You can listen to analysts and still develop your own opinion. You just have to be of strong enough will to take away from their analysis the facts, and only the facts. You say that the analysts try to influence opinion, well what the hell do you think the president is trying to do? Do you really think he's trying to give both sides of the issue to let you make a decision? No. He wants your opinion to be his. Some analysts are the same way, but they just help sift through a majority of the shit to get to the core of what's being said. If you cannot develop your own opinion based on this, you shouldn't be watching news analysis, nor should you be watching the State of the Union address, period.