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The State of the Union Is About What You’d Expect
I watched President Biden’s State of the Union Address. It wasn’t my fault; Ricochet made me. Just be thankful you didn’t have to. It was bad, needless to say. Joe Biden is, well, Joe Biden, so no one expected soaring rhetoric, achievable goals, or a political change. He is what he is.
He began talking about Ukraine, which was pretty good, graded on the steep Biden Oratorical Curve. There was a nice moment when he recognized Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US. The best part was his conclusion that “our forces are not engaged and will not engage in the conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine.” He also referred to Ukrainians as “Uranians” and “Iranians,” respectively.
Then came the standard SOTU laundry list. He bragged about how great the economy is, then addressed inflation, weakly:
With all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth, higher wages, too many families are struggling to keep up with their bills. Inflation is robbing them of the gains they thought otherwise they would be able to feel. I get it.
…We have a choice. One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poor. I think I have a better idea to fight inflation. Lower your costs. Not your wages.
I haven’t seen any Republicans demand we “drive down wages and make Americans poor.” Maybe we read different newspapers. But Biden isn’t afraid to take controversial stances: he wants lower prices. Take that, Rethuglicans.
Then came the best part of the night, the President calling on a 13-year-old boy in the gallery. He needs insulin and Biden wants to make that medication cheaper. Please note, insulin was cheaper 13 months ago before Biden ended a low-cost program Trump created. Anyway, he wished the kid a happy birthday and the nervous boy beamed. The electric energy and excitement of the kid was sweet. (That’s the only reason it was my favorite part.)
Biden promised to reduce the cost of healthcare and child care by agreeing to a global minimum tax rate. This Davos/Great Reset/World Economic Forum claptrap is a dead letter in Congress, thank the stars above, but it gave Biden the chance to hate on the Kulaks and Wreckers for subverting the glorious revolution.
Biden also blasted Trump for increasing the national debt even though Biden has increased it $1.5 trillion in the past year, and demanded government spend more for an endless list of pet projects. It was odd how much time Biden spent selling failed plans from last year, but the Democrats dutifully applauded and Republicans rolled their eyes.
You could have traded half this SOTU with a Biden 2020 stump speech and no one would have noticed.
The president signaled ever so slightly that we should move on from masks, but was vague on details. Then came one of several odd statements:
We won’t stop. We cannot build a wall high enough to keep out a vaccine — the vaccine can stop the spread of these diseases…. Let’s use this moment to reset.
I hadn’t heard of a Vaccine Wall. Guess we do read different newspapers.
The president’s energy throughout was cycling up and down at random; the Biden “mumble whisper SHOUT” speaking style gave America’s volume controls a workout.
He opposed calls to defund the police, lied about gun control, and gave a shout-out to Justice Breyer, who responded with a weird “namaste” gesture. Ketanji Brown Jackson, his Supreme Court nominee, also earned his praise.
Is this article boring you yet? I’ve got no sympathy. I had to watch it. You’re welcome.
Biden lied about the border, said we should protect women and LGBTQ+ and kids and veterans and addicts (didn’t mention Hunter). Finally came the Beau Biden Section. Every time the president speaks, he mentions his late son Beau and connects his death to whatever legislation he’s boosting at the time. This speech was no different. Joe is going to end cancer as we know it. Just like he did six years ago.
The only fireworks of the evening came from a shout by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R–CO). Biden said:
Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan faced many dangers. One was stationed at bases and breathing in toxic smoke from ‘burn pits’ that incinerated wastes of war—medical and hazard material, jet fuel, and more. When they came home, many of the world’s fittest and best-trained warriors were never the same. Headaches. Numbness. Dizziness. A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.
Boebert interrupted with, “You put them in, 13 of them,” the evening’s only reference to Biden’s disastrous pullout from Kabul. Democrats booed her but at least someone mentioned President Biden’s most enduring legacy.
And that’s about it. I assume the SOTU ratings were low, there will be no movement in the polls, and no changes in the deadlocks on Capitol Hill. A dull, meaningless hour of theater delivered only because tradition required it.
You can stop reading now. I need a drink.
Published in General
The Coolidge rule would have him submit it in writing.
My wife and I decided to drink a shot of Tequila (quarters style) every time Brandon said certain words like “my Dad”, “Scranton”, “Beau”, “Putin”, “Trump”, or “folks”. I lasted about 20 minutes and went to bed. My wife is much hardier than I am and watched to the end. She ate bananas and peanut butter (Elvis style) on a bagel for breakfast. She’s much better now.
And then there is that thing about the widow.
I only caught a little, but at one point he referred to his audience, that is, Congress, as “folks”. I never liked the term as used by Biden because it sounds like he’s talking down to them connoting ordinary, everyday people – but good people! I don’t think these Congress-cretins are too happy being called “folks”.
My wife and I watched the entire speech, and then watched the Governor of Iowa give the Republican response. The Governor of Iowa made enduring the Biden speech less painful.
The neurons looking for a place to land have discovered their carrier has been sunk.
HARSH BUT FAIR lol
That happened in an episode of LA Law, too.
Certainly. Cottonelle Wipes?
Considering how he got “elected,” he could say that it was brought to us by Facebook, and Twitter…
Not all heroes wear capes.
He isn’t even what he was.
Anybody got a line on who we are supposed to go get?
Code for “quick, I have to go potty”
By “lower your costs” he’s basically accusing everyone of price gouging.
You mean like . . . increase American manufacturing!? Really?!
He doesn’t mean it. Really.
Someone somewhere suggested that it could have been a notation to the staff, to quickly go up and remove the fellow from the podium when the speech was over, lest he go off-script.
Or it could have been a flashback to cornpop.
I watched it, and now, strangely, I feel diminished. I was looking for something, some clarity, a sudden realization, a reversal of all this stupidity, but no! I got, “lower your costs!” Me? Or businesses? Both? Should I buy generic? Should I give up organic? And then there was “It’s time for the rich to pay their fair share.” How much is that? Never enough, that’s for sure. And corporations, those irredeemable pantheons of profit sucking all the money out of the economy like so much oxygen, smothering us all. They need to be punished. Their greed is our inflation. Bastards!
[SLAP!]
Thanks, fellow Ricochetti. I needed that.
465 million Americans voted for him. Most popular President ever.
465 million Americans voted for him. Most popular President ever.
Keep it secret; keep it safe.
For the rich (especially the Ruling Class and their besties), nothing. For the middle class, everything.
The USA will stop having elections before that total will be matched.
Possibly the stupidest thing I’ve heard that old fool say. Did that line get applause from the clapping seals in the audience?
Before I retired I sat in on a discussion about our costs. Wages and other benefits weren’t specifically discussed, but the fact that well over 80% of our cost basis was “labor” was. The question was “What do we do about it?”
Tell them they could resign, since their salaries would apparently be part of “labor.”
Voting Democrat is stupid.
Mises.org is right about everything.
Some dead people voted for him twice!
Cheaper ad space than during the superbowl.