State of the Union Address

First of all, I'm back.  Surgery kept me away from the keyboard for nearly six weeks, but that didn't mean I wasn't chomping at the bit.

Ordinarily, I don't pay any attention to the State of the Union Address (or SUA).  It's nothing more than political theater for me.  Sure, we want to hear the right things, and typically, the SUA is designed to do just that.  But it's nothing more than grandstanding by the POTUS and the members of Congress.  I suppose that it instills the necessary backbone in citizens and puts some hesitation in our enemies' hearts. 

Everyone wanted to see whether President Trump would revert to his old campaign self or show a more presidential side.  There are, of course, differences of opinion on how Mr. Trump was perceived, but generally the reports are favorable.  Within the MSM, there were detractors, but there were even some who, by any measure, are his foes who accorded him favorable marks. 

Personally, I thought he was very presidential in his SUA.  He didn't revert to those verbal ticks where he repeated phrases, editorialized his own words and other things that were evident on the campaign trail.  If I have a criticism of his speech, it was that he spent far too much time looking to his left at the Republicans and not nearly enough time glowering at the Democrats to his right, who deserved to be talked to directly.  His cadence was measured, his verbiage crafted for the common man and his demeanor anything but haughty.  He showed he can be presidential when he wants to be.

I'm not a fan of all the standing ovations Congress gives our POTUS, whoever it may be.  Applause is fine, but do they all really need to stand so much?

There was one thing, however, that irked me to no end.  I understand partisan politics, and I understand the phrase loyal opposition.  There's almost an obligation to oppose a member of the other party, I suppose, but I lose track of the argument when the beneficiaries of the discussion, whether it be the country or the citizens, are at issue.

The Democrats acted for all intents and purposes like spoiled teenagers who had been grounded and not allowed to use their electronic devices for a week.  I've never seen such unnecessarily petulant behavior in the Congress.  It's one thing to be opposed; it's quite another to display one's disapproval like a child.

The white clothing, the thumbs down, the sour faces while Mr. Trump spoke.  Looking at one's PDA, not shaking his hand when he entered the chamber, refusing to applaud even those segments of his speech that agreed in principle with their own -- how childish!  And then leaving the minute his speech ended like fans of a team that was just destroyed in an athletic contest.  Never have I seen such puerile behavior from a political party. 

Disagreement is fine.  It's even encouraged when it's genuine.  But this manufactured disapproval and its infantile manifestations were ridiculous.  It's almost as if the Democrats wanted to validate Plato's reservations about democracy.

It was a sad dressing to an otherwise unexpectedly good SUA.  It's a shame that partisan sensibilities overcame commonsense.

To be fair, there were a couple of notable exceptions to this criticism, chief among them being Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, about whom it's been rumored he's going to switch parties.

And this is without even commenting on the woeful Democratic response to the SUA.  That was nothing more than a rotten cherry on top of the squalid sundae the Democrats crafted.

Hopefully, Mr. Trump will follow through on his SUA.  There are lofty goals within that speech.  I'm not sure he's going to be able to accomplish all that is confidence believes he can.  I hope I'm wrong.

But I know I'm not wrong about the Democrats.

(c) 2017 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles