's trials. While it may at first blush seem like a victory for the voice of the American people, consider that this administration and the DOJ continue to pass responsibility back and forth and neither will address the matter directly to the nation. Please keep in mind, as we face new threats from Osama Bin Laden himself and the looming threat of Iran, this administration refers to modern terrorist threats as such:
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are merely known as the "Overseas Contingency Operation"; the War on Terror is now referred to as "Battling Man-Caused Disasters" (a phrase introduced just before the Tax Day Tea Parties as those who express dissent can now be added to a "watch list") The Fort Hood tragedy is still a "workplace shooting". The Christmas day "Jockstrap Jihadist" is known as a "common criminal" who failed to murder hundreds of people, not because of our efforts, but because of user error igniting his chemical-packed undies. We still have civilian trails for terrorist masterminds and our President still can't bring himself to say "thank you" to two American heroes.
Perhaps Todd and Munley should have battled childhood obesity instead.
Photos compliments of AP and Getty Images
