State of Your Union
it is a little time deaf to point out a discrepancy in President Biden’s rhetoric, basically because you take one step further on both halves of the inconsistency and I do not believe they figure in the real world so I leave myself to misunderstood conjecture. But. Biden begins by referencing Franklin Roosevelt in 1941 prepping the nation for war and the challenge against authoritarian aggressors, waking up the nation. He then described the aggression of Putin in Ukraine, and calls for sending arms and aid to Ukraine and adds that “no American troops are deployed.” The rhetorical problem here is that you go back to 1940 and 1941, and what you had was President Roosevelt insisting as he was amping up the Lend Lease program and tightening relations with Churchill that no American troops would be deployed. Naturally neither part means anything for present politics.
I get the similar hiccup of misplaced rhetoric when Biden turns to domestic policy — something that in the laundry lusty of items I land in mixed assessments on this good that not really, but probably packing to the opening of asking “So. Uh. January 6th. And uh. NATO.”. So the issue which saved the Democrats in 2022 — Abortion — though I have to go to pains to point out not save enough, and to prove that you just have to note that squirming Speaker Johnson squirming behind Biden. The talk is that Biden really took it to the Supreme Court by quoting from the Dobbs ruling that voices on the matter can be levied on the electoral arena and — staring at the Court “and women’s voices will be!” Sure. That was the point of the ruling. No “own” is had here. Yes, Biden sits on the right side of a 60-40 issue, one able from the quick and easy no-accountability state legislating of the Roe era to get moved to a 90 – 10 issue (quick huff and puff as the Alabama governor rushed over to fix the thing), but there is no Democracy-busting inherent in it. So. I am left flat footed. The frame of reference off of January 6 is lost, and I just have to sit by as people conflate an abnormal politics with a normal politics. I suppose both will be necessary to get Biden to a finish line.
Lost in the sea of horrors of Republican disruptors, the sons of Congressman “You Lie!” Wilson. A probably necessary partisan campaign speech – – more totally so than anything Bill Clinton ever had — Marjorie Taylor Greene plays to get crowd in absurd mad red hatter get-up. Biden flubs to a use of the word “illegal” as a noun, which if it means anything to some left winger now inching towards a Colonel West or Jill Stein vote, he did follow up by referring to “legals”.
It occurs to me that if the State of the Union address is evolving, at least under Democratic administrations and feedback from the opposition party, to that British Questions session, the least we can do is get the sane Republicans shouting. But, then, are there any?
And then comes the Republican response. From a kitchen table. A woman from Alabama begins by talking up her house-wifery. From a kitchen. I do not understand the optics. Have they found a heavier “tradwife” electorate to tap into than I know of? I thought we got to the point where we recognized that the Internet and the force of its subcultures are not real life.