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On Tuesday evening, 4 February 2020, I watched President Donald
Trump deliver the annual State Of The Union (SOTU) message to a joint session of Congress.
I was ashamed, embarrassed and totally disgusted with what I saw and heard. What was delivered
was not a State Of The Union message. It was an egotistical presentation of the imagined triumphs
of the narcissistic president and a blatant political speech in anticipation of the upcoming
2020 elections in November. Not only was I chagrined at the barefaced boasting by President
Trump, but I was mortified by the puppet-like behavior of the Republican senators and
representatives who jumped to their feet, applauding at every self-serving claim of
achievement by their Republican Party leader. These are supposed to be elected officials who represent
the interests of their constituents and the nation. They are not supposed to be pawns of some would-be
American despot! Their behavior was all-too reminiscent of the orchestrated behavior of
Communist Politburo members under the totalitarian leaderships of Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong,
Kim Jong Il, and the other Communist dictators. God help the Politburo members
who didn’t follow the Communist party script. Now it’s God help the Republicans who don’t
follow the Donald Trump script and who don’t bow down and lick the boots of their party
leader.
“The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is
an annual message delivered by the President of the United States to a joint session of the
United States Congress at the beginning of each calendar year in office. The message typically
includes a budget message and an economic report of the nation, and also allows the President
to propose a legislative agenda and national priorities.
“The address fulfills the requirement in Article II, Section 3,
Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution for the President to periodically ‘give to the Congress
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient.’ The date of the event may be rescheduled.
During most of the country's first century, the President primarily only submitted a written
report to Congress. After 1913, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. President, began the regular
practice of delivering the address to Congress in person . . . “ (Ref. 1)
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF THE UNION
“The State of the Union address derives from Article II, Section 3
of the US Constitution, which says presidents ‘shall from time to time give to the Congress
information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as
he shall judge necessary and expedient.’ This has been interpreted differently by various
presidents, given how vaguely worded it is.
“It's not required that presidents deliver ‘information of the state
of the union’ in a speech, but that's how it was initially done. In the US's first 12 years,
George Washington and John Adams delivered their State of the Union addresses before
Congress.
“The constitutionally mandated presidential message was formally
known as the ‘Annual Message’ from 1790 to 1946.
“On January 8, 1790, Washington delivered the first State of the
Union address before Congress in New York City, the US capital at the time.
“President Thomas Jefferson ended the tradition of delivering a
speech before Congress, opting instead to send a written message to lawmakers.
Jefferson felt that delivering an address before Congress was too aristocratic
and similar to practices in monarchies. [Emphasis mine]
“Presidents followed Jefferson's example for over a century.
But the precedent the third president established was broken by Woodrow Wilson in 1913.
“Wilson was the first president to deliver the executive's
message in a speech before Congress since 1801. At the time, The Washington Post reported
that lawmakers were ‘agape’ at Wilson's break from tradition. ‘Washington is amazed,’
the newspaper said.
“Since Wilson, most presidents have delivered their message to
Congress in person, with a few exceptions — for example, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, and Jimmy Carter sent their final messages in print. President Richard Nixon
also sent a written message in 1973 because his staff felt that delivering one in person
would have come too soon after his inaugural address.
“In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge became the first
commander-in-chief to deliver the speech via radio.
“The phrase ‘state of the union’ was popularized by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose speech was informally referred to as the state of the union
‘address’ or ‘message.’
“Truman officially named the speech the ‘State of the Union
address,’ and the rest is history.
“Truman was also the first president to broadcast his address on
TV.
“President Lyndon B. Johnson shrewdly moved the speech from
midafternoon to 9 p.m. to attract a larger TV audience across the nation.
“President Ronald Reagan started the practice of inviting special
guests, often ordinary Americans who've performed an act of heroism or people who help the
president make specific policy points.
“Nixon holds the record for the shortest State of the Union address,
delivering his 1972 speech in about 28 minutes.
“The longest State of the Union was delivered by President Bill
Clinton in 2000, clocking in at about 89 minutes.
“President Jimmy Carter holds the record for the longest address
in terms of total written words: 33,667 words in 1981. Meanwhile, Washington holds the
record for the shortest address in terms of written words: 1,089 words in 1790.
“Only two presidents have not delivered a State of the Union
address in any form: William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia 32 days after his
inauguration, and James A. Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881 after 199 days in office.
“The speech has been postponed at least once. Reagan's 1986
address was pushed back after the Challenger space shuttle exploded on January 28.
