Joe Biden opened his State of the Union address with a three punch combo—Ukraine, January 6, abortion, pow pow pow. There were some great lines:
It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, thundered, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Now, my predecessor, a former Republican President, tells Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.”
And:
My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of January 6th.
I will not do that.
This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies.
And here’s the simplest truth. You can’t love your country only when you win.
And on abortion:
Many of you in this Chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom.
My God, what freedoms will you take away next?
Wow. That felt good. The speech did what it had to do: It demonstrated that the President is a feisty old cuss, not at all compromised, ready to do battle. He should take Marjorie Taylor Greene on the road with him as a portable punching bag. This was a tough night for Republican women, not just on the abortion issue—but the way they presented themselves, from Greene’s mortal trashiness to Senator Katie Britt’s Betty Crocker imitation—she delivered her “official response” from her kitchen in a Barbie voice and I wondered if she had been chained to the fridge. (At least, Lauren Boebert, who seemed dressed for Singles Night in the House, kept her yap shut.) And it was great fun to watch Mike Johnson squirm throughout; at times, he seemed about to applaud, but managed to stifle himself. The spectacle of catatonic Republicans not applauding Biden’s many celebrations of “freedom” was pleasurable.
There are quibbles, though…and one big caveat. Biden’s delivery was hasty, stumbling and at times incomprehensible. He trampled some of his best lines. There must be some decibel level between last’s night shoutation and his usual feathery whisper.
The big problem was substantive. Biden chickened out on two enormous issues—immigration and Gaza. He took on neither of them. He slammed the Republicans for their cynical rejection of their own border bill—but he proposed no new executive action to stop the illegal flow, no temporary halt in the acceptance of refugee applicants at the southern border. That will hurt as the campaign progresses. There will be more ads like this one. His inaction on this issue remains mystifying, though less so given the objection of the left’s language warriors to his use of the word “illegal.” I have all the sympathy in the world for those who come here to escape horrors in their homelands, but there is a legal process for doing so. Sneaking across the border is not legal; seeking refugee status at the border is legal, for the moment—but the vast majority who come are looking for economic opportunity, not fleeing oppression. Democrats seem like idiot weaklings euphemizing “undocumented” instead of calling the thing what it is. I was thrilled that Biden called the man who murdered Laken Riley illegal. A victory for plain speech.
On Gaza, I wish he had called out Bibi Netanyahu…and called for an immediate cease fire. Netanyahu is a lousy, ungrateful ally. He is using the war to perpetuate his regime. He has inserted himself into American presidential politics far too often, usually on the side of right-wing extremists. Can anyone doubt that he is rooting for Trump to win?
The idea of building a dock to unload humanitarian supplies is a good one…but only if it doesn’t become a boondoggle. Biden should hire Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania—who got a section of I-95 in Philly rebuilt lickety-split after a truck demolished it—to get the job done. A two-week contract should do it. This is the kind of thing—building stuff in wartime—that Americans have always excelled at; doing it well is not only a humanitarian necessity, but it would be the best sort of demonstration of American power.
All in all, though, a very good night for the Democrats. I really loved Donald Trump’s reaction. He called the speech “angry” and—wait for it—unpresidential. No doubt, it raised welts on his spray tan. Get used to it, Don. Biden’s Irish is finally up.
DEI or Just E
Pamela Paul has, as usual, a great column about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, the subject of a conference—a conference, mind you—at Stanford University. The upshot, though Paul was more politic than I, is that DEI programs are quite ridiculous, a foolish industry—an industry, mind you—funded mostly by taxpayer or philanthropic dollars. (Isn’t it time we tax philanthropies, especially those with political agendas, like the Ford or Heritage Foundation?) DEI is an “Industry” that divides people according to identity, a most un-American principle. It should be abolished, saving gazillions of dollars that, I don’t know, should probably go to housing and educating the poor. DEI should be replaced by a single letter: E…for excellence. Excellence should be the only metric for employment at a university; excellence, with consideration for the economic background and unique skills of the applicant, should be the only relevant attribute for elite college admissions. In the corporate world, stockholders should demand that DEI programs be abolished as a total waste of money. (Having endured several of these at Time Magazine, I can assure you: they are useless.)
A good SOTU speech is always worth listening to. This was one of them. It probably will not go down well, over time, but that is immaterial, the time is now, and it fit the moment.