Last night was the first, and I hope last, State of the Union, aka Uniom, address of Resident Donald Trump, Fuhrer of the Republican Reich, pawn of Russia, and serial pussy grabber.  I did not watch it, but I have read several reports about it.  I understand that it was a teleprompter speech that was too long and two lumbering  Most important, Trump pretended to be someone else, someone who cared.

The strangest thing about watching President Donald Trump deliver a State of the Union address was how normal it seemed. Tuesday night, in his first State of the Union, the president offered a workmanlike speech that seemed worlds away from the tumultuous, gridlocked lived reality of American politics over the past year—and the likely reality in the year to come.

Looking back to his speech to a joint session of Congress last February, Trump recalled, “A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land. Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission—to make America great again for all Americans.” He added, “Over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success.”

The reality is somewhat less rosy: By a wide margin, Americans believe that the nation is on the wrong track, and the president’s approval rating is historically low. Trump has struggled to push his agenda through Congress, just squeaking a big tax cut in at the end of last year. That presents three challenges for the president, and his speechwriters: How do you boast about victories you haven’t had? How do you present new proposals when many of the old ones are still on the table? And how do you handle the Russia story that seems to consume most of politics each week?

The answer from Trump was simply to conjure his own reality, outlining a set of some accomplishments, delivering the standard list of policy proposals, and ignoring the Russia probe altogether. The speech was long, and there was little in the way of thematic unity, though he spoke of a “new American moment”—a concept borrowed from Hillary Clinton, of all people. This president is not often good at hiding his emotions, but he did so Tuesday. As a result, not only was the picture he painted of America removed from reality, but Trump himself was also practically unrecognizable… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Atlantic>

Here is the complete list of honest statements by Trump:

[end of list]

Here is the complete list of Trump’s statements that were worth hearing:

[end of list]

Here is the complete list of Trump plans that are good for America:

[end of list]

On the other hand, I have two Democratic Responses and one Democratic interview that are worth the listen.

Joe Kennedy III

"This is not right. This is not who we are."  AMEN!!

Bernie Sanders

In addition to exposing Trump’s real intent, Bernie could not have made a better case for Social Democracy.

Kamala Harris and Rachel Maddow

I think Trump intended to call for the removal of Mueller, but Kamala’s suggestion that he was calling for his own impeachment was far more appropriate.

Kudos to the Democrats!

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!

One by one, senior officials from the FBI and the DOJ have been disappearing, victims of the Republican onslaught of attacks designed to obstruct justice and stop the investigation into the Republican conspiracy to enlist Russia’s help to enable Donald Trump to infest the White House.  Rod Rosenstein is the last official needed to maintain the Mueller investigation, and Republicans are taking aim at him.

A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it.

The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to believe that the associate, Carter Page, was acting as a Russian agent. But the reference to Mr. Rosenstein’s actions in the memo — a much-disputed document that paints the investigation into Russian election meddling as tainted from the start — indicates that Republicans may be moving to seize on his role as they seek to undermine the inquiry.

The memo’s primary contention is that F.B.I. and Justice Department officials failed to adequately explain to an intelligence court judge in initially seeking a warrant for surveillance of Mr. Page that they were relying in part on research by an investigator, Christopher Steele, that had been financed by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

The Republican memo, sight unseen, is a bold faced lie.  Carter Page was under FISA surveillance as a Russian agent long before there was any investigation into Trump, and the FISA warrant had been renewed several times at 90 day intervals.  All Rosenstein did was to apply for another pro forma 90 day extension.  Also, the research by Christopher Steele was initially financed by a Republican PAC. 

Rachel Maddow broke this down in so much detail, that she spent 28 minutes doing it.

To reiterate, with Rosenstein gone, even if Trump did not fire Mueller, Rosenstein’s Trump appointed replacement could hamstring Mueller’s investigation.  This must not be allowe3d to happen.

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!

Yesterday Bernie Sanders appeared on Face the Nation.  Despite repeated attempts by the host to get him to commit to a 2020 Presidential bid, Bernie kept refocusing the discussion onto the things that he wanted to discuss.  His ongoing refusal to let the media play him is one of the reasons he remains one of my favorite politicians.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) brushed aside talk of his own potential 2020 presidential bid in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, but insisted that whoever does run must "focus on the needs of workers" and "be prepared to stand up to the one percent."

"What we need to do as a nation, whether I run or no matter who runs, is revitalize American democracy and create a government that actually works for working people, and not just for billionaire campaign contributors," Sanders said…

Inserted from <Common Dreams>

Here’s video of Bernie’s appearance.

Note that one of items Bernie stressed is that we all need to work together to elect Democrats.  He did this because he is smart enough to know that the Democratic Party is far superior to and the only viable alternative to the Republican Reich.  So the next time you’re tempted to call the Democratic Party foul names or support false equivalence, listen to Bernie.  If more had done so in November, we wouldn’t have this mess.

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!