Biden delivers a State of the Union address that exceeded expectations. However the bar was low on expectations; before the address the pundits laid out a narrative that if an old man could even complete the speech then he excelled. Instead a feisty Biden came out and probably delivered the best speech of his career -- despite heckling from MTG and MAGA Republicans. The ratings of Biden's State of Union address are all over the place; mainly driven by political persuasion rather than any meaningful evaluation. More important are the key takeaways from his address -- not the ones about his delivery and sparring with Republicans but the points that address his proposed policy initiatives. The upfront question is if Biden's SOTU will move his polling numbers. I expect his address will make very little difference in polling. Of course, Biden's State of the Union did cause Trump to immediately become unhinged with his own "state of the union". Additionally, the Never-Trumpers heaped praise on Biden for his public beatdown of the Trumpy MAGA clowns in Congress. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other MAGA clowns continually heckled Biden throughout the address; at some point this behavior needs to be considered embarrassing to the U.S. government. The behavior of the MAGA GOP clowns shows that Biden is dealing with a whole new type of opposition -- one with basically no standards (think George "Gaslighting" Santos) or decency. Some are saying MTG needs to be held accountable for her absurd behavior. Biden was not about to put up with the heckling from MAGA Republicans during his address this time and came right back at them. Of course, the Republican House leader, Kevin McCarthy, was not in any way supporting Biden's defense of democracy -- this shows all anyone needs to know about the MAGA crowd. The Republican response by Sarah Huckabee Sanders was less than inspiring. all she did was repetitively trash Biden while providing no reasonable GOP policy initiatives. Her lengthy story trying to claim she was effectively part of the military based on an airline trip with Trump was widely mocked.
This this not how a strong woman should behave.....says Kevin. Kevin McCarthy chides Republicans for taking Biden's 'bait' by heckling him at SOTU McCarthy accused Biden of deliberately trying to elicit angry reactions from Republicans, but he also said Republicans needed to do a better job of resisting the temptation to lash out. "He tries to use that for a political ploy, but the one thing we need to be is -- we need to be smart," he said. "We need to be smart, don’t take the bait, stay with the American public about what we want to do." House Republicans on Tuesday night loudly heckled President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is now sending them a public warning about the optics. Via CNN's Manu Raju, McCarthy appeared on Fox News on Wednesday morning and was asked about his members' behavior during Biden's speech, which was highlighted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yelling the word "liar" at the president. McCarthy accused Biden of deliberately trying to elicit angry reactions from Republicans, but he also said Republicans needed to do a better job of resisting the temptation to lash out. "He tries to use that for a political ploy, but the one thing we need to be is -- we need to be smart," he said. "We need to be smart, don’t take the bait, stay with the American public about what we want to do."
You can bet there would be some howls if I put up that meme after the Squad showed up and did their hissy fit last week. RACIST!!!!
So what Republican policy initiatives did Sarah put forward for the American people? Do enlighten us.
Sarah's job was to respond to the state of the union message and she did that. Joe put forward his usual dark, divisive, vitriolic view of America and republicans and Sarah did a pro-American response. Great job Sarah.
It was a gloomy response but they both seem to agree on one thing...we can do better. Yet, she did something odd...she talked a little too much about herself as governor of Arkansas. I think she mentioned the first female governor of Arkansas...several times as if Arkansas is the only state in America. He's old and she's young...what the fuck. It was clear to me... she was comparing herself to him as if she was thinking about herself and not America. Simply, she was laying the seed for a possible run at the White House as President or Vice President candidate. wrbtrader
All Sarah did was to promote culture wars and trash Biden. She offered no vision of what Republicans would offer in policies to improve America. This Axios article fairly summarizes her response very well. Let me mention that trying to tie yourself to Trump while talking about "time for a new generation of Republican leadership" seems to be nonsensical. Coupled with the problem that she does not recognize that the Republican party has a serious problem with a dividing line between "normal and crazy". Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "Time for new generation of Republican leadership" https://www.axios.com/2023/02/08/sarah-huckabee-sanders-gop-response-state-of-the-union Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.) delivered the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union on Tuesday night, ridiculing the president's policies and leadership. The big picture: Sanders, who served as the White House press secretary for two years during former President Trump's administration, aimed to draw a sharp generational contrast between Biden and the "new generation of Republican leadership." Driving the news: "At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country. At 80, he’s the oldest president in American history," Sanders said. She went on to claim that Biden is "unfit to serve as commander in chief" and that his "weakness puts our nation and the world at risk." "It's time for a new generation of Republican leadership," she continued, adding that the party will be the "change makers" for the American people. Sanders said the dividing line in the country is no longer between right or left, but between "normal and crazy." Zoom in: Attacking the Democratic Party's economic policies, she said, "In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves." "And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day," she continued. Sanders claimed Democrats want to strip Americans’ freedom of speech and attacked the "woke fantasies" of the Biden administration, claiming "children are taught to hate one another on account of their race." Sanders said that the GOP wants an America "where strong families thrive in safe communities, where jobs are abundant, and paychecks are rising." Earlier Tuesday, President Biden focused on unity during his State of the Union address. He focused on manufacturing jobs and took credit for emerging through the pandemic. Biden also promised to work with Republicans in the new Congress. "I promised to be the president for all Americans. We’ll fund your projects. And I’ll see you at the groundbreaking," he said.
Pretty funny how Biden's section about Republicans wanting to shut off Medicare and Soc Sec backfired on him and the nation saw that Republicans have never had any intention of cutting those programs. ---Really bad for Ol' Joe