Trump, Listen to Pelosi: End the State of the Union

 

On Wednesday, the new House Speaker asked President Trump to postpone his State of the Union address until the government shutdown is resolved — or simply to submit it in writing. For once, I agree with Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi’s stated concern is that the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security isn’t currently being funded. Understaffed security means that they can’t protect the President. (From House Democrats, presumably.) Anti-Trump hysteria already killed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; if it also kills the pretentious pageantry of the SOTU, all the better.

The Constitution mandates that the President “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.” Thomas Jefferson looked at a formal address as a “speech from the throne” that reminded him of the old British monarchy. He abandoned the practice, opting to submit it in writing. That tradition remained until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson, the worst president ever, “stunned official Washington” by delivering an address before a joint session of Congress.

Fast-forward to today, where the State of the Union is a hybrid of royal address and third-rate Oscars ceremony. I don’t need to know which congressperson shakes the President’s hand, how many times Ruth Bader Ginsburg nods off, or who Amy Klobuchar is wearing.

President Trump, submit the State of the Union in writing. And do it in crayon so even politicians can follow along.

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  1. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Columbo (View Comment):

    IF … that’s a big if … the SOTU needs to go by the wayside (certainly the question can be debated), it is without any shadow of the doubt that the year that it should happen is not 2019. At a bare minimum, the optics of allowing 78-year old Nancy Pelousy to dictate terms to a sitting President is vomit inducing.

    This exactly. Give the speech, Mr President. Let the next guy break the chain. Right now the President has a message to convey and needs to take every opportunity to state it.

    • #31
  2. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Neil Hansen (Klaatu) (View Comment):

    Why did Pelosi ask Trump to postpone? She is Speaker of the House and Presidents address Congress at the invitation of Congress. The decision is hers not his.

    I think that the Speaker invites the President because the SOTU is held in the House Chamber.  My suggestion is that Cocaine Mitch invite Trump to do the SOTU in the Senate Chamber, with folding chairs being brought in for the Representatives.  There would be an empty chair for Pelosi next to Pence, and when Trump says she won’t negotiate with him, he could turn to her empty chair and address it.

    • #32
  3. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Misthiocracy secretly (View Comment):
    I don’t remember the exact line, but it went something like: “He will from time to time provide Congress with information. The President could fulfill his constitutional duty by buying Congress a subscription to the Wall Street Journal.”

    Indeed.  Has there been a SOTU address in the last 50 years where Congress learned something about the state of the union that they didn’t already know?  The only thing new in any SOTU address are the trial balloons for vast new expensive programs.  It’s entirely pointless.

    • #33
  4. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Trump should end the SOTU, announcing in this year’s SOTU that it’s the last one, and that he expects that some federal judge will overturn his order. 

    • #34
  5. Misthiocracy secretly Member
    Misthiocracy secretly
    @Misthiocracy

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy secretly (View Comment):
    I cannot see any constitutional reason why the Speaker of the Senate couldn’t invite the President to address the Senate.

    Well, other than that there is not Speaker of the Senate.

    Ok, the President of the Senate.

    Nitpicker!

    • #35
  6. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    Misthiocracy secretly (View Comment):

    Max Ledoux (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy secretly (View Comment):
    I cannot see any constitutional reason why the Speaker of the Senate couldn’t invite the President to address the Senate.

    Well, other than that there is not Speaker of the Senate.

    Ok, the President of the Senate.

    Nitpicker!

    Canadian! ;-P

    • #36
  7. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I like the idea of a written SOTU tied to a brick and delivered through Pelosi’s office window. And then have an ICE agent deliver it on national TV including some personal anecdotes.

    • #37
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