“Madam Speaker, the President of the United States!” loudly exclaimed the Sergeant at Arms last night as President Trump entered the U.S. House of Representatives. I attended last night, as I have for 22 prior State of the Union Addresses. From Bill Clinton to George W. Bush to Barack Obama to Donald Trump. They’re part of an American tradition that goes back to George Washington giving the first Address to Congress at Federal Hall in New York City back in 1790 (the city of Washington didn’t exist yet.) For about 100 years following President Thomas Jefferson, our presidents just sent a written speech over, until Woodrow Wilson gave his in person once again, and the rest of our presidents have followed Wilson’s example.
So how’d Trump do? I thought he did very well (although Speaker Pelosi sat on her hands a lot of the night, as did many of her Democratic colleagues.)
In my view, here were some of the highlights. President Trump started off by saying that the American people are “hoping that we will govern not as two parties but as one nation.” I really liked the thought, but can’t say I’m real confident that either Republicans or Democrats (especially Democrats) will be willing to negotiate with the other side in good faith. But maybe I’m just being overly pessimistic. (Probably not.)
The President noted that this year, 2019, marks 75 years since D-Day, which resulted the next year in the defeat of Nazism in Europe. And this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Americans to walk on the moon. President Trump then recognized three WWII vets, and Buzz Aldrin (the guy not named Neil Armstrong) who stepped on the moon on that historic day. It was a great tribute to these four American heroes.
The President pointed out the considerable progress that’s been made thus far under his Administration. The economic boom. The creation of 5.3 million new jobs. Wages rising at the fastest rate in decades. Unemployment at record lows. And America is now the world’s number one producer of oil and natural gas. (Dems again sat on their hands during most of this rhetoric, as they did for much of the rest of the speech too.)
The president seemed most impassioned when he spoke of the need for “ending illegal immigration.” He talked of drug cartels and human trafficking and Angel Moms and caravans. Perhaps most poignantly he said “Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate – it is cruel.” A lot of Democrats in the room seemed to literally cringe when he said that – but he’s right. He also stated very emphatically “we will never abolish our heroes from ICE.”
I felt particularly proud of the President when he spoke out against New York and Virginia politicians who have essentially endorsed infanticide (allowing a baby to be born, and then discussing whether the baby should be killed or not.) It’s bad enough when we’ve allowed millions and millions of young lives to be snuffed out in the womb. God help us when it is acceptable to brutally kill those little ones after they’ve been born, Gosnell-like.
And speaking of God help us, I never thought I’d see the day when it was necessary for a president to declare that “America will never be a socialist country.” And there were Members of Congress present in that room last night who acknowledge that they are indeed socialists.
The President said a lot of other important things last night, but I think I’ll leave it there. As I’m finishing this week’s blog, it’s well past midnight since I couldn’t begin writing it until the speech was over. (And I’m getting really tired.)
So overall – great speech. Bottom line – even though the President said he’d like to see Republicans and Democrats working together – putting country first and party second – I’ll believe it when I see it. (Hope I see it.)
See you next week.