Last night was certainly one of the most entertaining State of the Union addresses in recent memory. President Biden who is not known as a great orator rose to the occasion and delivered a good albeit long speech touting the accomplishments of his administration. While he will be faced with a discriminatory practice called ageism by some in his own party, like Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio Cortez whose legislative record is quite thin, there should be no doubt that he is running for re-election on the theme “Finish the job.”
While Biden’s speech was given high marks with 72% of the population approving, last night’s performance would not have been as entertaining if it were not for his co-stars in last night’s drama namely the Republican Party.
As the president made the factual accurate comment about how some GOP members (in particular Florida GOP Senator Rick Scott) want to sunset social security and Medicare every five years, the Republican Party started to heckle Biden as if a referee had made a bad call at a sporting event. Apparently the White House saw this coming and Biden being the experienced politician he is, baited the republicans to stand and applaud in agreement that they will not cut these programs. It was a stroke of political genius and theatre on his part. The Republicans will not keep to that commitment but the optics was priceless. The mistake that people constantly make is they underestimate this president.
It must be said that one of Biden’s best props was the looney Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. It must be said that Greene is either a great actress worthy of an Oscar for portraying a deranged looney tune or she really is that crazy. Either way if you are Biden your credibility increases when looney Marjorie goes into her antics. Biden must also give props to Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her stunning performance portraying a hostage that has experienced Stockholm Syndrome. Her rebuttal to Biden’s speech where she essentially painted the nation as being caught up in George Orwell’s dystopian 1984 was indeed one of the worst rebuttal speeches in recent history. One thing Governor Sanders said that is true is that this is a fight between “normal and crazy.” Unfortunately for her she has sided with the crazies.
When one looks at the Biden record it is one that any incumbent president would love to have. Record employment numbers, lowest unemployment in decades, manufacturing jobs coming back, the passage of the largest infrastructure bill since President Eisenhower plus an unprecedented investment to combat climate change. Yet a majority of Americans say he has done very little. Unfortunately, that mindset probably says more about the electorate than about the present administration.
The question that needs to be answered is why does it take an annual trek to congress for the American people to become aware of an administration’s accomplishments. Some will blame the messaging apparatus of the White House but there are other problems. One of the problems of politics within the American system of government is that it’s too often a binary choice where one party gains power only by portraying the other party as a threat to humanity itself. This was the role that Governor Sanders played last night in her rebuttal. While at present it is the Republican party that is more of a threat to the democratic principles which guide this nation, have no doubt that the GOP’s present sickness of delusion can easily spread to the Democrat party as well. `
Second is the constant highlighting of the wrong track/right track polls which depicts how the American people feel about the direction of the country. Every year since 2002, the percentage of people who claim the nation is on the wrong track has always been higher than those who believe the nation is on the right track. According to these polls, America has been on the wrong track so long it’s a wonder the nation still exists. The reality is this is probably one of the silliest polls that the media likes to highlight when it talks about politics in the United States. It’s a poll that doesn’t ask the obvious next question which is why do they think the nation is on the wrong track. America like all nations will always have problems to solve no matter how well they are doing. These polls are almost a self fulfilling prophecy which feeds into a narrative that can lead into a furthering of political nihilism that presently affects the GOP.
Third. In the past there were only three or four stations that would present the news and for the most part would tell the same story. Now with a plethora of cable stations and other outlets the main function now is not to provide clarity on the issues but to expand their audience which increases ad revenue. It is a rarity to watch a cable news network or link on to a website and come away more informed and enlightened about an issue. With cable networks the focus is on the racehorse and with the internet the focus is too often on the craziest conspiracy theory that is sometimes endorsed by people like Marjorie Taylor Greene. While it is easy for sane people to dismiss the ridiculous antics of a Marjorie Taylor Greene, the gun toting Lauren Boebert or Paul Gosar nonetheless, whether it’s Fox TV, where facts seem to be anathema, or the democratic leaning MSNBC, or even CNN which tends to be more balanced, the present day media in general tends to be incapable or unwilling to inform the public. More alarming is that it doesn’t seem to be in their economic self interest to make an honest attempt to inform the electorate. Even in the discussion following the State of the Union, much of the conversation was inane with highly paid and connected reporters sitting around spouting opinions that sound no more informed than the ones heard at the local barber shop. Focusing on Kevin McCarthy’s inability to control his caucus or Mitt Romney’s smackdown of George Santos while entertaining does very little to inform people about the issues.
It would be an unfair blanket statement to say the public is indifferent to issues. The problem is not necessarily whether they care but who can they turn to in order to obtain information on which they will base their opinions and understanding of the issues.
In the absence of enlightened conversations people by default turn to those whose political predilection are close to their own and confirms the bubble in which they presently reside.
President Biden accomplished his goal last night and presented to the nation how government can be effective. He also proved that age is no barrier to achievement and youth is no harbinger of common sense and political ability.
The State of the Union can be an opportunity to hear from the most powerful person in the world as well as the opposing parties rebuttal about where the country really is. What the nation gets is a prime time drama. America deserves better.