Trump’s SOTU Triumph, Democrats’ Defeat

 

At 5,100 words, President Trump’s first State of the Union address was one of the longest on record. But that’s not the only reason Democrats were checking their watches. Trump set aside his bombastic communications style to solemnly deliver the most conservative SOTU since the Reagan era. And it put Dems in an awful pickle.

Trump used the hour and 20 minutes of spin-free airtime to report a year of news that the mainstream media never quite got around to telling. “Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone.” As Trump spoke, Nancy Pelosi sucked her teeth.

“Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic-American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.” The Congressional Black Caucus glared at Trump with their arms folded.

Whether Trump heralded the stock market, employee bonuses, or the destruction of ISIS, glowering Democrats remained the evening’s most consistent theme. It’s understandable for progressives to sit on their hands for conservative jurists, the Second Amendment, and cutting regulations, but again and again they fumed at America’s very success. Let a thousand midterm campaign ads bloom.

The emotional highpoints were generated by the many guests in the gallery: The grieving families who lost their daughters to violent gang members; the parents of Otto Warmbier; a policeman who adopted the child of a homeless addict. The most powerful moment belonged to Ji Seong-ho, a man who escaped North Korea on ragged crutches to find freedom in the South.

But the speech focused primarily on the American people. Instead of promising all the wonderful things the government would do, Trump underlined that its citizens were her salvation.

“[T]hey are Americans. And this Capitol, this city, and this nation belong to them,” he concluded. “Our task is to respect them, to listen to them, to serve them, to protect them, and to always be worthy of them.”

The modern Democratic Party believes that the American people belong to the government — and fervently wish the rabble won’t embarrass them so. We’ll find out in November which message is more attractive.

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  1. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    rico (View Comment):
    Post-debate commentators, not at all pleased that Trump failed to meet their expectations, made complete fools of themselves. Chuck Todd’s comment, in an agitated voice, was precious:

    And honestly, I just don’t — you know, I go through these things, especially these teleprompter speeches he gives. It’s not him. So it is hard to judge these speeches because we know it’s not him. It’s him reading off a teleprompter.

    Hmmm. Wasn’t there some other totally genuine president who obsessively read his scripts from the teleprompter?

    Oh, now “it’s not him”! We are getting a PhD lesson in psychology watching this all play out.

    Trust me. This is him. I’ve been watching and listening. I happened to work for him in the early 90’s. He’s the same guy. I read his book. I watched 2 seasons of his reality/game show. How many people have said “ in person he’s very nice” or some such. I watched his rallies and many of his appearances as President. People who work closely with him give him good and even glowing reports. Other leaders across the globe seem to like him, it looks like they get along personally. He has a beautiful wife- she’s absolutely stunning from the inside out. His children (from 3 marriages) all seem remarkably well adjusted for being children of fame and privilege. And his ex wives don’t hate him. He has his quirks and flaws but he’s not the monster they want people to see.

    It’s the media portrayals that are intentionally designed to give a false impression.

    So I wonder if Scott Adams predicted this, that’s not him! stage in this madness.

     

    • #31
  2. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Stina (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Trump’s teleprompter speeches always sound fake to me, because he never sounds anything like them in real life.

    Oh, you’ve met him, then?

    Haven’t we all? Every day on Twitter? Or is his act really schizophrenic and the real real Donald Trump is just a shy guy who likes to watch Shark Week with his hooker mistress?

    Do you follow the President on twitter? I took the advice of a past member and actually followed the President, and read every tweet. I’d call it a net positive.

    I hate Twitter. Its too shallow. I understand its a platform to communicate to a shallow generation, but ugh. It shouldn’t be taken as seriously as we do.

    I think this may be a mix. It looks to me as if we do have a generation, maybe two, not much into reading. Maybe related to what seems like an explosive increase in ADHD, which maybe has been there all the time but unrecognized. Not all of the non-readers are shallow and twitter may really be a way to reach them. Lots of maybes there, huh? We encounter many things these days that are incomprehensible.

