Yesterday, of course, I received many emails including or linking to post mortems on the State of the Union address. Just about all of the ones I saw were highly of favorable. Robert Reich’s was reserved for paid subscribers, and in advance of the address he had expressed a wish to hear something which Joe did not say, so I’ll be looking for a more public message from him. I picked the one from the New Yorker, not because it was necessarily the most insightful, but because it speaks from an unusual angle. See what you think. The weather prediction was for snow last night – not a long storm but fairly heavy while it lasted. We shall see. (I did manage to get trash and recyclables to the curb, BTW.)
Cartoon – 09 Quincy RTL
Short Takes –
Democratic Underground (True Dough) – Tricks that Cops use
Quote – I have been taught to yell “stop resisting” and “drop your weapon” after firing a gun, because bystanders will remember you said it and their memory will automatically reverse the order of these events to make it make sense. Their tstimony will support yours, because of this.
Click through for thread. Yes, it’s a Twitter thread, but it has been posted as screen shots, not as an embed, so no one should have any difficulty seeing it, and it’s extremely revealing. As are many of the comments.
The New Yorker – Joe Biden, Once Again, Lucks Out with His Enemies
Quote – Biden, it seemed, had carefully prepared for their antics. Had he scripted their reaction, he could not have asked for a better foil than Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former QAnon promoter who flirts with white supremacy. Greene arrived for the State of the Union dressed for the TV cameras in an all-white fur-trimmed outfit that made her seem like a villain in a Disney movie. “Liar!” she stood and shouted at Biden, after he accused some members of her party of wanting to “sunset” Medicare and Social Security in the name of fiscal discipline. Unfazed, Biden challenged her and the others who were jeering him to prove that Republicans did not actually support such a thing. When they then rose to their feet to applaud, alongside Democrats, his pledge not to cut either Medicare or Social Security, Biden claimed it as a victory for the bipartisan dealmaking that he wants to be remembered for. “We got unanimity!” he exulted.
Click thrugh for full opinion. Of course, speech writers are largely responsible for the wroding of any Presidental address. But there was a good deal which was unscripted in theis one. For some of them, alternatives may have been pre-planned depending on the audience. But not for all. We have a President who can think on his feet under pressure.
Food For Thought
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