State of the Union "drinking game"

Group sets rules for 'State of the Union' drinking game

By Karin Zeitvogel
AFP

Americans abuzz with anticipation ahead of President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address Wednesday can host their own beer summit and play along with the State of the Union drinking game.
Invented in 2002 by Marc Melzer and Howard Deutsch when they were final-year students at Princeton University, the basic rules of the game require players to down a shot or chug a beer when the president says certain words or phrases, or speaks the names of people or countries during the speech.

This year, "hope" and "change" both require a swig of something, as do mentions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran or Pakistan.
"Let me be clear" and "make no mistake" get a shot each, and if Obama references problems that his administration inherited, players drink a shot of something aged -- which is also the drinking requirement if the cameras show a shot of 92-year-old Senator Robert Byrd.

The game was initially inspired by Melzer's and Deutsch's desperate search for a way to get through an hour-long speech by former president George W. Bush, whose "speaking style is not one for the ages," Melzer said.
"But we had a lot of fun with the game when we were first coming up with it," Melzer recalled, thinking back whimsically to the shots he downed when Bush pronounced the word "nukular" -- a Bushism for "nuclear" -- or mentioned God or any euphemism for God (two drinks) in his annual speech.

This year, with the silver-tongued Obama in office, the motivation was different and Melzer and Deutsch had to wipe the slate clean and start anew.

Drinks are also required if the camera zooms in on someone listening to the speech in the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill.
A camera shot of First Lady Michelle Obama earns a jigger, and if the camera shows the first lady's well-cut arms, players take another step towards getting well-cut themselves, in both meanings of the word, because that shot has to be delivered using a bicep curl.

If Obama mentions the word "stimulus", you drink an espresso -- which might be welcome relief after the shot taken without moving any facial muscles if the camera zooms in on House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

The cue words and rules of the game are posted online at

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/politics/g ... TKv5i7ORGL

http://www.drinkinggame.us/