    • #32
  3. George Savage Member
    George Savage
    @GeorgeSavage

    Evidence of cracks  in the resistance: I listened to the SOTU from the back of a Lyft vehicle in Washington, DC.  When the President delivered the statistics on minority unemployment, my African-American driver looked back and asked “Is that true?”  We then agreed that, whatever one thinks of the man, Trump’s policies are working.

     

     

    • #33
  4. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Trump has handed the GOP a nice momentum here. Let’s see if they can run with it.

    • #34
  5. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    I watched it in Bogota with someone who gets news about the US from cnn international, local news and BBC so only knows the negative.  She couldn’t believe how calm, strong and reasonable he sounded.  She wondered who that horrible nasty woman and those bitter angry men were in the audience.  She’d never heard any of the positive figures. She hadn’t heard of ms13, or when discussing things any of the scandals other than Trump and his kids colluding with the Russians.   The CNN chatter was all very negative and partisan but the cameraman caught Nancy and the black caucus hating every minute of it, especially the good news.

    • #35
  6. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Trump’s teleprompter speeches always sound fake to me, because he never sounds anything like them in real life.

    Oh, you’ve met him, then?

    Haven’t we all? Every day on Twitter? Or is his act really schizophrenic and the real real Donald Trump is just a shy guy who likes to watch Shark Week with his hooker mistress?

    Whyncha have wallpaper for your bedroom made, with frame after frame of Pelosi sucking her teeth when Trump reported all the good economic news?  And then just settle in for a long winter’s nap.  Your gratuitous vitriol is curdling the cream in my coffee this morning.

     

    • #36
  7. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    I Walton (View Comment):

    Nancy and the black caucus hating … the good news.

    As others have said many times before, that’s our opportunity.

    Please, Mr. President, don’t cause a distraction!

    • #37
  8. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Remember the days when Republicans cared about debt and deficit spending? Good times.

    Trump had nothing to say about debt, but did announce that he wants Obama-like spending on infrastructure. Maybe Trump will do better than Obama and see that the money is actually spent on infrastructure.

    Whatever. The OP and the comments evince no concern about debt, and credit Trump for high valuations in the stock market, the same stock market that Trump – prior to the election and correctly – dismissed as a bubble blown up by easy money from the Fed. Somehow people believe that bubble will never burst simply because Trump is President. Now that he’s bear-hugged it, it will be all his (and Republicans) when the inevitable correction comes.

    I actually find it refreshing now that the President and Republicans no longer pretend to care about debt and easy money. There is bipartisan agreement that we will ride the debt train off the cliff, and now apparently bipartisan belief in the fantasy that the cliff is in the never-to-be-arrived-at future. For those thinking the Democrats are in big trouble in the midterms, we better hope the cliff doesn’t arrive until 2019.

     

     

    • #38
  9. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    The Dems all looked like sulky adolescents forced to come  to church with their parents. Yeah, that’s the phrase for their behavior: oppositional personality disorder.

    Except Booker.  Did he maintain that “wrathful demigod”  face all night, the whites of his eyes visible, lips compressed like he was trying to overcome world’s worst constipation?

    After the barely literate Maxine Waters, after the other congresswoman in the glittery cowboy hat, let’s hope that if he runs for president,  we won’t have to stint because of his race on the ridicule he deserves.

    • #39
  10. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    It was absolutely magnificent!  Every single minute of it!  That is what a conservative SOTU speech is supposed to be.  Enshrine that speech in gold binding and give it to every Republican President to study that comes along from now on.

    Donald Trump, conservative hero!

    • #40
  11. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Hypatia (View Comment):
    The Dems all looked like sulky adolescents forced to come to church with their parents. Yeah, that’s the phrase for their behavior: oppositional personality disorder.

    Except Booker. Did he maintain that “wrathful demigod” face all night, the whites of his eyes visible, lips compressed like he was trying to overcome world’s worst constipation?

    After the barely literate Maxine Waters, after the other congresswoman in the glittery cowboy hat, let’s hope that if he runs for president, we won’t have to stint because of his race on the ridicule he deserves.

    Yep, I was thinking all that too.  I also was noticing that Nancy Pelosi had problesm with her dentures.  There seemed to be something wrong inside her mouth.  Don’t forget the Kennedy that had drool runnuing down the side of his lips…lol.

