President Biden gave his first State of the Union address last night.
Was it a perfect speech? No. Most speeches are rarely completely perfect. We remember significant lines that ring with us forever ("Ask not what your country can do for you," "I have a dream," "Not red states or blue states, but the United States of America"). Still, we don't remember that even those speeches may have had less memorable moments, maybe even mistakes.
Biden's speech was a poignant calling for the restoration and primacy of democracy. From his opening, supporting a democratic Ukraine valiantly fighting against the autocratic despot, Vladimir Putin, and to the end with a call for a Unity Agenda.
The resistance of the Ukrainian people has been inspiring and brave. Not since Churchill have we seen a political leader as defiant and strong as President Zelenskyy.
The courage of the Ukrainian people is both ennobling and scary. Ennobling to see a people stand so firm against an invading tyranny, and scary because we all know what's coming - a 40-mile ling convoy coming to obliterate their capital city, Kyiv. Many of these brave souls will lose their lives, and it's breaking my heart.
President Biden emphasized his administration's many accomplishments, including unprecedented job growth, a rapidly rising GDP, infrastructure improvements underway at last, and much more.
President Biden repeated the things he wants to pass and has not been able to do so. I object to nothing he brought up, and I daresay once you remove the political blinders, do most of the American people. Despite his frustration at being blocked by two Democratic Senators, I applaud that he is not surrendering and will continue to fight. It is so easy to fold in politics if you meet resistance like Clinton did when he couldn't reform health care.
President Biden presented a unity agenda, four things he thought could pass with bipartisan support. Again, they are things a majority of us support, even Republicans.
I know where Biden's instincts are. Despite their unprincipled opposition, he thinks he can still garner Republican support. I love Biden. I think he is a good President, the leader we need at this perilous time.
But he is wrong. Republicans will not support country over Trump. Yes, there are still a few reasonable Republicans left (Cheney, Kinzinger, Romney*), but the vast majority are still in thrall to two-time popular vote loser and twice-impeached narcissistic fraud, Donald J Trump.
The Trumpian core of the Republican Party is at heart an anti-democratic, authoritarian party. January 6th was just a symptom of their efforts to remove democratic choice from our system. The level of delusion in these people is startling and has been and will be discussed in other posts.
Thank you, President Biden, for being the source of reason, hope, and democratic fervor in these darkening times.
God bless you. God bless the troops. God bless the Ukrainian people.
T. M. Strait
*reasonable in supporting democracy and opposing Trump, not necessarily in supporting the Democratic legislation designed to help the American people. But that's ok. At least they're fighting in the marketplace of ideas, not in the cesspool of authoritarian wet dreams.
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