Breaking Down Biden’s State of the Union

We've had all good martinis and all crazy martinis this week. So it makes sense that Jim and Greg close the week with all bad martinis as they assess President Biden's State of the Union address and the Republican response.

First, they note that Biden responded to criticism that he often comes off as low energy and mentally meandering by showing up angry, talking quickly, and turning the speech into more of a convention address than what the event is supposed to be. But Jim says if the Biden team was trying to invigorate the left-wing base, it may have helped him politically. They also highlight his inappropriate trash talking of the Supreme Court and his fiction over deficit spending.

Then, they take aim at Biden's ill-conceived idea of building a pier on or near the Gaza coast to bring in humanitarian relief. And while Biden says there will be no American "boots on the ground," if they're anywhere close, this is a very bad idea. Jim also asserts that this move is simply Biden's efforts to win back Muslim voters in Michigan.

Finally, they're less than thrilled with the GOP performance on Thursday. They discuss the excellent content in the official response from Alabama Sen. Katie Britt but debate whether the emotional delivery was effective. Moreover, given the late start to the Biden speech, Jim suspects the nation's opinion of the Republicans will be based more on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's disruptions of Biden than the actual response.