Dear Commons Community,
President Donald Trump delivered his state of the union address in the U.S. Congress last night. His major theme was a call for unity in order for America to achieve greatness while basically pushing the Republican Party’s agenda. The Republicans clapped at everything he said while the Democrats were cordial throughout and selectively clapped for some of his comments.
The address was about 90 minutes and covered thirty topics/issues by my count. He never mentioned the federal government shutdown, climate change, or voting rights issues. He was passionate and graphic when talking about immigration, the border wall, and abortion but much less so when talking about other issues. He asked Congress “to resist the politics of retribution and revenge” and to move beyond “ridiculous partisan investigations”. He had one sentence on education calling for more school choice.
The highlights of the evening were when he referred to people in the audience especially:
- three veterans of the World War II Normandy Invasion (75th Anniversary);
- Buzz Aldrin, one of the astronauts who walked on the moon (50th Anniversary);
- Alice Johnson and Matthew Charles whose prison sentences he commuted;
- 10 Year Old Grace Eline who is fighting brain cancer;
- Judah Samet, a survivor of Auschwitz and of the mass shootings last year at the Pittsburgh synagogue (the audience sang Happy Birthday to the 81-year old);
- his nod to and mention that there were more women in Congress than ever before;
- Joshua Kaufman who was a prisoner at Dachau and liberated by American soldiers including Herman Zeitchik, one of the three veterans of the Normandy Invasion mentioned earlier.
In sum, I don’t think Trump’s address moved anyone’s opinions of him or his administration. There have been too many personal attacks, lies, and egotistical craziness during the past two years.
The video above is a complete recording of the address and includes Stacy Abrams’ rebuttal which was as effective as could be given the nature of her assignment. If you wish to read the address, you can find it here.
Tony
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