    • #41
  12. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    J Climacus (View Comment):
    Remember the days when Republicans cared about debt and deficit spending? Good times.

    Agreed.    This is one of Trump’s blind spots.   For good or ill, he never seemed to be afraid of debt in his private business dealings either.

    • #42
  13. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    I Walton (View Comment):

    Nancy and the black caucus hating … the good news.

    As others have said many times before, that’s our opportunity.

    Please, Mr. President, don’t cause a distraction!

    I’m counting on him causing a distraction. Or to be more accurate, on the media to find, or make up, something to focus on that fits their perspective.

    It’s getting to the point where fake news is an understatement, more like alternate realityscaping.

    It’s an illusion to think they would ever allow any focus on negatives for Democrats or any positives for Trump or Republicans. Ever.

    • #43
  14. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    SOTU must have been really good!   Huffington Post’s headline coverage is forced to focus on things Trump didn’t say.    The article is basically …”yeah it might have sounded good, but never forget that he’s still a racist, xenophobic, white supremacist, fascist Nazi!”

    • #44
  15. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Annefy (View Comment):
    I agree. But … President Trump uses it effectively. Half the time he uses it as a head fake. The other half he’s communicating to a lot of people who are not otherwise going to hear his message.

    I don’t use twitter but this must be the secret of the President’s success in using it.

    Someone on Twitter dug up a quote from Trump from 1987: “Attention creates value.”

    Any internet marketer will tell you that the #1 thing we’re chasing isn’t dollars, it’s “mindspace”. We want people thinking about our products because their dollars will follow their thoughts.

    Trump figured that out 30 years ago.

    • #45
  16. Kevin Creighton Contributor
    Kevin Creighton
    @KevinCreighton

    Manny (View Comment):
    Yep, I was thinking all that too. I also was noticing that Nancy Pelosi had problesm with her dentures.

    Botox is a harsh mistress.

    • #46
  17. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    I don’t know. I wanted to like it. I really did.

    But I came away feeling neither scolded nor guilty, so now I’m wondering if I actually did hear a Presidential speech. It’s just so strange….

    • #47
  18. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    I don’t know. I wanted to like it. I really did.

    But I came away feeling neither scolded nor guilty, so now I’m wondering if I actually did hear a Presidential speech. It’s just so strange….

    So nice he’s not there anymore.

    • #48
  19. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    I don’t know. I wanted to like it. I really did.

    But I came away feeling neither scolded nor guilty, so now I’m wondering if I actually did hear a Presidential speech. It’s just so strange….

    That’s the feeling of expectations being exceeded.  HTH.

    • #49
  20. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    George Savage (View Comment):
    Evidence of cracks in the resistance: I listened to the SOTU from the back of a Lyft vehicle in Washington, DC. When the President delivered the statistics on minority unemployment, my African-American driver looked back and asked “Is that true?” We then agreed that, whatever one thinks of the man, Trump’s policies are working.

    Or they aren’t working and things are going fine anyway. How do you tell the difference?

    • #50
  21. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    Trump’s teleprompter speeches always sound fake to me, because he never sounds anything like them in real life.

    Oh, you’ve met him, then?

    Haven’t we all? Every day on Twitter? Or is his act really schizophrenic and the real real Donald Trump is just a shy guy who likes to watch Shark Week with his hooker mistress?

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • #51
  22. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Valiuth (View Comment):

    George Savage (View Comment):
    Evidence of cracks in the resistance: I listened to the SOTU from the back of a Lyft vehicle in Washington, DC. When the President delivered the statistics on minority unemployment, my African-American driver looked back and asked “Is that true?” We then agreed that, whatever one thinks of the man, Trump’s policies are working.

    Or they aren’t working and things are going fine anyway. How do you tell the difference?

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • #52
  23. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    J Climacus (View Comment):
    Remember the days when Republicans cared about debt and deficit spending? Good times.

    Trump had nothing to say about debt, but did announce that he wants Obama-like spending on infrastructure. Maybe Trump will do better than Obama and see that the money is actually spent on infrastructure.

