{"id":31267,"date":"2018-01-31T12:40:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T20:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=31267"},"modified":"2018-01-31T12:40:32","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T20:40:32","slug":"the-state-of-the-union-is-screwed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2018\/01\/31\/the-state-of-the-union-is-screwed\/","title":{"rendered":"The State of the Union is Screwed"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/font><\/p>\n

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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\u2014and the likely reality in the year to come.<\/p>\n

Looking back to his speech to a joint session of Congress last February, Trump recalled, \u201cA 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\u2014to make America great again for all Americans.\u201d He added, \u201cOver the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality is somewhat less rosy: By a wide margin,<\/a> Americans believe that the nation is on the wrong track, and the president\u2019s 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\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n

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 \u201cnew American moment\u201d\u2014a concept borrowed from Hillary Clinton,<\/a> 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<\/strong>… [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <The Atlantic<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the complete list of honest statements by Trump:<\/font><\/p>\n

[end of list]<\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the complete list of Trump’s statements that were worth hearing:<\/font><\/p>\n

[end of list]<\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the complete list of Trump plans that are good for America:<\/font><\/p>\n

[end of list]<\/font><\/p>\n

On the other hand, I have two Democratic Responses and one Democratic interview that are worth the listen.<\/font><\/p>\n

Joe Kennedy III<\/a><\/font><\/p>\n