“In 2002, President George W. Bush brought the speech into the
internet era, becoming the first president to make the address available via webcast and
the first to post it on the White House's website.
“There has not been a State of the Union address every year.
Several presidents did not give official speeches in this capacity in their first year:
Reagan in 1981, George H.W. Bush in 1989, Clinton in 1993, George W. Bush in 2001,
Barack Obama in 2009, and Donald Trump in 2017. . .
“In 2019, Trump became the first president in history to be
disinvited from delivering the State of the Union address. But his address was eventually
rescheduled.
“Some State of the Union addresses have been more memorable
than others, and the influence of the speech has perhaps been exaggerated at times.
But it is a vital opportunity for the president to grab the attention of Congress and
the US public, and, in many ways, to address whatever feels most important in the world
in that moment.
“Trump is the second president in US history to deliver a State
of the Union address after being impeached. In Clinton's 1999 address, which came after
he was impeached in December 1998, he did not mention impeachment. Clinton's Senate
impeachment trial was ongoing at the time, and it ended in February with his
acquittal.” (Ref. 2)
“An emboldened Donald Trump bragged about the ‘great American
comeback’ in his State of the Union address . . . in a speech resembling a prolonged
televised election advert{isement} that skirted around the inconvenient truth that he
remained in the final throes of his impeachment trial.
- - -
“. . . {It} was historically unique in that an impeached
president, still locked in a trial, also faces a bid for re-election now only nine
months away. As such it was no surprise that the theme of the speech – the ‘great
American comeback’ – bore all the qualities of an election jingle.”
(Ref. 3)
One writer’s response to the Donald Trump reality show puts the
spotlight on what the State of the Union has become. “That House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
dramatically tore up the president’s speech (or script as some have called it) may have
seemed crass to some but I applauded her. Not just for the symbolism of the gesture, but
for the president’s unmitigated gall in using black people as props in his outrageous and
demeaning theater of the absurd.
“Was it some perverse joke that Rush Limbaugh, a fellow Barack
Obama ‘birther’ conspiracist who shamelessly gave greater audience to Trump’s foul tactic
of questioning whether our first black president was born here, was given the Medal of
Freedom?! It is hard for many in the black community to forget his outrageous ‘Barack the
Magic Negro’ shtick and other over-the-top, racist, hate-fueled disgraceful invective that
he spread on air.
“So, how does Limbaugh rate the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
and not Charles McGhee, the 100-year-old last surviving member of the legendary Tuskegee
Airmen? Trump officially promoted McGhee to brigadier general Tuesday, but if there’s
anyone who should have gotten the Medal of Freedom that night, it’s McGhee, who with his
fellow airmen overcame racial indignities and served his country in exemplary fashion.
Heroes are the ones who deserve medals. I don’t see Limbaugh as one.
- - -
“Special thanks to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose 10-minute
rebuttal had more substance than Trump’s ‘me-me-my-I,I,I’ two-hour speech laced with
feel-good theatrics.” (Ref. 4)
“Donald Trump is a lot of things: a con man, a carnival barker, a
criminal who escapes justice. But we can never forget his one true calling: Trump is a
reality-television game show host. It’s the only thing he’s ever actually been good at.
“For Trump, convincing aggrieved Americans to reelect him is the game.
Actually, running the country is the show. Since he can’t distinguish between running the
country and running for reelection, the result is a kind of a bizarre and terrifying game
show in which we’re all trapped. Some days we’re playing Let’s Make a Deal and have to
decide which Pandora’s box of crime and lawlessness is worth opening and trying to
prosecute. Other days, we’re playing Saw as Trump asks us which child or vulnerable
community we’re willing to cut off in hopes that others may be saved. Of course, there’s
never a right answer to any of the choices: The only rule of Trump’s game show is that
we’re never allowed to escape.
“Last night {Tuesday, 4 February 2020} was the third installment
of State of the Union. Most of the tricks and tropes were familiar if you survived the
first two episodes. Trump started off with a recitation of economic success he inherited
from President Barack Obama, took credit for all of it, and somehow blamed Obama for not
accomplishing anything. Then he repeatedly lied about what he is doing to protect health
care. Then he repeatedly lied about the Democratic plans for health care. He used the
word ‘socialism’ several times, both incorrectly and threateningly.
