Clay S. Jenkinson at Governing:

It now seems that no State of the Union address is immune to some sort of breach of decorum and civility. The cameras in the chamber often focus on adversaries of the administration. The whole circus feels more and more like something that you’d witness in the late Roman Empire. Social commentator Jacob Bacharach has written, “In recent years, thanks to the increasingly commingled worlds of politics and popular entertainment, the annual State of the Union address has evolved into an even grander and creakier spectacle: a nationally broadcast circus of government whose uncanny resemblance to an awards show or grand fund-raising gala has only grown as its cast of characters expanded.” Does anyone think we have reached bottom yet? Remember, the House just voted to remove the magnetometers that have kept firearms out of the chambers for the last two tumultuous years.