There weren’t many memorable lines in President Obama’s State of the Union speech. Indeed, only one leapt out at me: “As long as I’m commander in chief, we will do whatever we must to protect those who serve their country abroad.” 

Was this statement in the future tense, an implicit acknowledgment that in the recent past the commander in chief had in fact failed to “do whatever we must to protect those who serve their country abroad?” Was this promise of presidential action a kind of silent apology for his inaction on September 11, 2012? Or was the president unaware of the bitter irony of this perfunctory promise?