“He next moved on to shout-outs to various desperate Americans
he claimed as beneficiaries of his enlightened rule. Those Americans dutifully stood and
smiled and waved when called upon, likely knowing that their transactional host could
rescind whatever benevolence he bestowed upon them at his whim.
“Trump flourished, as always, the horrific recitation of some
brutal crime committed by a nameless, faceless, yet certainly brown and menacing immigrant.
The salacious fearmongering was then quickly used to justify the fresh hell he would
visit upon all immigrants, and by extension all people who look like they might be
immigrants, in the name of the highlighted victim. This time, it was some cockamamie
plan to allow victims to sue sanctuary cities should they ever be attacked by immigrants.
Because, I guess, guns don’t kill people, but cities do?
“Still, this being his third State of the Union, Trump decided
to add some new content, lest people feel they were stuck in a rerun of a prior show.
Like the Wizard of Oz trying to talk his way out of being anything more than a snake
oil salesman, Trump decided to hand out honors. He dredged up a Tuskegee airman, who
was literally 100 years old, and ‘promoted’ him to brigadier general. I’m sure that
played well with Trump’s white audience: What better way to pretend that you’re totally
not racist than by having some black people on your show? . . .
“I don’t think most people of color were fooled, because the
highest honor of the evening went to one of the most dogged and unapologetic bigots in
American public life: Rush Limbaugh. The longtime radio huckster recently revealed that
he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Limbaugh was invited to the State of
the Union and seated by the first lady. During the speech, Trump thanked Limbaugh for
his ‘decades of tireless devotion to our country.’ Then he awarded Limbaugh the
presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor we have) and asked the
first lady to hang it on him on the spot.
“Rush tried to act surprised.
“While all the people in my house were still reeling, trading
stories about the most racist thing they remember Limbaugh saying (for me it was when
he called Barack Obama a ‘halfrican American’), Trump was on to his final trick: a
soldier reveal. Most people have seen this on YouTube. A military family, usually a
wife and a child, are called to some event while their spouse is deployed. The veteran
surprises them with his safe return. Cheers and tears follow.
“That Trump set one up at the State of the Union is unorthodox,
yet totally in keeping with his method of command. He likes soldiers who don’t get
captured, remember.
“We’re so inured to the absurdist game show brought to us
from the inchoate mind of President Trump that it would be easy to overlook what was
not in the speech. Last night, the president stood before the nation, impeached forever,
but he {was} acquitted by the United States Senate {the next day}. In the State of the
Union after Bill Clinton was acquitted of impeachment charges, he stood up and apologized
for his actions that thrust the country into such turmoil. But Trump never
apologizes and wasn’t about to start last night. Nor could he risk saying anything that
would change the mind of his complicit Republican jurors in the audience. So he didn’t
mention it. The emperor stood naked while Republicans applauded his new clothes.
[Emphasis mine]
“The Republicans, as usual, had a unified plan. The Democrats,
in contrast, were kind of all over the map. Trump started the evening by refusing to
shake Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hand, even though she politely extended it. Speaker Pelosi
ended the evening by ripping up her copy of Trump’s speech the moment he finished delivering
it, while he was still on the dais and she was clearly still on camera. All of the House
women wore white in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment (not surprisingly,
Trump did not find a 100-year-old woman to honor), but the Senate women did not. Some
Democrats boycotted the speech altogether. Others walked out during it. Still others
stayed for the whole thing and clapped or stood when Trump started handing out titles
(or hailing Venezuela’s self-declared president Juan Guaido).
“At least Pelosi’s response was performative. The official
Democratic response was given by the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, and lacked
anything that could be described as passion. It wasn’t a red-meat speech meant to rile
up the base, or a thorough takedown of the many lies and untruths Trump offered in his
speech, or even a reminder about why this dangerous, lawless president should be removed
from office. Instead, it was mainly about bridges and potholes and all the good-government
things Democratic governors are doing. I’m sure somebody thought the speech would
appeal to ‘independent’ voters, and I’m sure there are still people who think we’re
going to defeat this malicious circus clown by reigniting America’s nascent desire for
good rivet work.
“But: Trump promised a space force, a Mars mission, and a cure
for AIDS. People like big promises. Nobody shows up to a game show for the opportunity
to win a shovel.
- - -
“The State of the Union was the premiere of the reelection
season of the Trump show. Of course, it was bad—every single episode of this show
has been either bad or terrifying. . .” (Ref. 5)
“State of the Union addresses are supposed to be boring speeches.
“Actually, they are not required to be speeches at all. The U.S.
