THE STATE OF THE UNION IS ON FIRE (2020 EDITION)

[defrog]

 

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Trump’s SOTU campaign speech. But here’s a few things:

1. Nancy Pelosi tearing up the transcript was delicious political theatre. The only way she could have improved on it was to set it on fire (which probably would have violated the building code, but still).

2. As for the inevitable civility debate, well, I’ve posted about that before, but in this specific case: (1) I don’t think any of the Demos did anything that qualifies as “uncivil”, and (2) Republicans lost their credibility to lecture anyone about decorum and civility during the SOTU address somewhere around the time Joe Wilson got a little rowdy.

(And yes, I know about Fred Guttenberg doing something similar, but (1) he’s not a Congressperson and (2) he’s entitled to get emotional, all things considered.)

3. Rush Limbaugh’s Medal of Freedom – I guess it's only fair, since Trump has been ripping off Limbaugh’s schtick for years and really owes his entire presidency to the groundwork that race-baiting demagogues like Limbaugh laid for him.

4. While some may be tempted to give Trump credit for not spending most of his time complaining about impeachment or insulting his enemies and sticking mostly to his imagined accomplishments and upcoming policies, Ana Marie Cox offers the best response:

“Giving a speech that’s marginally competent while still banning immigrants, keeping kids in cages, taking assistance from those in need, and practicing relentless corruption isn’t much of an accomplishment, it’s another kind of lie.”

Which is apropos, as his speech was chock full of those, too.

Tear it up,

This is dF