State of the Union - Wagers?
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WSJ Editorial Board: Biden’s Partisan State of Disunion
The Democratic pep rally had not a single bipartisan grace note.
State of the Union speeches are eminently forgettable, but President Biden’s address on Thursday was memorable for all the wrong reasons. His address was one long, divisive pep rally for Democrats, goading Republicans throughout the speech, and targeting multiple and various villains for partisan attacks. It really was extraordinary.
Most such speeches make at least an attempt at reaching across the aisle, if only as a gesture. This one had none, not even on the issue of aid to Ukraine where he most needs Republican support. He made a good if incomplete argument for supporting Ukraine, and we agree with its substance.
But he made the dreadful political mistake of comparing Russia’s threat to democracy with the threat to democracy at home. There is no comparison between Vladimir Putin’s invasion and partisan, even raucous debates in the U.S., and many supporters of Ukraine will resent the linkage. We regret to say it, but this speech may have made it harder for GOP Members of Congress to resist Donald Trump and vote to send weapons to Ukraine. Was the short-term partisan adrenaline rush worth that risk?
Given the foreign threats to democracy, Mr. Biden could have made a bipartisan pitch to increase defense spending. Even Jimmy Carter made that pivot in the final year of his Presidency when the Soviets were on the march. But Mr. Biden wants to spend and spend on everything else instead. This could turn out to be a historic miscalculation as the threats from Iran, Russia and China mount.
The speech was downhill from there, with a list of partisan campaign themes that hewed hard to the left, while framing opposition as ill-intended and out to hurt the country.
He demeaned the Supreme Court on abortion, suggesting its decision overturning Roe v. Wade was partisan and political. The truth is that the Dobbs decision, as correct as it was under the Constitution, has been a political boon to Democrats. But he still trashed the Court, and the Justices in attendance a few rows in front of him had to sit stoically and take it.
His political enemies list was long, and far more than Mr. Trump. There were the 1,000 billionaires who don’t pay enough taxes, the drug companies that care nothing for patients, the credit-card companies that want to gouge consumers, the “big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing” and drive up rents, and more. He even hauled out the carcass of the National Rifle Association for a drubbing
He sneered at Republicans who voted against his spending bills but whose states now are receiving some of the federal largesse: “If any you don’t want that money in your district, just let me know.” On the border-security bill and fentanyl, it was a schoolyard taunt: “You don’t want to do that, huh?”
He said Republicans want to cut Social Security in order to cut taxes for the rich. But Republicans have expressly refused to get anywhere close to reforming entitlements in this Congress, despite the urgent need to fix programs that will soon be bankrupt.
Israel also came in for a lecture about morality and civilians, a more forceful reproof than he gave Hamas. This was an attempt to pacify his party’s anti-Israel left in Dearborn, Mich., and elsewhere. But it may have consequences on the ground in the Middle East, where adversaries will wonder about the U.S. commitment to our best ally in the region.
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. This was a campaign rally disguised as a State of the Union, as Democrats chanted “four more years.”
No doubt it was an attempt to rally Democrats who fret that he’s been too passive, or to show voters who worry about his age that he can sound tough. Thus the near-shouting delivery. But we wonder how effective it will be as a campaign message.
There was nothing here for Nikki Haley voters, or Republicans who don’t want a second Trump term and might consider voting for Mr. Biden. In its divisiveness, it could have the effect of encouraging the No Labels movement to go ahead with a third-party candidacy. Every bit as much as Donald Trump, the Joe Biden in the well of the House on Thursday promised four more years of dispiriting rancor.
LOL: "Pep rally." Those words were going through my mind as I listened, for a while. I don't recall so much whooping and cheering.
It was некультурны..
@George-K said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
"Pep rally."
Seen on the web - "As speeches go, this wasn't one — just a grab bag of random stuff, arranged in no particular order, with no dramatic sweep, and delivered with all the grace of a spider monkey on Red Bull.
As a campaign event, it might have inspired the dedicated, but if you were worried about Biden's fitness... you're more worried now than you were two hours ago."