    Whatever. The OP and the comments evince no concern about debt, and credit Trump for high valuations in the stock market, the same stock market that Trump – prior to the election and correctly – dismissed as a bubble blown up by easy money from the Fed. Somehow people believe that bubble will never burst simply because Trump is President. Now that he’s bear-hugged it, it will be all his (and Republicans) when the inevitable correction comes.

    I actually find it refreshing now that the President and Republicans no longer pretend to care about debt and easy money. There is bipartisan agreement that we will ride the debt train off the cliff, and now apparently bipartisan belief in the fantasy that the cliff is in the never-to-be-arrived-at future. For those thinking the Democrats are in big trouble in the midterms, we better hope the cliff doesn’t arrive until 2019.

    I don’t think anyone you are criticizing is actually unconcerned with the debt, they (I) simply prioritize things differently. You are being chased by a tornado and are low on gas. Do you stop at the gas station to fill up or keep going and hope you can fill up in a few miles with a lesser threat of the tornado killing you? At the moment, the things Trump is focusing on seem to be the higher priority in preserving the nation — given total world debt positioning.

    • #53
  24. derek Inactive
    derek
    @user_82953

    Oh this was Trump alright. I haven’t seen an hour and twenty minute long flaying for a long time. Knife cut by knife cut he sliced away at the shibboleths of a generation. Democrats sat on their hands because they wanted to keep them from being sliced off.

    All with a smile.

    He also, to the chagrin of many here, has given himself a half year’s worth of tweets attacking those who misrepresent what he said.

    Obama will be seeing an Ophthalmologist today because he was poked right in the eye at least a dozen times. You Built This.

    • #54
  25. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Rodin (View Comment):

    J Climacus (View Comment):
    Remember the days when Republicans cared about debt and deficit spending? Good times.

    Trump had nothing to say about debt, but did announce that he wants Obama-like spending on infrastructure. Maybe Trump will do better than Obama and see that the money is actually spent on infrastructure.

    Whatever. The OP and the comments evince no concern about debt, and credit Trump for high valuations in the stock market, the same stock market that Trump – prior to the election and correctly – dismissed as a bubble blown up by easy money from the Fed. Somehow people believe that bubble will never burst simply because Trump is President. Now that he’s bear-hugged it, it will be all his (and Republicans) when the inevitable correction comes.

    I actually find it refreshing now that the President and Republicans no longer pretend to care about debt and easy money. There is bipartisan agreement that we will ride the debt train off the cliff, and now apparently bipartisan belief in the fantasy that the cliff is in the never-to-be-arrived-at future. For those thinking the Democrats are in big trouble in the midterms, we better hope the cliff doesn’t arrive until 2019.

    I don’t think anyone you are criticizing is actually unconcerned with the debt, they (I) simply prioritize things differently. You are being chased by a tornado and are low on gas. Do you stop at the gas station to fill up or keep going and hope you can fill up in a few miles with a lesser threat of the tornado killing you? At the moment, the things Trump is focusing on seem to be the higher priority in preserving the nation — given total world debt positioning.

    Unfortunately, pushing for another trillion dollar infrastructure stimulus “paid for” with yet more borrowed money is driving the car towards the tornado rather than away from it. Trump has given no evidence that he has a plan for ever dealing with the debt. The fact that he now touts a stock market that is driven to all-time highs on historically cheap money from the Fed shows he doesn’t get it. If we have fake news, this is fake prosperity.

    The idea that the cure for a debt problem is ever deeper debt was the Democratic response to 2008 and gave rise to the Tea Party. The Tea Party rightly rejected this absurd idea and made an heroic effort to reign in spending, but unfortunately did not have quite enough political weight to pull it off. The Tea Party is now dead and gone and Republicans have joined Democrats on the Debt Express.

