Over the years, I have watched more State of the Union addresses than I care to admit. I had significant input on eight of them when I worked for President Ronald Reagan.
Some are underwhelming. Most are forgettable in a few days. That address last night was the most bizarre and disappointing State of the Union speech I have ever seen.
Joe Biden didn't even try to deliver a unifying address to the nation. He delivered an unhinged, hyper-partisan, gaslighting tirade that lasted for an hour and eight minutes. It was divisive by design, and he looked like an angry old man.
We're being told by the likes of Karl Rove that unless Donald Trump tones down his rhetoric, he will not get Nikki Haley's voters. Can someone find one sentence in Biden's hour-long tirade that would appeal to a Haley voter? Biden did exactly what was predicted – he went for the jugular.
He was often screaming at the top of his voice, I guess to try to demonstrate some energy. (Again, I'd like to know what they are giving him to get him through these appearances.)
But he still frequently slurred his words and made some significant gaffes. Worse, the speech was full of "misinformation." (See below.)
A Strange Beginning
Biden's address immediately got off to a strange start. He clearly forgot the protocol for State of the Union addresses, which calls for the Speaker of the House to formally introduce the president.
Biden just launched straight into his remarks and oddly began with issues that are not top concerns for most Americans. He started with foreign policy (unwise since this is supposed to be about America's union), and talked at length about giving more money to Ukraine.
The only reason to start there is because he wanted to quickly segue from Vladimir Putin's threat to democracy in Europe to Donald Trump's threat to democracy in America. So, Biden called the January 6th riot "the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War."
Really? A five-hour riot on Capitol Hill was worse than the four-year war that killed 600,000 Americans?
The real threat to democracy the neo-Marxist left, which is working 24/7 to attack every liberty we have.
The intelligence and law enforcement agencies of the United States are being turned against American citizens. Parents and churches are being spied on. Big Tech is censoring free speech and the truth online.
When we argue about the validity of an election, which is allowed in a free country, progressives act like we're not allowed to question the results. That's what they do in communist China and Russia, not America.
We must not allow the neo-Marxist totalitarian left to paint us as the threat to democracy.
Gaslighter-In-Chief
I lost track of all of Biden's "misinformation," but here's a quick fact check and in no particular order.
Biden suggested that he turned the trade deficit around. That's false. We have experienced record trade deficits every year of his administration.
Biden said he "inherited an economy that was on the brink." That's a lie. Under Donald Trump, our GDP grew 33% in the third quarter of 2020, as the American reopening from the pandemic began. In the fourth quarter of 2020, it grew another 4.1%.
So, when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office, the American economy had shot up 37%. How is that anywhere near the brink of collapse? He's counting on people not remembering.
He's counting on people not remembering a lot of things -- like the fact that he had no plan to deal with COVID and that more people died under his watch than Trump's.
He's counting on people not remembering all the pointless mandates and the progressive lockdowns and lockouts from our churches and schools and the damage that did to our children.
Even the New York Times labeled those school closures, supported by Biden and the teachers' unions, as "the most damaging disruption in the history of American education" that set back learning progress "by two decades." Never forget who did that to your children.
Biden claimed that under his policies "consumer confidence is soaring." No, it isn't. Consumer confidence fell last month below a level that often signals a coming recession.
Biden claimed that he cut the deficit by $1 trillion. No, he didn't. Even CNN says that claim is "misleading." Biden did not cut spending.
The deficit came down in 2021 compared to 2020 because the extraordinary pandemic expenditures intended to aid the American people expired.
Biden said Donald Trump will slash Social Security. Wrong again. Much to the chagrin of some libertarians and more than a few Republicans, Donald Trump has flatly refused to touch Social Security. That's just more "misinformation" meant to scare seniors.
He Said Someone's Name
Before his speech, Biden was confronted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), who handed him a button with Laken Riley's name on it. She challenged him to say her name. He replied, "I know how to say her name," and turned away.
When Biden finally got around to immigration 40 minutes into his speech, Green yelled, "Say her name!" Biden held up the button with her name on it but referred to "Lincoln Riley," the head coach of the USC football team.
Biden then went on to say, "But how many thousands of people have been killed by illegals?"
What?!
That was his best defense of an illegal alien -- I'm sorry "undocumented newcomer" -- killing this young woman? His defense was to say, "Look at all the people here legally, i.e. citizens, who are killing more people." That's not an argument, and all he's doing is calling attention to the Biden crime wave.
But he wasn't done. He added, "To [Riley's] parents, I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself."
Yes, it is true that Joe Biden tragically lost a daughter and a son. His infant daughter died in a car crash in 1972 and son died of brain cancer in 2015. But his daughter died in an accident and his son died from a disease.
Laken Riley died because of his open borders policies!
She didn't have to die. She shouldn't have died. The only reason she died was because a thug who shouldn't have been here walked into our country, and there are thousands more of them. Because of Joe Biden's insane open borders policies, more Americans will be robbed, raped and murdered in the months ahead.
Incredibly, Joe Biden's referring to the murderer as an "illegal" triggered many progressives. These leftists seem more upset over the "slander" of a violent murderer than the heinous murder he committed. That's how extreme today's progressive left is.
Stoking Division
This was a red meat speech for the people who spend all day watching MSNBC. In fact, one left-wing MSNBC commentator said Biden's address "was like a punch in the face to every Republican in the room." And to every conservative watching at home as well.
Biden also attacked the justices of the Supreme Court and made it clear that abortion on demand is a top priority for him. And he called for the passage of the so-called "Equality Act," which would surrender religious freedom to the demands of the radical LGBTQ movement.
A Father's Pain
At one point during Biden's remarks, there was a loud protest from the gallery. A man was dragged out and arrested.
It turns out that the protester was Steve Nikoui, a Gold Star father who lost his son during the disastrous Afghanistan retreat because of Biden's incompetence. Mr. Nikoui reportedly yelled, "Abbey Gate! Abbey Gate! Second Battalion, First Marines!"
To this day, Biden has never called some of those parents.
By the way, at no point in his remarks did Biden reference the thousands of U.S. military personnel all over the Middle East who have been repeatedly attacked with drones and rockets from all sorts of radical jihadist groups.
Some have been killed. Hundreds have suffered serious injuries, including traumatic brain damage. And Biden did not bring them up once in his entire speech.
The Speaker's Guests
Every year, politicians on both sides of the aisle invite guests to the State of the Union who highlight issues of concern to them. It was noteworthy that among Speaker Mike Johnson's guests were Riley Gaines and Chloe Cole, two courageous young ladies who are standing up to the left's insane transgender agenda.
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