Obama's State of the Union: Was it a Vision or Blanket?

Broad brush strokes. The State of the Union President Obama painted last night in his address didn't look so bad. We need to compete. Yup. The American dream is alive. Roger that. Gotta lower the deficit. No doubt about it. And honor the vets. Of course we will. The beauty of broad brush strokes is from a distance the picture looks pretty good. On closer inspection what shows through is more ambiguous. Abstract even. We didn't hear much about chronic unemployment. About monstrous state and municipal deficits. About a world of uncertainty and in some cases near chaos. That canvass is disturbing. Hard to look at. Art is expression. It melds craft with intellect and emotion. It is about vision. Last night the president gave us his vision. More optimism than realism. More harmony than dissonance. Now we decide what it's worth and if it's the kind of thing we'd put up over the sofa.

Just a minute, I'm Harry Smith, CBS News.