The Stage

The state of the union was a few weeks ago, taking place just one day prior to the ending of President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate. Though acquittal was a virtual guarantee that night, and came true the following day, the speech shied away from discussing the Ukraine scandal at all. Instead, Trump went for a much more direct appeal straight to his audience.

To set the scene, there are a few physical details to include. First of all, seated behind Trump were Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Prior to the address, both leaders were provided with a copy of Trump’s speech, which Pelosi read early on during the President’s address before literally tearing the pages apart. Further down, most of the president’s allies from the two chambers of Congress as well as his cabinet were seated to Trump’s left (where most of the cameras sat as well). On the other side of the chamber were many of the other Democratic leaders whose jeers and boos could be heard but barely seen via TV feed. The effect was a constant crowded visual of the tiring GOP attendees popping up and down with applause on each of the president’s pauses while the channels threw in the occasional flip to a more than dissatisfied Democrat, like Jim Clyburn or Steny Hoyer.

The Speech

As the speech wore on and the president sought his big applause moments, he went for the gusto on his talking points. For instance, Trump claimed that “thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, the United States has become the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world, by far.” He is not wrong, or at least in the bigger picture. The United States is the world’s number one energy producer, but it has been since the middle of Barack Obama’s term. He also made the point that the unemployment rate for disabled Americans hit an all-time low, another statement that brought cheers. However, this rate has gone up in the past few months, and the figures from late last year top the only twelve years of data we have on this group. Among Trump’s more straightforward brags, he pointed out under his administration “7 million Americans have come off food stamps.” He is correct that well over six million fewer people were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in October of 2019 as compared to January of 2017. But I ask you, the humble Talon reader, is this something to brag about? Sure, a cut in the SNAP population was meant to show his economic progress. But we can’t assume that all of these people (or even a majority) have advanced financially enough that they don’t have to depend on nutritional assistance. The sad truth is many of these Americans were actually kicked out of the program as politicians and bureaucrats alike are looking to trim federal spending in any way possible. These aren’t positive statistics for the president to tout or even numbers at all. These are casualties on America’s ledger.

The Shoutouts

Nearly anyone would love to be given credit on national television, especially from the President of the United States. Yet there comes a limit, a time when the president has to stop throwing the spotlight on everyone else in the room. I’m not saying President Trump surpassed that limit, I’m just saying he did it a lot. Many of these calls to the crowd were preceded, succeeded, or both by applause breaks. For reference, Trump stopped one hundred and thirty-two times for various lengths to absorb applause from the crowd. Among those in the crowd that Trump recognized were the democratic Acting President of Venezuela Juan Guaido, former member of the Tuskegee Airmen Charles McGee and his grandson Iain, 4th Grader Janiyah Davis, and, of course, radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Trump gave Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among the highest honors that can be given to a civilian in the US. The award came on the heels of his recent diagnosis of advanced lung cancer, but that is really no excuse. Limbaugh is far from the model citizen we would expect to get such a high honor. He has long decried the idea of sexual consent as a leftist invention, at one point saying, men over time “have learned that ‘no’ means ‘yes’ if you know how to spot it.” During the 1992 presidential campaigns, Rush told Time magazine feminism “was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society” and later called the term “feminazi” one of his favorite epithets. Just within the past week, he has claimed the President reminded him to never apologize for homophobic remarks against Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg, who Limbaugh said would be made fun of by “Mr. Man Donald Trump.” The Presidential Medal of Freedom has been awarded to Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, Sidney Poitier, Georgia O’Keeffe, Tom Hanks, Stevie Wonder, and more. But now, Trump has used the grand stage of his third State of the Union Address to give it to an unabashed bigot. Sadly, that only seemed to fit in with the night.

