In a world overrun by smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops that appear more dinosaur-like every day, the idea of an annual State of the Union address may seem like an old-fashioned tradition that has no place in today’s fast moving world.

But the State of the Union is one of the rare occasions where American citizens actually get to hear their president speak to them without modifications by the news media, and it should be preserved for the long term.

In Article 2 of the Constitution, the president is charged with the responsibility of addressing Congress on the state of the country: “He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

With that command, the State of the Union has become a time-honored tradition, and rightly so.

But how necessary is it? In today’s world of attack ads leading up to elections, five second daily political news blurbs and most major newspapers or news station tilting their news coverage to the left or to the right, it is very necessary.
It is about one hour of time, once per year, where the president speaks to the people about his plans for the country and the recent accomplishments made.

There is so much political noise from every form of media, but little real news about what is actually happening in our Congress to move the country forward.

The truth of the matter is seeing a few seconds of news updates on local or national news about politics is not very effective in educating the public about the real issues, instead providing what media critics like to call “infotainment.”

The State of the Union, however, is an hour of uninterrupted coverage of real issues facing the country and the president’s plans for dealing with them.

It is one of the few times left in the world when political coverage is not constantly interrupted by ads and dulled down into useless tidbits of information by pundits.

President Obama will deliver the annual address from Washington tonight, at approximately 7 p.m.

I’d recommend tuning in. I can guarantee you that you will learn more about politics during the speech than you will in days or weeks reading or watching the news.