One meme coming out of Tuesday’s State of the Union address is that the speech exhibited—at a time of partisan gridlock—the limits of administrative action by the chief executive. And it’s true: The White House had talked a lot about how aggressively the president would use the tools of his office—the pen and the phone—to address the challenges of the day given Congress’ disinclination. However, a number of commentators are disappointed. “Judging from the speech, you can’t do much with a pen and phone,” wrote Slate’s John Dickerson in a smart piece.