The State of The Union Address was given on February 4, 2020 by President Donald J. Trump. The purpose of the State of the Union is for the president to address congress and discuss the current state of our country. President Trump took this opportunity to deliver an amazing speech. It was one of unification and celebration of the accomplishments under his leadership.
He began by uniting the nation by saying, “Three years ago, we launched the great American comeback. Tonight, I stand before you to share the incredible results. Jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging, and our country is thriving and highly respected again. America’s enemies are on the run, America’s fortunes are on the rise, and America’s future is blazing bright.” He then began discussing the economic success due to the fact that our military is rebuilt and unmatched in power, our borders are being made secure, and our family values are renewed and flourishing. He claimed that, “The state of our Union is stronger than ever before.” This introduction was great news for the entire country as it addressed America’s strength and it gave confidence to the American people. Trump then went on to address specific successes. He discussed the unemployment rate and reported that it has reached an all time low for African-Americans, African-American youth Hispanic Americans and Asian-Americans, disabled Americans, veterans, workers without a high school diploma, and the unemployment rate for women reached the lowest level in almost 70 years. He then gave Senator Tim Scott a shout out for his work with opportunity zones which are where wealthy people and companies are giving money into poor neighborhoods and areas that have not seen investment in many years. This is creating jobs, energy, and excitement. These successes gave hope and pride to the American people and should have made every American stand up and cheer for the success of our country. However, the Democrats there did not even clap for all these accomplishments which represented their party as one that will not fight for the good of the American people as a whole. It shows that their hatred for Donald Trump is stronger than their patriotism and love for our country. The speech made a shift to Maduro and his tyranny. He introduced the true and legitimate president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. Trump made the claim that, “Socialism destroys nations. But always remember: Freedom unifies the soul.” This was an indirect slight to the Democratic party as one of their front runners for a presidential nominee, Bernie Sanders, is a Democratic socialist.
Trump went on to recognize many people in the audience. He called on Iain Lanphier, an eighth grader who dreams of going to space, who was the first in his class and among the youngest at an aviation academy to stand up. He then asked Charles Mcgee to stand as well. Charles Mcgee is one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen — the first black fighter pilots-, and Trump shared some of his story. Trump then surprised Janiyah Davis, a fourth grader from Philadelphia, with the news that an Opportunity Scholarship has become available, and that she will soon be heading to the school of her choice. On the topic of equal opportunity, Trump switched to the topic of health care and called out the Democratic party and their plans as one hundred thirty-two lawmakers that were attending the State of the Union have endorsed legislation which imposes a socialist takeover of our healthcare system, but Trump reassured the American people that, “we will always protect your Medicare and we will always protect your Social Security. Always….We will never let socialism destroy American health care.” Another person recognized was Rush Limbaugh, a conservative talk show host who was recently diagnosed with stage four cancer. Trump surprised him by awarding him the presidential medal of honor.
Trump stated that, “Members of Congress, we must never forget that the only victories that matter in Washington are victories that deliver for the American people.” Trump may have said that as a reference to the impeachment as the state of the union took place the day before the Senate voted in the final part of the impeachment process, saying that the only true victories are ones that unify the nation rather than what was going on then with the impeachment process.
Donald Trump delivered an amazing speech that would make one grow in patriotism. However, the Democrats that attended represented their party as immature and stubborn. First of all, Nancy Pelosi gave the president an untraditional introduction. It is of tradition that the speaker of the house begins the State of the Union address by saying, they have the “high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.”, but Nancy Pelosi said, “Members of Congress, the president of the United States”. Second of all, when Trump discussed the criminal justice reform, Nancy Pelosi did not stand up at first as she was so stubbornly not supporting Trump’s successes that she forgot, at first, to cheer for a law she supported. The “women in white” – who were dressed in white, like they did last year, to show their unity and a commitment to defending the rights of women and disenfranchised groups- who attended showed disrespect as many of them left during the speech. One was asked why she left and she stated it was because Brett Kavanaugh was mentioned. Not only that, but many of the Democrats there were playing on their phone instead of listening to Donald Trump speak. Finally Nancy Pelosi ended the night by ripping Trump’s agenda when the State of the Union address was finished. The cameras have shown that Nancy Pelosi pre-ripped the papers previous to the end. I mean I will give her credit for that. If she is going to make a bold statement, at least she went all in. When asked why she ripped the agenda, Nancy responded, “Because it was a courteous thing to do considering the alternative. It was such a dirty speech.” This leads one to wonder why it was a dirty speech. Was it the part where Trump announced our economy is booming and more minorities are employed than ever? Or was it the part where a Tuskegee Airmen was honored? Or maybe it was when The Williams Family was reunited as the husband and dad came back from serving our country? This also leads one to wonder what was the alternative that Nancy Pelosi was talking about? Light the paper on fire? Feed it to her dog perhaps? Even without answers to these questions, Nancy Pelosi represented the Democratic party as immature. Which is ironic when they claim Trump to be the one who is not professional. Now, do not get me wrong, I understand Trump’s tweets are often immature and uncalled for, and I am not defending them, but I am saying that if the Democrats are going to criticize his maturity, they need to make sure theirs is under control.
Overall, the State of the Union was a success and our country was unified and reminded of how fortunate we are to be American citizens.