The “Send” Button
There’s a wise saying, never write a letter when you’re angry. In the modern age it’s been translated to “don’t push the send button”. So I’m writing today’s essay under duress, it’s been burning in my head since somewhere in the middle of the State of the Union address last night. The speech made me more than angry: listening to it was like having surgery under local anesthesia; you know you have to do it, but you so much want to get up and leave.
To help me stay seated through the Presidential fiction I tried looking at Facebook. That didn’t help, my Trumpian friends were so excited they couldn’t contain themselves. “I guess Democrats don’t want a good economy,” one said, while others were overjoyed at the shocked expressions of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I’m a thumb typist on my phone, and my thumbs hovered over four-letters. Don’t push “send”.
A Fictional Economy
It started with Trump’s economic claims. The lies came fast and furious; so quickly you couldn’t fact check one before three more were spouted. But the overall impact was to somehow paint a picture of an America where everyone had wonderful jobs, were paid living wages, and doing better than they ever had. That vision is just not true, and the multiple fact-checking news services list one false claim after another (NYT).
One real Trump truth was that unemployment is very low. Sure there are lots of jobs, and it’s a damn good thing. Many of those jobs aren’t paying a living wage; it takes a couple to even keep up. Here’s a fact that the President didn’t tell you: 40% of Americans can’t handle a $400 emergency bill; the car breaking down, an uncovered medical expense, or a hot water heater going bad (CNBC).
My only guess is that either my Trumpian friends are “among the blessed” doing well, or they so hope to be, that they are willing to throw everyone else under the bus.
What Health Care Program?
There were lies about a non-existent Republican health care program, lies about protecting pre-existing conditions from a President in Court right now trying to rip it away, lies about cutting pharmaceutical costs. Lies easily refuted, but lies that many Americans will say: “if the President says it, it must be true”. It’s not.
You can’t blame Democrats for their incredulity. The President claimed credit for prison reform, family leave, and reduced drug prices; all bills generated from the Democratic House majority, with some still sitting on Mitch McConnell’s desk waiting for Senate action. At first I thought the “women in white” were giving the President the universal hand signal of disrespect, instead they were giving him a three-fingered salute for House Resolution Number 3, “The Elijah Cumming Reduce Drug Costs Now Act” to reduce drug costs. It’s there on Mitch’s desk too.
Feeding the Sharks
Then there were the “red meat” parts of the speech. I expected them: “I will protect your right to have a gun” and “school choice to free children from government-run schools”. The best one, “a Constitutional Amendment so children can pray in school,” which isn’t even a thing. Children can pray in school, but adults can’t force their religion on kids in school, the real goal of the Christian right.
And “I have brought peace to Israel and Palestine,” a proposal brought to you by nepotism, as little Jared read books “for three years” and saved the world. Even his buddy in Saudi Arabia isn’t buying into it, much less the Palestinians and the other Arab states. It was more red meat for the masses.
But Rush Limbaugh, one of the miserable founders of American divisiveness, gets the Presidential Medal of Freedom? And Melania hangs it on his neck, right there in the House of Representatives? Who gets the award, I guess, is the President’s prerogative, but to do it in the House chamber is Trump “pissing in the corner”.
The Uncle Don Show
And then there was State of the Union “Game Show”. It was perhaps the lighter aspect of the hour: what will be the next unexpected gift? Check under your seat, maybe there’s a car key. First, a thirteen year old gets to look forward to the Space Force, and we find his one hundred year old grandfather, a Tuskegee Airman and career Air Force veteran, gets a retirement promotion to Brigadier General. Then, a thirteen-year-old girl gets a scholarship to a private school. A border guard gets promoted to a supervisory position, and a mother of a premature baby gets funding for her pre-natal care program. Finally, the climax, the President brings a soldier back from war to reunite with his family.
It would have a lot more impact if he were bringing all the troops back from war to reunite all the families. He’s not.
Tearing it Up
Some Congressmen got up and left. I can’t blame them. Speaker Pelosi was caught, she couldn’t leave, and she couldn’t stand the constant barrage of falsehoods. “That’s not true” and “that’s our program” came out of her mouth: she was skewered by lie after lie with no way to respond.
The speech wasn’t worth the parchment it was printed on. The Speaker demonstrated what the President did to truth: she tore it into pieces.