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To sum up:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
I've never watched a SOTU speech in my entire life.
I was only joking
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To sum up:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
I've never watched a SOTU speech in my entire life.
@Doctor-Phibes said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
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To sum up:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
I've never watched a SOTU speech in my entire life.
@Doctor-Phibes said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
To sum up:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
I've never watched a SOTU speech in my entire life.
There was a teachable moment where Biden compared America unfavorably to a bunch of other countries, including Russia.
Education is extremely important.
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@George-K said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
Tantamount to an attempt on the president's life, which is an insurrection. And I do NOT use that word lightly.
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To sum up:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
I've never watched a SOTU speech in my entire life.
@Doctor-Phibes said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
People who like Biden liked it
- Axios after the speech: "President Biden eased Democrats' concerns about his age with a feisty and commanding State of the Union address Thursday night."
- NY Times: In-Your-Face Biden Takes on Trump and His Own Doubters
- NYT's lead: "This was not Old Man Joe. This was Forceful Joe. This was Angry Joe. This was Loud Joe. This was Game-On Joe."
- WaPo front page: Fiery Biden takes on GOP, makes case for second term
- WaPo story headline: Biden delivers State of the Union with fiery political tone
- WaPo story lead: "President Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union address Thursday night..."
- WaPo video headline (I kid you not): "Biden's feistiest State of the Union exchanges" (WaPo really commits to the bit!)
- Punchbowl: A feisty Biden blasts GOP foes
- Also Punchbowl: "If you are a casual political observer, you tuned into the State of the Union Thursday night and saw a feisty President Joe Biden..." It's a twofer!
- Reuters: Biden takes on Trump and Republicans in fiery State of the Union speech
- Semafor: "President Biden delivered a fiery stemwinder against Donald Trump in a State of the Union speech that served as a general election preview."
- Associated Press: Biden uses feisty State of the Union to contrast with Trump, sell voters on a second term
Rumor is that the Strategic Adderall Reserve at the White House was depleted by 82%.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
Diplomacy: Telling a Jew to have a "Come to Jesus" meeting.
Bibi will be like "Hey Joe, we killed Jesus. Sorry bro. How about a Come to Moses moment amirite?"
Bibi will be like "Hey Joe, we killed Jesus. Sorry bro. How about a Come to Moses moment amirite?"
Didn’t you get the memo?
The current Codger and Chief will be doing just that for the next 8 months or so. He’s going against the self proclaimed American Moses, His Obesity, The Oracle of Orange.
The grudge match of the century has been set.
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Bibi will be like "Hey Joe, we killed Jesus. Sorry bro. How about a Come to Moses moment amirite?"
Didn’t you get the memo?
The current Codger and Chief will be doing just that for the next 8 months or so. He’s going against the self proclaimed American Moses, His Obesity, The Oracle of Orange.
The grudge match of the century has been set.
@Renauda said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
He’s going against the self proclaimed American Moses, His Obesity, The Oracle of Orange.
I think you may be confusing Moses with Herod the Great
I was only joking
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@Doctor-Phibes said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
To sum up:
People who like Biden liked it
People who don't, didn't
I've never watched a SOTU speech in my entire life.
There was a teachable moment where Biden compared America unfavorably to a bunch of other countries, including Russia.
@Horace said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
There was a teachable moment where Biden compared America unfavorably to a bunch of other countries, including Russia.
Clearly he's after the TuCa Cult of the Abject vote.
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I didn’t watch it, but sounds like he didn’t completely flub it because of his age.
The content doesn’t matter so much - was he able to deliver it?
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@Renauda said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
He’s going against the self proclaimed American Moses, His Obesity, The Oracle of Orange.
I think you may be confusing Moses with Herod the Great
@Doctor-Phibes said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
@Renauda said in State of the Union - Wagers?:
He’s going against the self proclaimed American Moses, His Obesity, The Oracle of Orange.
I think you may be confusing Moses with Herod the Great
I don’t think so, we’re definitely dealing with a mover and shaker here. In fact, they say he’s a movement. The new Moses. Soon to part a sea of great change near you.
