Obama’s State of the Union speech was more focused on overarching rhetoric than specific policy proposals. He attempted to keep it lighter and avoid almost any specifics at all. As he noted when he began his speech, the expectations for his accomplishments during an election year are exceptionally low. The key thing I found from his speech is that this is something he actually believes.

No nation attacks us directly or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin. Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office and when it comes to every important issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead, they call us.

As Wolf Blitzer noted before the speech began, the timing of Iran’s apparent capture of two of our naval boats makes this an, um, “awkward” claim by the President. To say nothing of the fact that Iran conducted a live fire training exercise less than 1,500 yards from one of our carriers this weekend. It is also a little “awkward” that the Russians are openly bombing our allies in Syria, and the Turks are busy massacring our Kurdish allies in Turkey, and that the Taliban and ISIS are both attacking our allies in the Afghan Defense Force, and that North Korea is defying the world (and our allies in South Korea) by openly testing fusion bombs, and that.. well, the list could go on and on.

And it’s also a bit “awkward” that the Chinese are assumed to be the only people who can confront a nuclear North Korea, and that all roads to resolving the Syrian crisis lead through Russia. It’s also a little awkward that Russia is bombing American based aid organizations in Syria (in spite of the fact that they are in territory controlled by our allies).

It’s just mind boggling to find him this disconnected from the events of the world.