State of the Union, again
Pretty much everything’s been said about Thursday’s State of the Union, but not everyone’s said it, so with the benefit of hindsight, here are my observations.
It should be known that for 41 straight years, since reaching voting age, my invitation to sit in the balcony got lost in the mail. So these thoughts come from watching through the lens of a camera.
In a sure sign the end of days is near, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell yucked it up while Speaker Mike Johnson and VP Kamala Harris shared affable moments aired to millions. But rest assured, both sides will throw those images into the dustbin of history for fear of retribution by their party’s zealots.
Mercifully, Lauren Boebert kept her hands to herself and wasn’t caught vaping. That didn’t stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from being Marjorie Taylor Greene. She violated House rules by wearing a bright red MAGA baseball cap, later bragging that she’d refused to take it off even after being asked twice by the sergeant at arms.
One wonders whether the Bible-brandishing blowhard wears gym shorts and tank tops to church when she’s not defending the world from Jewish space lasers.
More subtle but still out of decorum were some Democrats who held up the kind of handheld fans normally reserved for sweltering churches in movies about the South. This is despite the event being held in a comfortable climate-controlled building in the mid-Atlantic region.
Attempting to make a statement on the Gaza Strip, they read, “Lasting Ceasefire Now.” Right message? Sure. Right place? Absolutely not. I’m pretty sure the word “decorum” is defined in every dictionary ever printed. Both sides would do well to look it up.
George Santos (if that’s his real name) might also look up the word “shameless.” He can claim credit for single-handedly bringing the parties together, but they did so only to boot him out of Congress for numerous ethical lapses, including duping voters into electing a person who exists only on paper. Even though his seat has already been filled, he maintains floor privileges only because not enough time has passed to try and convict him.
Look for his autobiography to claim he gaveled in the session after receiving both the Heisman Trophy and Nobel Peace Prize, while preparing for a residency at the Sphere with U2.
Whether Democrat Jamaal Bowman attended is unclear. He was censured in December for pulling a fire alarm, which put hundreds of members and staffers in danger, when the only blaze that day was coming from the mouths of those trying to shut down the government.
As for the speech itself, when conservative media suggests the president did drugs to be on top of his game, they’re at once admitting that he killed it, and by extension, drugs are good. Not a good look for the hair-sprayed purveyors of hearsay.
But it was Alabama Sen. Katie Britt who stole the freak show with her cringe-worthy, farcically comical rebuke of Biden’s handling of the border in the Republican response broadcast from . . . her kitchen. It was a made-for-“SNL” moment, and Scarlett Johansson should probably win an Emmy for her parody.
Britt’s performance was not only grotesque but intentionally misleading. Put more succinctly, she lied. She regaled America about a trip to the border where she met a woman who told her heartbreaking life story of being the victim of Mexican cartel sex-trafficking as if it were all Biden’s fault.
To be clear, sex trafficking is heartbreaking. That’s not up for debate, but that’s where the truth ended.
Back here on Earth, the trafficking she spoke of occurred between 2004-2008 when George W. Bush was president (not Biden). It happened in Mexico, not in America, and not on the border.
Britt didn’t even have to go to the border to hear the story. The woman testified about it at a congressional hearing back in 2015 when Britt was a congressional staffer—so much for her anti-career-politician schtick.
Lord have mercy, when will the blatant attempts to deceive end?
For the left, though, the perfect must always be the enemy of the good. Biden was criticized for saying “illegal immigrant” instead of “undocumented migrant.” Don’t confuse me as a MAGA adherent because I promise you, I’m not. I never thought America lost its greatness. But when someone is in America for an extended period without documentation, they’re here illegally. Enough with the snowflake semantics.
Additionally, the left expressed disappointment that Biden didn’t use the word “abortion” when he scolded the Supreme Court for its Roe v. Wade ruling, as if no one knew what he meant.
And for the younger generation reportedly protesting outside the Capitol over the conflict in the Gaza Strip: I hate to answer a question with a question, but do they really think electing Trump, who’d rather turn the region into a parking lot than broker a peace deal, will better their cause? With friends like these, who needs enemies?
The one word not mentioned in the speech was “malarky.” So, I’ll use it in asking: Is there any wonder why most Americans think politics is a bunch of it?