Everyone was expecting a historic train wreck of a State of the Union last night and they got it. But it wasn't the one they thought it would be. President Joe Biden's address was powerful and dynamic and no doubt put a lot of timorous Democrats' worries to rest (at least for a day or so.) It was Donald Trump's highly touted response that failed dramatically.
Biden came out swinging and knocked the Republicans so far back on their heels that they had to completely abandon the image of him they've been building since 2020 — a man so old and feeble that he can't even feed himself — and instead hilariously whimper about his loud macho aggression. They whined mightily that Biden was too "political" apparently forgetting that in his last State of the Union speech, Donald Trump bestowed the Medal of Freedom on far-right, hate radio star Rush Limbaugh calling him "a special man, beloved by millions of Americans."
Biden gave a barn burner of a speech that wasn't boring, which is highly unusual for any president but especially unusual for a president many people have been convinced has one foot in the grave. As it turned out, what actually died last night was Trump's Truth Social media platform. Trump had flamboyantly promised to do a "play-by-play" of Biden's address but the site went down for many people all over the country before Biden even reached the podium, leaving us with only these important insights:
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We were all waiting on tenterhooks for over an hour to read what he had to say about Biden's choice of socks until the site came back up to reveal that Trump had pretty much just been ranting about Biden coughing and warning people not to shake his hand because it has germs. And Trump also lied and lied and lied about his own record, obviously unnerved by Biden's very pointed criticism, especially in the very strong opening section of the speech, when the audience was biggest and most attentive, in which Biden strongly contrasted his record against his predecessor.
It was one of his best speeches and delivered with a vigor that puts Donald Trump's recent rambling low energy rallies to shame.
Starting with foreign policy Biden made a compelling case for support for Ukraine and went after Trump (without ever using his name) for his Putin toadying, particularly the asinine comment that he'd tell him "do whatever the hell you want" to any NATO country that doesn't "pay its bills." He said, "A former American President actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. It’s outrageous. It’s dangerous. It’s unacceptable.” Republicans all sat glumly silent, obviously terrified to cross their Dear Leader, as he railed on Truth Social. "He said I bowed down to the Russian Leader. He gave them everything, including Ukraine. I took away Nord Stream 2, he gave it to them! He was a Puppet for Putin and Xi, and virtually every other Leader!" Trump raged. It appears that criticism hit a nerve, maybe because it's true.
The president admonished the Republicans to their faces for Jan. 6, saying, "My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of January 6. I will not do that. This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies. And here’s the simplest truth. You can’t love your country only when you win." Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sitting behind the president on the podium looked as if someone had just rubbed a grapefruit in his face.
And he took on the conservative Supreme Court Justices, some of whom were sitting in front of him as he excoriated the GOP's assault on reproductive rights. He reminded them of the passage in the court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade which said “Women are not without electoral or political power" and then added: "You're about to find out." He asked the Republicans in the chamber, "My God, what freedoms will you take away next?” and he blamed Donald Trump right upfront, pointing out that Trump brags about overturning Roe.
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And much to my happy surprise, he went after Trump for his greatest failure, and one of our country's worst tragedies, which for some reason people have flushed down the memory hole — the horrible response to the pandemic and the carnage he left in his wake:
“Remember the fear. Record job losses. Remember the spike in crime. And the murder rate. A raging virus that would take more than 1 million American lives and leave millions of loved ones behind. A mental health crisis of isolation and loneliness. A president, my predecessor, who failed the most basic duty. Any President owes the American people the duty to care. That is unforgivable.”
He did not care. He was worried about "his numbers" going up.
That opening salvo was impressive and Biden didn't lose any steam for the rest of the speech as he laid out the differences between his agenda and his opponent's, and talked about his accomplishments and plans for the future. He announced a new plan for humanitarian aid to Gaza and while he reiterated his support for Israel he also said, "To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority. As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution." If you want to know the prospects for any Republican president agreeing with that, all you have to do is look at the sour look on every one of their faces as they sat on their hands when he said that.
It wasn't all aggressive rhetoric, he also went off script and confidently jousted with the Republicans on various topics (although he, unfortunately, used the ugly term "illegals" in a back-and-forth with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.) He even managed to trap the GOP in the same trap he laid last year on cutting Social Security, this time on corporate tax cuts:
It was one of his best speeches and delivered with a vigor that puts Donald Trump's recent rambling low energy rallies to shame.
If you were a person who only saw the headlines of the major papers or watched Fox News over the past year or so, you didn't recognize the president last night, that "elderly man with good intentions and a bad memory" as Special Prosecutor Robert Hur so snidely put it. It was Joe Biden, the same guy that 81 million people voted for three and half years ago. He's fine. Now maybe we can start talking about something other than his age.
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