Mr. Obama’s first State of the Union Address: good speech — and not so good.

On one hand, the President can be extremely appealing. Numerous times in the evening, I found myself liking him — particularly when he seemed to break from text and, with a smile, remind both parties of their common duty to the naiton.

But other places I found myself saying “wrong”, “tin ear”, “off note”. The hit on the Supreme Court was one such place. It was too much, a violation of decorum. Even more (for me at least) came when I started to count the “I”’s. A TV commentator said the text had 93. Presidents routinely use the first person plural — “we” this, “we” that, striking a note of common purpose with Congress and the American people — but rarely the first person singular and, in SOUs, never even close to as frequently here. The impression left was of a president not as concerned about common purpose as about personal purpose.