Wow. No, let's make it a double Wow-Wow. That's how pleasantly surprised I was at President Biden's State of the Union speech tonight.
Though I'm a proud progressive Democrat, I've been among those Biden supporters who worry that he's too old to run for a second term. Hey, I'm six years younger than Biden is, and I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning (damn sciatica!), much less lead the United States.
But there Biden was, standing tall at the podium for 68 minutes, giving a highly energetic and captivating speech, jousting with catcalls from Republicans in the chamber, smiling broadly, acting considerably more spry than I expected.
I didn't hear any gaffes. Biden stumbled over a few sentences, but just about anybody would do that in a speech of that length. To use a well-worn cliche, he knocked it out of the park, thereby depressing Republicans and Trump, who undoubtedly were looking forward to some senior moments they could use in campaign ads.
Likely there are conspiracy theories already brewing about Biden being given some sort of drug that energized him. Well, all I can say is, let me know what it was and I'll beg my doctor for a prescription.
Naturally I watched the State of the Union address on MSNBC, as I wanted to hear what my favorite commentators -- Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O'Donnell -- had to say about Biden's performance.
I only listened to part of their analysis, agreeing that it was unusual in how it was a blend of a campaign speech and a usual State of the Union address. Whatever, it simply worked. I usually get kind of bored with the recitation of accomplishments and grandiose plans for the future, even if the president is a Democrat.
Tonight, though, Biden kept my attention throughout his talk.
I loved how he started right off with an allusion to World War II and the need to defend democracy against authoritarians like Hitler and Putin, then moving into a plea for Congress to pass the aid bill for Ukraine that is desperately needed to prevent Russia from winning the war and moving on to invade other countries in the region.
Very aggressive, and very much appreciated, since Democrats often play nice while Republicans are playing nasty. The MSNBC folks said that Biden's blunt unscripted comments directed right at the Supreme Court justices in attendance was a first for a State of the Union speech, since usually presidents are indirect in their criticism of Supreme Court decisions.
In his third State of the Union address Thursday, Joe Biden did what was once unthinkable: directly challenge Supreme Court justices about one of their opinions, addressing them personally.
Biden brought up the conservative majority’s landmark reversal of Roe v. Wade. He had begun to read an excerpt of the decision when he began a brief aside, looking right at the justices sitting in the front row.
“With all due respect, justices, women are not without ... electoral or political power," he said.
Then, in what appeared to be an ad-libbed moment, he added, "You’re about to realize just how much …” before Democrats in the chamber jumped to their feet and cheered.
The justices, dressed in their traditional black robes, sat expressionless but looking forward as the applause and reaction thundered around them. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was among those sitting beside the group, stood to applaud.
That was a great moment. It illustrated how Joe Biden, usually considered a traditionalist, gave a very untraditional State of the Union speech. I also enjoyed his repeated references to his "predecessor," never naming Trump directly, just pointing out some of the many screwups and bad decisions Trump made during his presidency.
Like presiding over a million deaths of Americans from Covid, several hundred thousand, at least, being preventable if Trump hadn't undermined public health efforts aimed at combating the pandemic. Anyone who believes they were better off four years ago than today has forgotten the hell of 2020 when Covid reached the United States with an incompetent president at the helm.
Tonight's speech won't quell the worries over Biden's age and capacity to perform presidential duties. However, it sure helped in that regard. I came away much more enthusiastic about his chances to beat Trump this November.
Heck, I'm even eager to donate to Biden's reelection campaign now, something I was resisting before, in part because I think he's been too soft on Israel's horrendous destruction of Gaza and the needless killing of civilians. He didn't spend a lot of time on the Israel-Hamas war in his speech, but at least he's started on some concrete steps to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
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