Last week, Joe Biden delivered the annual State of the Union address. Traditionally, this is the moment when our president speaks of the mess the country is in and his terrible ideas for fixing it.
In general, presidents manipulate the narrative to present it through the prism of their party and, passive-aggressively, blame the opposite side for all the problems, and then… issue a call for unity. Biden had hoped to use the speech to bolster waning support for his anticipated 2024 re-election bid, but delivering the speech in front of Congress is not easy. So how was it?
Trump’s State of the Union speeches weren’t much more than States of the Soviet Union, because they were cold, you needed vodka to hear them, and at several points he seemed to be bowing to their supreme leader, Stal… —I mean, Putin. Biden, on the other hand, began in a lighter tone, congratulating Kevin McCarthy for having won the presidency of the House, and then talking about the achievements of his government.
Biden touted 3.4% unemployment, the lowest level in 50 years, rising wages and his legislative victories, such as the $1.75 trillion infrastructure package passed by both parties, the Chips bill and Science and the Green Energy Law. She then spoke of her agenda against climate change, assault weapons bans, abortion rights, health care expansion, tax and police reform, and solidarity with Ukraine. Soon, who knows, a Lenin facing Trump like Stalin.
It’s nice to hear about these laws, but they’ll be harder to pass than passing a kidney stone — a procedure that, thanks to Big Pharma, you’d have to sell a kidney to afford.
Breaking with his calls for unity (what did I tell you?), Biden has goaded Republicans, accusing them of holding the debt ceiling talks hostage to force him to cut Medicare and Social Security. So when they booed him to appease his lower-income base, Biden was able to say, “So we all agree that these cuts are excluded?”, falsely believing that the party that is somehow both pro-freedom of choice and anti-choice-to-abortion would not exercise its freedom to abort these false beliefs and use cuts as a bargaining chip.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders delivered the Republicans’ riposte after Biden’s speech. It was like when our parents fight and one of them comes down to the living room to pretend everything is fine, while the other continues to scream about the first’s failures in bed and as a partner.
Her speeches and those of other conservatives have buffeted the presidential libido, describing Biden’s words as a work of fiction, giving himself credit for an economy that was already on the mend, and blaming the president for the opioid crisis, the $100 national debt 3.4 trillion, for rampant inflation, promoting a radical leftist agenda and calling him a “grumpy old man”. Since the grumpy old men are mostly known for their radical leftist agenda and fondness for opiates.
Even a cynic like myself has to admit that Biden delivered a great speech. McCarthy applauded at times, even calling for silence to booing Republicans — a step toward interparty harmony. But with recent polls indicating that only 37% of Democrats think Biden should run again, 41% of Americans saying they feel they are worse off since his tenure and only 16% better off, is the speech enough to change opinion? public?
Or is your party willing to gamble on a cantankerous young man? I know what you’re thinking and… yes, I do!
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
