Opinion: State of the Union bingo!

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Having just made fun of the State of the Union ritual, I now realize that I’ve unwittingly encouraged people to disengage themselves from the policy debates that I write about for a living. And, umm, that’s probably not helping my page views. And it doesn’t help matters that other journalists are pooh-poohing the big speech too.

So it’s time for me to reverse course. Here’s a reason for you all to tune in to the speech tonight (at 6 p.m. Pacific): You and your friends can play State of the Union bingo! Take two dozen words from the list below, arrange them in a five-by-five grid, then mark off each one as it’s uttered by President Obama. The first to get five in a row wins.

To get you started, here’s a blank grid, with a gimme in the middle:

Here’s a list of words to scatter around the your card -- pick any 24:

I left out some sure things (“Medicare,” “Social Security,” “bipartisan”) in the hope of making the game last longer. And remember, don’t get lost in the rhetoric (or in righteous indignation) -- you’ll lose focus and miss some words.

-- Jon Healey