TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION EXPLAINED TO THE DUTCH

Below the front page of my newspaper yesterday evening.  It might appear strange that Dutch media would pay so much attention to a yearly and mostly rather ceremonial event in American politics. Are the Dutch that much interested in it? The answer is short: no, they aren’t. But note the first header of the article, right below the picture (which tells a whole story on its own) in bright red letters. Over the course of the past year Guus Valk has started writing almost daily columns from Washington, which are midway between straight-forward reports and op-eds, analyzing the shenanigans of  American President Donald Trump and the Republican party which he represents. It is very clear to many Dutch that whatever Trump and the GOP get up to in (one of) the most powerful countries in the world it will have great repercussions for the rest of that world. So reading about Donald Trump is of great interest to many Dutch, who in general have always shown an interest in what is happening in the rest of the world. And most of the time it makes for bewildering and hilarious reading ; so yes, that too.

PRESIDENT TRUMP

State of the Union shows unprecedented division

Trumps tone was unctuous and patriotic. But his message was as always ‘America First’.

In this article, Valk again gives more of an analysis of Trump’s State of the Union than a report on the contents, places the speech within the context of the current American political climate and picks up on certain passages which are of interest to his Dutch readers. The headlines make it clear: Valk wasn’t very much impressed, neither by Trump’s mild tone when reading the script, nor by its contents, and hints at the possible writers of the speech with his use of “unctuous” in the sub header. The White House had indicated beforehand that Donald Trump would use his first official State of the Union to unite America after a year of extreme polarization, but Valk wasn’t seeing any of it.

He continues with a description of how both parties in Congress reacted to Trump’s “unifying words”

In the Chamber of the House of Representatives, where Trump made his speech, it was visible how divided the political climate is. The Republican Congressmen, to left of Trump, have abandoned their aversion to Trump. They stood up as one man again and again to applaud the president. For the first time in the history of the State of the Union, there was prolonged scanting of: ‘USA! USA! USA!’ (emphasis mine)

The Democrats sat to the right of Trump: looking away, playing with their phone, disapprovingly shaking their heads. Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House, had instructed her group not to interrupt Trump’s speech. But the hissing , growling an booing became increasingly loud especially when Trump spoke about immigration.

Valk then goes on to explain Trump’s need to reconcile both parties on ‘Dreamers’ to avoid a new closure of the government on February 8 but with the strict conditions he linked to the deal and the way he put it, it seems Trump has blown his chance:

At least as important was rhetoric, which was reminiscent of the way he depicted immigrants as criminals during his campaign. ‘For decades, open borders have ensured that drugs and gangs flew into our most vulnerable communities.‘ He also said, ‘Americans are dreamers too.’ (emphasis mine)

By summing up all the conservative results he achieved in the past year, Trump was the president as Republicans wanted him: An ordinary Republican president

No tweets, no Russia research, no war against the intelligence services and the FBI. That explained the dozens of standing ovations.

But Valk notes that Trump came up with remarkably few plans, even though a State of the Union is meant to do so. Even now, in a president’s best-prepared speech, Trump remained close to the alarmist tone that made him great, but he couldn’t deliver new plans and new inspiration to a Republican Party which is heading for a possible big defeat in the midterm elections in November.

Valk then ends with a remarkable observation:

Trump said the most interesting and most polarizing words just before he left the room. The speech was over, Trump walked to the exit, shaking hands. A Republican Congressman, Jeff Duncan, accosted him and said, ‘Just release the memo.’ A TV camera recorded the conversation.

Duncan was referring to a memo that here that has an explosive status in Washington. A Republican, Devin Nunes, is said to demonstrate in that memo that the FBI is biased against Trump. The Republicans want to release the memo, but that will almost certainly lead to a total escalation of the conflict between Trump and the FBI, and that between Democrats and Republicans. It will also endanger Robert Mueller’s Russia research.

The person who now has to decide on releasing the note is Trump himself. He has received the document and must now make a decision. He already anticipated  on that to Congressman Duncan. He said, ‘Do not worry, hundred percent.’ When he was off-script, Trump showed what his conciliatory tone was worth this evening.

Guus Valk obviously wasn’t fooled by Trump’s State of the Union, to him it was just another one of this showman’s many campaign speeches and I think many Dutch will agree with him and can’t wait for the next chapter to unfold. “New Republican Weapon: Memo” is the headline of today’s article on Trump, or rather in the parallel series : RUSSIA INVESTIGATION US

Cross-linked with Care-2 here

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!!