Washington in 60 Seconds: Chris Matthews' Praise for Obama -- 'I Forgot He Was Black!'

Good morning, Capitolists! Welcome to a special State of the Union edition of your morning reader. Get up to speed on that, along with what else is making news in Washington today.

* To Ben or Not to Ben. It's the moment of truth for Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and his foes in the Senate, as his confirmation for a second term comes up for a vote today. Populists in the crowd want to vote against him, but nobody wants the markets to tank if the Senate sends him packing. Stay tuned.

* Great News, People! The state of our union is strong, and you can read all about why the president believes that HERE, what Democrats think about it HERE, what Republicans think about it HERE and what members of Congress Tweeted about it HERE.

* You Had Him at "The state of our union is strong." Easily the most memorable reaction to the president's address was from MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Effusive in his praise, Matthews declared last night, "He is post-racial. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour." We think that was meant as a compliment, but you can judge for yourselves at Real Clear Politics HERE.

* Drill, Baby, Drill! Tucked into the section of the speech on climate change legislation, President Obama quietly gave a nod to ideas that the greenies in his party are not going to like -- offshore oil drilling and new nuclear power plants. Here's exactly what he said: "We need more production, more efficiency, more incentives, and that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country . . . and making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development."

* Brother Against Brother. A lesser known fact of Capitol Hill politics is that while Democrats and Republicans have their moments of getting along, members of the House and Senate from the same party almost never do. It's sort of an upstairs/downstairs dynamic that Obama used to his advantage last night, calling on the Senate to pass bills that the House dispensed with long ago. As Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) told Manu Raju of Politico, "The Republicans are the opposition, but the Senate is the enemy."

* What About Joe Wilson? Perhaps chastened after yelling "you lie!" at the president the last time around, Rep. Joe Wilson stayed quiet as a mouse during last night's speech and then headed to Facebook to tell his fans what he really thought. Wilson didn't exactly say the president lied last night, but he did say some of Obama's promises aren't true, which is sort of the same thing, but a lot less entertaining.

* Change She Can Put a Sleeve In. Of all the differences between last night's address and Obama's previous speeches to Congress, one jumped out at us right away: Michelle Obama sat high about the crowd wearing sleeves. Mrs. O. has the details.