Well, that was a weird 70 minutes.
Truthfully, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I sat down to watch the State of the Union Address last night. The set-up had been telegraphed: Biden would come out, possibly drugged up, and go overboard trying to sell himself as vigorous and feisty. The media was prepared to run with it, as were all the social media mouthpieces. Within minutes of the start of the speech, legions of left-wing journos would be tweeting and posting about how "Sleepy Joe" came to play ball, how "Dark Brandon" is ready to rumble, blah, blah, blah.
But if you could separate yourself from that annoyance and actually listen to what was said, you simply could not help but offer up a despondent chuckle at the actual state of our Union.
I'll put it plainly: it ain't good.
Here were the five most prominent observations I had on my notepad when I got done watching.
(1) Screaming does not equal strength.
We all know that, right? Even if we pretend otherwise in order to play the political game?
As expected, much was made on social media platform X towards the start of the speech when Biden came out of the gates, um, shall we say, "excited." I'm not aware if the president was given any kind of medical treatment prior to his speech, but I can't be the only person whose gut takeaway was, "Is that man on something?" The problem is that raising your voice and barking at the clouds does not equate to strength or command of the issues. No fair-minded person watching that speech tonight could have concluded he exhibited anything remotely resembling that.
(2) Did he really say that?
There was a line in the speech that was so unbelievable I had to go to the transcript to make sure I heard it right:
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are not Hamas...Thousands and thousands are innocent women and children.
What is he thinking? I do understand the militant state of much of his party's base, but I still can't believe he said that. Biden is impugning the actions of Israeli Defense Forces by quoting numbers straight from the Hamas propaganda machine. The same group that steals American aid to the Gazans. Besides, the numbers are not even believable.
A president that tosses an ally like Israel under the bus in a nationally televised address, all to placate a belligerent contingent of malcontents in his own political party is not reassuring.
(3) Did anyone get a look at the audience?
Has there ever been a clearer distinction in the priorities of those in power than the attire that was selected for the evening?
A number of lawmakers chose to wear blue as a way to signify their concern for, and support of, Israeli hostages still being held (and according to recent reports, raped) by Hamas.
Meanwhile, a number of their colleagues decided to forgo solidarity with innocent Israelis and went with white attire. For what purpose, you ask? To signify their support of killing kids in the wombs of their mothers.
(4) Speaking of feticide, has there ever been a more prominent role that this macabre art of child killing has played in a presidential address?
It became clear that this will be the centerpiece of the Democrat Party's pitch for control of the federal government in 2024: "Elect us and there will be a return to uninhibited child killing for convenience."
And the number of citizens who will be persuaded by such messaging is astounding and appalling. Go on and tell me that a nation - any nation - can survive when such a significant portion of its population is so thirsty for the blood of its own children.
(5) Finally, here's what I thought after the entire spectacle ended: Why?
It's a feeling I have experienced after the last five or six of these dog and pony shows. Maybe more. There's nothing of worth in these public performances. There's nothing that improves our country or that in any way sticks to the original constitutional purpose of reporting to Congress on the state of national affairs.
I have never been so convinced that there is truly no value left in this annual political theater. It serves no purpose. It is a glorified political rally for the president's party. Ever since Barack Obama normalized the practice of taunting Republicans in attendance, incidents of retaliatory, decorum-less heckling have skyrocketed. Why? Why are we still doing this?
