The following podcast contains explicit language.

Hello and welcome to the Slate Political Gap Fest for January 23rd, 2015.

The, is it rude to fall asleep during the State of the Union?

In addition, I'm David Plotts of Atlas of Stura.

I'm alone in Washington, D.C. Emily Baszlon of the New York Times magazine is in New York

appropriately.

Hello, Emily.

And John Dickerson, usually my trustee companion here in the D.C. studio, has made his first

foray out into the, the world of presidential electropolitics.

John, what part of Iowa are you in at this moment?

Well, I'm actually just in Des Moines, which is, I mean, there's nothing wrong with Des Moines,

but I mean, I'm not in Muscatine or Decora or Davenport or something interesting like

that.

What's your favorite place in Iowa to say?

Huh.

Muscatine is pretty good.

I think he's not bad.

I want to say that.

I like the three of those towns or cities together.

That was a good little run there.

I was once in an event with Lamar Alexander in 1996 where Miss Muscatine was the talent

at the event.

...