The Curse of the State of the Union Rebuttal [UPDATED]

The response to the State of the Union is the opposition party's opportunity to inform the president that, yes, his agenda is welcome to crawl into a corner and die. Call it the STFU to the president's SOTU. It's also a hazardous assignment, if history's any judge.

Tonight Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will give the official Republican response, and Sen. Rand "Son of Ron" Paul will give the official Tea Party response, which is a whole lot of responding–and a whole lot of room for error.

Here's what Rubio and Paul need to do in order to avoid making complete(er) fools of themselves:

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Tags: Bob McDonnell, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Republicans, State of the Union, Tea Party

Bob McDonnell Not So Sure About Mandatory Ultrasound Thing

Pardon me, but I'm a little annoyed. My colleague and fire-dancing partner Jess Dweck takes time out of her busy schedule to write about a Virginia law requiring women to get invasive ultrasounds before undergoing abortions, and now Governor Bob McDonnell is backing down like a wimp and saying the procedure can be optional…

"Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state," McDonnell said in a statement. "No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure." He did not comment further.

Make up your mind! Can women be trusted to independently decide whether to have a baby or not? It's kind of like asking if Americans can be trusted to consume adult entertainment responsibly, except the answer to that is obviously no.

And anyway, why would McConnell back down like this?

McDonnell, who is often mentioned as a possible presidential running mate, tried to strike a balance between supporting his conservative base and supporting a bill that immediately drew opposition as a severe end-run against abortion rights.

"Bob McDonnell's political future is not enhanced by vaginal ultrasound legislation," said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington.

Oh.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Abortion, Bob McDonnell, Men and Women, State Legislature, Virginia, Women's Rights

WINNER Caption Challenge: Gov. Bob McDonnell at CPAC

Submitted by Marianne Davenport Long.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Bob McDonnell, Caption Challenge, CPAC, Virginia

YOU DECIDE Caption Challenge: Gov. Bob McDonnell at CPAC

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Tags: Bob McDonnell, Caption Challenge, CPAC, Virginia

Caption Challenge: Gov. Bob McDonnell at CPAC

Leave your caption in the comments section of this post.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Bob McDonnell, Caption Challenge, CPAC, Virginia