Commentary

As a political news wonk, I look forward to each State of the Union address in search of a memorable line or two that Americans can hang their hat on.

The day and morning before the address, news anchors repeatedly ask their guests what they think the president will say, and what he should say.  It’s routine, and as they anticipated President Biden’s 2023 address, it was no different.

Nobody’s asked me, but I would advise him to come clean with Americans, but in doing so, he would have to speak about his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the open border, the threat of China, his failure to unify the country, and his misguided climate agenda, for starters.

Plagiarizing

While Biden is known for lifting material written or spoken by someone else, all he would have to do is properly attribute quotations. This quote by former President Gerald R. Ford, in his 1975 State of the Union, it seems to me, fits today’s situation:

“I want to speak with you bluntly.  I’ve got bad news, and I don’t expect much, if any, applause.  The American people want action, and it will take both the Congress and the president to give them what they want. 

“The moment has come to move in a new direction. We can do this by fashioning a new partnership between the Congress on the one hand, the White House on the other, and the people we both represent.”

I suppose one could find a line or two like those in every president’s address that speaks to what we are currently experiencing.  As you read the following lines from former President Bill Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union, think about it.

“The era of big government is over,” was the most memorable line as he posed the question, “how do we make the American Dream of opportunity for all a reality for all Americans who are willing to work?”

“Too many of our fellow citizens are working harder just to keep up, and they are rightly concerned about the security of their families.”

Then there were these prophetic lines from Clinton that apply to Biden and the new Congress:

“Here, in this place, our responsibility begins with balancing the budget in a way that is fair to all Americans. I compliment the Republican leadership and the membership for the energy and determination you have brought to the task of balancing the budget.”

However, his line, “There is now broad bipartisan agreement that permanent deficit spending must come to an end,” does not purport to be the case today.

As I was drafting this blog post, six hours prior to the February 7, 2023 event, I planned to save space to comment on Biden’s script, but I am anticipating more of his fabrication around his three-letter word – jobs – including wages and unemployment.  Look for him to again include the progress of blacks and Latin Americans on the job front.

Biden will ignore that the average American family is effectively $7,400 poorer under the Biden presidency (New Heritage), 64 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck (CNBC), and 41 percent of Americans say they’re worse off financially under Biden (Washington Post/ABC Poll).

Words have meaning, but not in the mind of Biden or his speechwriters.

Aside from his rosy picture of the economy and inflation, I’m wondering how he’s going to try to convince us that we are safe from hoodlums in our streets, that we are not sacrificing the sovereignty of our country to an invasion of millions of migrants, and that his unconcerned response to China’s aerial surveillance with a balloon doesn’t extend to Chinese spies in our government and universities, and devices in Made in China products we purchase.   

The Address

Earlier, I quoted President Clinton saying, “the era of big government is over.” What I heard from President Biden was an exhaustive pitch for big government, bigger than any time I can recall.  Biden says there’s nothing we as Americans can’t do, but he wants the government to do it, not entrepreneurial independent thinking citizens.

An interesting year lies ahead.

May God continue to bless the United States of America