    • #55
  26. RyanFalcone Member
    RyanFalcone
    @RyanFalcone

    It was an outstanding speech and well delivered as has been his MO when he has a chance to deliver a prepared speech on conservative terms. For decades I have found all the weepy personal interest stuff attached to props in the gallery to be sickening but the people we met last night were striking in what they said with their stories. Something about that moment where that guy stood up and lifted his crutches just got to me. Maybe it was the perspective of those stories and how they aligned with my beliefs? As strong as Trump was, the Democrats were that awful. I remember feeling empowered in the moment of “You Lie!!!” but quickly being embarrassed by it upon reflection. Many seem to hate this event but I think it is or at least was important. As a child in the 80’s I didn’t understand politics and my family and pop culture hated Reagan, but the whole scene evoked the strength, perseverance and dignity that I needed as a child when I was exposed to politics. I grew to like him even through all the negativity of the culture. Trump was not at Reagan’s level but close and the Dems through their body language and especially their embarrassing response established themselves as destroyers set against the builders.

    Next up: Please don’t tweet anything stupid far at least a week!!!!!!

    • #56
  27. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    George Savage (View Comment):
    Evidence of cracks in the resistance: I listened to the SOTU from the back of a Lyft vehicle in Washington, DC. When the President delivered the statistics on minority unemployment, my African-American driver looked back and asked “Is that true?” We then agreed that, whatever one thinks of the man, Trump’s policies are working.

    When he introduced the two couples whose daughters were killed by MS13, I said to Mr. C., “There are four brown people who agree with Trump’s immigration policy.”

    I pray no one else has to pay such a steep price to be mugged by the reality of Democrat policies.

    • #57
  28. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Rodin (View Comment):

    J Climacus (View Comment):
    Remember the days when Republicans cared about debt and deficit spending? Good times.

    Trump had nothing to say about debt, but did announce that he wants Obama-like spending on infrastructure. Maybe Trump will do better than Obama and see that the money is actually spent on infrastructure.

    Whatever. The OP and the comments evince no concern about debt, and credit Trump for high valuations in the stock market, the same stock market that Trump – prior to the election and correctly – dismissed as a bubble blown up by easy money from the Fed. Somehow people believe that bubble will never burst simply because Trump is President. Now that he’s bear-hugged it, it will be all his (and Republicans) when the inevitable correction comes.

    I actually find it refreshing now that the President and Republicans no longer pretend to care about debt and easy money. There is bipartisan agreement that we will ride the debt train off the cliff, and now apparently bipartisan belief in the fantasy that the cliff is in the never-to-be-arrived-at future. For those thinking the Democrats are in big trouble in the midterms, we better hope the cliff doesn’t arrive until 2019.

    I don’t think anyone you are criticizing is actually unconcerned with the debt, they (I) simply prioritize things differently. You are being chased by a tornado and are low on gas. Do you stop at the gas station to fill up or keep going and hope you can fill up in a few miles with a lesser threat of the tornado killing you? At the moment, the things Trump is focusing on seem to be the higher priority in preserving the nation — given total world debt positioning.

    And that does not mean that we who are concerned about the debt and President Trump are thinking about it in the same way. Nobody is going to fix this debt condition without establishing at least an inkling of the right mindset. What he is addressing must come first or we don’t make it anyway.

    • #58
  29. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    I mentioned that I watched it in Bogota, the headline on the front page picture in this mornings El Tiempo, was “Trump Attacks open borders again”. I asked my hosts which were the countries that practiced open borders or who had as open immigration as the US.   Once a person gets on certain sides of issues, and that happens abroad mostly passively by absorbing media bias, little reason or outside information penetrates.  Even here, I thought the Daily shot this morning reflected more Trump derangement syndrome than an honest appraisal of the speech.   After all it’s a SOTU address which are always long and boring.  I suppose much of my pleasure was that it wasn’t about him and showed him exactly opposite of how he is portrayed in the media.

    • #59
  30. Patrick McClure, Mom's Favori… Coolidge
    Patrick McClure, Mom's Favori…
    @Patrickb63

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    George Savage (View Comment):
    Evidence of cracks in the resistance: I listened to the SOTU from the back of a Lyft vehicle in Washington, DC. When the President delivered the statistics on minority unemployment, my African-American driver looked back and asked “Is that true?” We then agreed that, whatever one thinks of the man, Trump’s policies are working.

    When he introduced the two couples whose daughters were killed by MS13, I said to Mr. C., “There are four brown people who agree with Trump’s immigration policy.”

    I pray no one else has to pay such a steep price to be mugged by the reality of Democrat policies.

    Amen

    • #60
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