Wednesday Morning Rant

Trump's State of the Union (yeah, yeah, whatever) address was last night and it was remarkable on a couple of fronts. There were two stand-out patterns in his speech and I think both are effective and bode well for the future: it was ruthless, and it was personal. Trump also got a yuge assist from the Democrats last night, in more ways than one.

SOTU addresses typically follow a pattern, and Trump's was no exception. That pattern is "this is what happened last year, and this is what we're doing this year." Trump's speech conformed with that broad pattern, but with an entirely different implication. It was, "this is what you - you monstrous goons in the Democrat Party - did last year, and this is what I am going to fix." The opening half of his address was brutal on the Democrats.

He laid many of the problems firrmly and fully at the feet of the Democrats. Inflation: you did it. War: you did it. Cultural assault: you did it. Sexual mutilation of children: you did it. Corruption: it's your game. Foreign gangs running rampant: that's your doing. Failure of education: you did it. He mentioned Biden little but the Democrats a lot. It didn't come across as bitter sour grapes or excuse-making, but as contempt. His address was dripping with contempt for the deep state and the Party.

The reason it didn't come across as excuse-making complaint is the other common theme in these addresses - the "what we're going to do this year" part of it. He laid out his agenda again, and did it fairly well. Tackle inflation. Tackle unfair trade agreements. Rationalize energy policy. Rebuild American industry. Kill and bury DEI and wokism. Continue unwinding the crazy degree of corruption in American government. He was very clear: he has a plan, he's going to execute it, and he's going to undo what the Democrats and their affiliates have done over the past several decades. He was absolutely ruthless about it.

He was also funny, which is always helpful. His litany of wasteful and corrupt spending was deliberately comedic, and it worked. His treatment of Social Security fraud also had humor mixed in, and he called out specific people in his administration who are working on fixing the problems throughout the address. RFK Jr, Elon Musk, Pam Bondi and a couple of others got direct mentions. The message was clear: we're in place to do this, and we're doing it and we're all on board.

For their part, the Democrats helped him a lot last night. Only one got kicked out - Al Green of Texas - for being disruptive but that doesn't mean antics weren't on display. Many Democrat congressmen had these silly signs about Elon Musk. They were little and stupid, much like the people who held them. There weren't enough of them to be anything but embarrassing and the slogans weren't clever enough to be effective. It was stupid, and made them look stupid and childish. It was embarrassing. As Ace posted last night, the memes have already started. They also helped him through inaction. The Dems presented stony silence the entire time. Kids accomplishing great things, huge savings identified, national industrial plans, etc. were all met with scowls and silence. They looked petty and bitter.

But for all the style the Dems did not exhibit, Trump made up for it droves. His rhetoric was excellent, and personal. Personal against the Dems, personal for various people. Most presidents do this, but Trump delivered it very well. A little kid who beat (or is beating) cancer and wants to be a cop. Trump made him an honorary Secret Service agent. A middle-aged man who was locked in a Russian prison and for whom Trump negotiated his release was there, along with his elderly mother. Biden didn't get him out, Trump did. Personal, upbeat and stylistically excellent. Every call-out was like that. For every brutal hit against the Dems, he had an uplifting tale of his accomplishments.

He ended it as usual with all the promises of future greatness in industry, culture and society. Standard stuff, but delivered passionately and extremely skillfully. He opened with a beatdown, named a few names, shifted to plans, used personal examples of good things happening and concluded with a vision of the future. It was periodically funny, well performed, contemptuous of the Democrats and - vitally - delivered directly to the American people.

And he didn't even have to be dragged off stage by a shepherd's crook after 60 minutes because his drugs wore off at 45 minutes.

posted by Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM

| Access Comments