Commentary

The brief comment following President Biden’s State of the Union Address by Brit Hume, Fox’s political analyst – “I saw an angry old man.” – still best describes the event.

I won’t rehash the speech, however, I want to call your attention to what some other people have said, as I customarily do, and of course provide my commentary on them and the issues.

Before doing so, let’s make one thing clear; it was not a state of the union address. It was a partisan campaign speech.  And it was comforting to know that former President Trump is alive and well, working in Biden’s head.  He made 14 references to his “predecessor.”  More on this later.

Biden’s speechwriters and advisors made a huge mistake if they thought the angry, shouting, arm-waving approach was going to change our opinion that he is a tired, weak old man.  They used to say that people liked his folksy style of quoting his Mom and Pop while growing up in Scranton and encouraged him to do so.

I read that Simon Rosenberg, said to be bullish on Biden’s re-election prospects, fired off a note to readers of his newsletter during the speech, “The president is Kicking Ass!”

The leftists at CNN and MSNBC found themselves using the same words– “fiery,” and “his best speech ever”– while reviewing Biden’s address.

I was amused to read that David Plouffe, a senior advisor to Barack Obama, believes “for those with concerns about age, his vigor last night should help create a permission structure for them to vote for him.”

In a gruff tone, he jumped from one topic to another in what I would describe as a rant.  While more than 32 million people watched the address, in the New York Times, Adam Nagourney, wrote, “Such moments are often forgotten by the time Election Day comes around.”

“There is no evidence a State of the Union speech this late in a presidency could be so consequential it changes the trajectory of a re-election campaign,” said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster.

“There is much in the speech to critique on policy, and to correct on the potted history of his presidency, but policy wasn’t his point on Thursday,” opined the Wall Street Journal editorial board.  “This was a campaign rally disguised as a State of the Union, as Democrats chanted ‘four more years.’”

Speechwriters Comment

I’m always interested what another speechwriter has to say about a speech. Here’s what Peggy Noonan, a speechwriter for President Reagan wrote:

“How much can one speech do?  When you’re in a hole, a speech can help a lot or a little, be a wow or a mess.  You know fairly quickly when the speech didn’t work. People start making jokes and the jokes gel.  If the speech is splendid, you may only know in retrospect because it takes time for history to see where it fit in the scheme of thing and what it really did.”

Further, commenting on the Biden style, she said, “It can be said the president often maintained and indignant and hectoring tone that he confuses with certitude and commitment.  In the end I don’t know if the speech came across to a viewer at home as strong and focused, or as has been said, ‘Angry old man yells at clouds.’”

For some reason, Noonan felt the need to call Speaker Mike Johnson a “bumpkin” as he unsuccessfully made small talk with Vice President Harris

“Attacking his opponent directly in the first minutes of his speech is unprecedented and perhaps the most partisan start to a State of the Union address in modern memory.  An utter disgrace.” – Marc Thiessen, former George W. Bush speechwriter

“This was the most partisan State of the Union I’ve heard in my lifetime.” – Bill McGurn, chief speechwriter for George W. Bush

“My Predecessor”

While space will not permit me to comment on every mention of former President Trump, but there were a couple of obvious unfair references.  But nobody ever said politics is fair.

Biden would have you believe that Trump “failed the most basic presidential duty … the duty to care.”  Yet it was Trump who spoke with the parents of Lakin Riley, a nursing student who was murdered by an illegal in Georgia.  Biden didn’t, and needed to be goaded by Republican Margorie Taylor Greene into even mentioning her name.  Then he screwed that up, calling her “Lincoln” Riley.

It was Trump who cared about the people of Palestine, Ohio just days after the disastrous train derailment.  Biden finally visited the site on the anniversary date of the event.

And it was Trump who visited Eagle Pass, Texas where millions of illegals have crossed the border, while Biden shuffled along the quiet town of Brownsville, Texas, where entries have gone down to a dribble.

Also, Biden knows that Trump no longer talks about revenge and retribution, referring instead to his success being the answer, he and the leftist media continue to include it in their rhetoric.

Biden continued to blame Trump and Republicans for no action on border immigration when he has the power to close the border without legislation.

Finally, Biden again accused Trump of being a threat to democracy, and our institutions, and did so as he not only ruined the tradition of the State of the Union with his severely partisan speech, he launched into an admonishment of the Supreme Court, one of our institutions.

With six of the nine justices sitting directly in front of him, Biden not only foolishly drew a parallel between the Alabama Supreme Court decision on frozen embryos and the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.  Incredibly, Biden then promised “I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.”

The Response to Biden

With the opening sentence of the New York Times coverage of Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s response to Biden’s address, “With a sunny, inviting smile, Senator Katie Britt welcomed Americans into her kitchen on Thursday night,” one had hope that she would get a fair hearing.

But, no.  The second sentence, “Many soon backed away nervously.”

Following was a sentence describing her response as “a jarring speech that toggled between an increasingly strained cheerfulness and a fierce glare as she gave ominous warnings about illegal immigration.”

“In the biggest moment of her fledgling political career, she delivered a totally uneven speech that was made more unusual by the setting of her own house in Montgomery, Ala., Where she sat at her kitchen table and painted a dark picture of an American in decline,” it continued

That’s odd, Democrats are always referring to kitchen table issues.

The attack on her was the Times’ form of journalistic retribution for her remark that “Our commander in chief is not in command.  The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader.”

It’s getting interesting.  Stay engaged.

May God continue to bless the United States of America in spite of being leaderless.