Playing State of the Union Bingo

Here are a list of words and phrases that are likely to appear in tonight’s speech. Arrange them 5x5 in a standard bingo format and play along at home to make the speech go faster. Usually, everyone’s a winner.

In the spirit of the late William Safire, who popularized the White House acronym “SOTU” for the State of the Union speech, below is a list of words and phrases that are likely to appear in tonight’s speech.  Arrange them 5x5 in a standard bingo format and play along at home to make the speech go faster.  Usually, everyone’s a winner.

For the free space in the center, pick either “change” or “opportunity”

Middle class

“health insurance reform”

“_____ of the future”

Green jobs

Kennedy (any counts)

“Let me be clear”

Immigration

Afghanistan

Deficit

Iran

“Vice President Biden” (in the body of the speech)

“on my desk”

“our highest ideals”

Michelle/military families

Purpose/resolve

“one year ago”

“American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”

“banks should lend”

“excessive pay”

Foreclosures

“those who would do us harm”

“Attorney General Holder” (in lieu of “Secretary Napolitano”)

Olympics/Vancouver

An alternative, and more challenging, version of the game forces the players to pick which words and phrases will not be included in the speech.  For instance, “Iraq,” “Maliki,”  “Copenhagen,” “farmers,” “Secretary Geithner,” “China,” “Employee Free Choice Act,” “Guantanamo,” “systemic failure,” “criminal trials in civilian courts,” and “recent attempted terror attack in the skies over Detroit” might be good guesses.