2006 State of the Union Drinking Game

Make it a night to remember!

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


What you need:

  • A group of four taxpayers: including 1 white guy
    wearing a Suit. 2 people wearing jeans, one in a Work
    Shirt, the other in a Dark Shirt, and 1 person wearing
    Rags. Stitched together wash cloths are nice. Four are
    grouped around cocktail table within sight of
    television. Newspapers on floor in front of
    television.
  • A shot glass per person. Everyone brings their own
    and places on table. Suit picks one first. Then Work
    Shirt. Then Dark Shirt. Suit takes last one as well,
    and Rags gets a Dixie Cup with the top scissored off.
  • 5 bucks apiece. Everybody antes.
  • Fondue pot with 2 packages of Li’l Smokies stewing
    in barbecue sauce on table. Preferably a sauce from
    Texas. Surrounded by:
  • 100 cocktail toothpicks. The kind with the little
    American flags wrapped around the top.
  • A large stash of beer. Rags gets the cheapest stuff
    you can find, like Old Milwaukee Light; Suit gets to
    drink whatever import he asks for; while the jeans get
    to pick their favorite domestic brand, but they are
    required to pay for all the beer and the Li’l Smokies.

Rules of the Game

1. Whenever George W uses the phrases: national
security, tax relief, activist judges or affordable
health care, drink two shots of beer.

2. Whenever George W mentions the tragic events of
911, last person to grab a toothpick, stand and salute
must drink three shots of beer. If you stab yourself
in forehead with the toothpick, drink two more shots.

3. If George W actually says, “If Al Qaeda is calling
you, we want to know why.” first person to finish a
whole beer gets to toss Li’l Smokies at any of the
others until they finish their beer. Use the
toothpicks.

4. If George W makes up a word like “strategerie” or
“deteriorize” drink four shots of beer.

5. If George W speaks of Hamas and repeats his earlier
statement that “its good to see people are demanding
honest leadership,” the first person to stop laughing
gets to drink one shot of beer then pummel Suit with
empty shot glass. No head shots.

6. Whenever George W talks about bi- partisanship, the
last person to grab his throat in a choking motion has
to eat 4 Li’l Smokies.

7. If either the Vice President Dick Cheney or First
Lady Laura Bush are caught napping, last person to
sing “Wake Up Little Susie, Wake Up,” has to drink
three shots of beer.

8. Predict the number of applause breaks. Person
closest to correct number may then force the other
three to drink that number of shots of beer in
whatever ratio they wish.

9. Three shots of beer if he mentions New Orleans.
Five shots of beer if he mentions Brownie. Two full
beers if he mentions Abramoff.

10. Every time Tom DeLay is shown in the audience,
take turns throwing Li’l Smokies at the tv. Suit sits
out. First face hit doesn’t have to drink two shots of
beer. Every time Hillary Clinton is shown in the
audience, Suit throws Li’l Smokies at the tv. If he
hits her face, everyone else drinks two shots of beer.
Use the toothpicks.

11. Whenever George W quotes the Bible, last person to
fall to their knees and cry “Hallelujah!” drinks two
shots of beer.

12. Whenever George W smirks during a standing
ovation, take turns drinking shots of beer until the
audience sits down. Do it double time if his shoulders
shake with silent laughter.

Extras:

  • Whoever can correctly identify in advance the person
    giving the Democratic Response doesn’t have to watch
    it.
  • Suit gets to kick Rags hard, once if George W uses a
    heartfelt story of a pulling yourself up by your
    bootstraps to illustrate a point. Twice if the
    regulation of large cardboard boxes is mentioned as a
    security precaution. Rags gets 15 seconds to kick the
    Suit if Bush reveals the subject of the anecdote is in
    the audience. 30 seconds if he or she is sitting next
    to Harriet Miers. 1 full minute if she’s sitting next
    to an astronaut.
  • Suit takes home $20.
  • Leftover beer, Li’l Smokies and fondue pot go home
    with Rags.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. We need people who care enough about Mother Jones’ journalism to be reading a blurb like this to decide to pitch in and support it if you can right now.

Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

And it's really been resonating with folks! Thankfully. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. Only people like you will.

There's more about our finances in "News Never Pays," or "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," and we'll have details about the year ahead for you soon. But we already know this: The fundraising for our next deadline, $350,000 by the time September 30 rolls around, has to start now, and it has to be stronger than normal so that we don't fall behind and risk coming up short again.

Please consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO, and Brian Hiatt, Online Membership Director

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. We need people who care enough about Mother Jones’ journalism to be reading a blurb like this to decide to pitch in and support it if you can right now.

Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

And it's really been resonating with folks! Thankfully. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. Only people like you will.

There's more about our finances in "News Never Pays," or "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," and we'll have details about the year ahead for you soon. But we already know this: The fundraising for our next deadline, $350,000 by the time September 30 rolls around, has to start now, and it has to be stronger than normal so that we don't fall behind and risk coming up short again.

Please consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO, and Brian Hiatt, Online Membership Director

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate