It wasn't the speech I would have preferred, but I didn't really think we were going to get that. Given that President Trump choose the fairly traditional route for a State of the Union address, he came off about as well as presidents ever do. Even some of the schmaltzier elements were presented pretty well.
I've never been the biggest fan of highlighting particular people and their acts of bravery or whatever, then asking them to stand in the crowd. I don't really see what it has to do with the state of the union. But like every other president, Trump went through this exercise, and the people he highlighted - from the exceptional border patrol agent to the young boy who went around putting flags on veterans' graves - were impossible not to appreciate.
The looks on Democrats' faces were priceless
The lengthy discussion of positive effects from the tax cut probably sounded political to Democrats, but when you're giving a speech about how the country is doing, it's entirely appropriate to talk about how a policy you implemented is playing out in real life. That's called substance. It's something many in Washington - and many who write about Washington - are not familiar with.
There's a lot of focus this morning on Trump's immigration emphasis, with people saying he took a "hard line" and that few minds will be changed as a result. But what he actually did was offer a solution to the never-ending controversy, which is more than generous to illegal childhood arrivals while taking solid steps to make sure we're not looking at another generation with the same problem decades from now.
The looks on Democrats' faces were priceless, especially in the moments when Trump called on both parties to put aside differences and engage in bipartisan cooperation. Chuck Schumer looked constipated as he tried to figure out whether he should applaud or give Trump a death glare. Nancy Pelosi looked like she'd been replaced by a mannequin. Trump was being perfectly conciliatory, yet they couldn't acknowledge it because seething hatred of Donald Trump has basically become the brand of the Democratic Party.
Ever since Trump took office, Democrats and their media enablers have peddled the line that Trump is such an inept lunatic that everything will be total chaos as long as he's in office. That makes it big-time trouble for them if Trump manages to actually govern effectively. He hasn't always done so, and he's caused himself problems via more than a few self-inflicted wounds. But in spite of all that, the results are starting to look pretty good. The economy is gaining strength, wages are rising, energy production is booming and the benefits of the tax cut are being felt across the board.
It's Trump's overheated critics who are actually deranged
You can't keep telling people forever that the president is an insane moron when he's getting the job done and done well, and Trump recitation last night of the record so far was pretty impressive.
I don't think State of the Union addresses matter much, and I don't think last night was much of an exception, with this caveat: What the public hears about Trump is that he's a monster whose unfit for office. What they saw of him last night makes that claim look pretty ridiculous. So does his actual governing record. At some point, if this keeps up, the public is going to conclude that it's Trump's overheated critics who are actually deranged.
If you didn't catch the speech last night, here it is in full:
It wasn't the speech I would have preferred, but I didn't really think we were going to get that. Given that President Trump choose the fairly traditional route for a State of the Union address, he came off about as well as presidents ever do. Even some of the schmaltzier elements were presented pretty well.
I've never been the biggest fan of highlighting particular people and their acts of bravery or whatever, then asking them to stand in the crowd. I don't really see what it has to do with the state of the union. But like every other president, Trump went through this exercise, and the people he highlighted - from the exceptional border patrol agent to the young boy who went around putting flags on veterans' graves - were impossible not to appreciate.
