WASHINGTON — When you’re the president, especially one who’s got a way with words, you can call yakking in front of Congress anything you desire.

Join me in a half-hour or so with comments as I blog through Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress, a speech that the talking heads say might or might not be recalled as a pivot point early in his presidency.

Elsewhere on Political Fix there’s audio of Sen. Claire McCaskill offering this assertion:

“I think Missourians will support difficult choices, as long as they’re being told the whole truth.”

But hey — Hasn’t truth, tinged in ugliness, been slapping us in the face for quite some while?

No less a political artist than Bill Clinton accuses Obama of being unfailingly negative. Of bumming us out too doggone much.

On a day when the stock market quivered up some from its abyss, we’ll see how cheery Obama sounds in a substance-packed address dealing with some old familiars: education; health-care reform; so-called energy independence and — the big dog on the porch — financial stability.

Speaking of stability, out here here in D.C., I just ventured up to grab a Stimulus Special at the Japanese restaurant two blocks from the White House – $6 for for about five bucks worth of miso soup and eel rolls.

Obama may need to sprinkle all the meat in this speech with a little optimism if he expects us to digest it. Otherwise, a lot of us might keep thinking something very fishy is going on in D.C.