Jim: I’ll begin tonights SOTU festivities by letting you in on a few little not-so-secrets. When you pick up your paper tomorrow morning - well, for those of you who still read the news on paper - you’ll see a main “State of the Union story”, probably by the Associated Press, and then probably a sidebar of how your local congressmen reacted to it, written by the Washington Bureau of your local paper (if it has one) or a reporter on a regional beat for AP or a wire service.

You’ll probably note that your local congressman is speaking in vague generalities - “I think it was a good speech; I was particularly pleased that the president was addressing some of my key priorities,” bla bla bla. This is because the quote was probably given to the reporter sometime this afternoon, long before the speech was written. If he’s lucky, the congressman is reacting to the bits and pieces that have been released in advance.

Deadlines for East Coast newspapers begin as early as 4 pm or 5 pm; the “how your congressman reacted” story was written for that deadline. For the State of the Union, wire services are writing up their main story based on advance copies of the speech and have distributed it to papers before the speech begins. The last item to be placed in the paper is the picture - at 9:05 p.m. or so, the wire services provide photos of Bush speaking and they’re laid into preset spaces on the front page.

Another oddity in the State of the Union - members of the House go down early in the afternoon to reserve their seats by the aisle, so they appear prominently in the network TV coverage, shaking the president’s hand before or after the speech. If tradition holds from when I covered the Hill, some very liberal Democrats are among those most determined to be seen shaking the president’s hand. I guess they think that makes them look like movers and shakers.

If this story is true, Cindy Sheehan will be in the gallery. Her spokesman said she :will be respectful and listen to the address.”

Let’s see.

Jim again, @ 8:40 EST: Because I’m overseas, I’m stuck watching the SOTU on CNN International. Bah. I’ve already learned so far that Jack Cafferty’s “viewer e-mail” is among the dumbest wastes of time on television. It’s like letting blogger troll comments on CNN.

Jim again, @ 8:45 EST: Or maybe not! Ed Henry of CNN reported that Sheehan just got arrested by the Capitol Police.

Cam @ 8:47 EST Great. She just hit a home run with the hard left. They will freaking adore her now.

Jim @ 8:55 EST An update from Henry on CNN: Sheehan tried to unfold a banner, against House rules. She was removed from the House chamber, and will not be permitted to return.With Sheehan’s arrest before the speech instead of during it, did we just miss the next “Michael Moore sitting next to Jimmy Carter” moment?

Cam @ 8:59 EST Well, glad to see there was cause. I didn’t think we were supposed to start the roundups until 2007. (Just kidding, lefties) BTW, is it the Robitussen talking, or does Nancy Pelosi have a pretty nice rack for an old lady?