Constitution requires only that the president ‘from time to time give to the Congress
information on the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient.’
- - -
“But most of these speeches {have been} boring, mostly lists
signaling policy priorities, often organized by what the president had done the previous
year, still wanted to do, and would need from Congress in the coming year.
“What President Trump did in his State of the Union address
was not boring or staid. He departed from some rhetorical traditions of the presidency,
as audiences have come to expect from him.
- - -
“President Trump turned up the volume of his own rhetoric and
audience engagement so much so that . . . he symbolically stepped out from behind the
podium and became part of the cheering section. He did this in two main ways.
“First, he used his characteristic combination of self-references
and superlatives, patterns mastered on the campaign trail. . .
“Dropping in short sentences about what you have accomplished
as points for partisan applause is expected. Making these claims drip so heavily with
adverbs and adjectives and action verbs is not.
‘“From the instant I took office, I moved rapidly to revive
the U.S. economy — slashing a record number of job-killing regulations, enacting historic
and record-setting tax cuts, and fighting for fair and reciprocal trade agreements,’ he
said shortly after the speech began.
“A few minutes later, when discussing his administration’s
impact on the economy, he added, ‘(and) very incredibly, the average unemployment rate
under my administration is lower than any administration in the history of our country.’
“Note that nothing here is merely an accomplishment or point
of pride for Republicans to share. The tone instead is closer to an action movie, with
a hero who ‘slashes’ and ‘very incredibly’ performs feats never before seen in the
‘history of our country.’
“This language is characteristic of Trump’s campaign rallies
but not State of the Union addresses.
“The second choice he made on Tuesday made clear he wanted to
be in and with the crowd and its frenzy rather than behind a podium.
“From a symbolic standpoint, he actually went into the crowd
to give out amazing, unexpected, and big prizes: an ‘opportunity scholarship’ for
Philadelphia fourth-grader Janiyah Davis; the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush
Limbaugh; and an Army sergeant’s emotional homecoming to his young family, the Williamses
of North Carolina.
“While Ronald Reagan started the tradition of telling the stories
of invited guests in the gallery, Trump went further, reaching up into the gallery visually
with the presentation of these surprises to make his presence – and his impact – known.”
(Ref. 6)
Trump’s 2020 State of the Union show gushed with a plethora
of narcissistic words and phrase - whether implied or explicit - like: I, me , the
greatest, never before, unimaginable, fantastic, outstanding, etc. It was not a factual
message to Congress. It was a typical Donald Trump self-aggrandizing screed.
The framers of the Constitution intended that the State of the
Union message would annually inform Congress and the nation about the condition of
the nation and recommend to Congress what future actions the President was suggesting
that they consider. It was not supposed to be a time for chest
thumping by the president. It was never supposed to be an opportunity
for the president to campaign for another term in office. It was not
supposed to be a time for the president to pander to the electorate by passing out
medals to individuals who were his favorites or who could be seen as showing the
president’s favor toward the voting group that the individual represented. It was
not supposed to be a game show hosted by the president.
What America doesn't need are "Republicans at the State of the
Union acting like frat boys, chanting 'Four more years!' to convey their enthusiasm
for a president not merely clinically megalomaniacal but conclusively demonstrated
to be epically corrupt." (Ref. 7)
If the annual State of the Union presentations to Congress
cannot return to what they were intended to be - an opportunity to periodically ‘give to
the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient’- then the State of the Union
presentation to Congress should either be done away with or should return to written messages
to Congress that was once the norm. America does not need to put up with a political television
game show hosted by an egotistical master of ceremonies.
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References:
- State of the Union, Wikipedia, Accessed 7 February 2020.
- The complete history of the US State of the Union address, John Haltiwanger,
Business Insider,
4 February 2020.
- State of the Union: Trump asks nation for second term amid impeachment trial,
Ed Pilkington, The Guardian,
4 February 2020.
- Trump shreds opportunities for change in State of the Union, Joyce Ferriabough Bolling,
World Israel News, Page 15, 7 February 2020.
- Trump’s State of the Union Was a Terrifying Game Show Stunt, Elie Mystal,
The Nation, 5 February 2020.
- Trump's excess and extravagance turned the State of the Union into an action movie,
Vanessa B. Beasley, news.yahoo.com, 5 February 2020.
- Romney, Vindman among the best America can be,
Jeff Robbins, Boston Herald, Page 25, 11 February 2020.
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