The Speech to Congress

I couldn't watch. I'd been watching some BBC and Frontline videos on T-Rump and couldn't bear any more of Rooster in Chief. So, here's what I gleaned from the internet, or as the Rooster calls it, fake news.

Apparently, Ivanka and husband couldn't get a standing ovation going.  Not even Melania down front stood, and by the looks of her face, she might not even have been applauding.  (And, meow, no wonder Nordstrom dropped Ivanka's dress line. She usually looks pretty classy, but this is what she chose for the big moment?  Style by Walmart?)

Donald Trump promised a “new chapter of American greatness” in a speech to Congress that sought to reset relations with his opponents – but was swiftly condemned for inaccurate claims and a lack of detail.

  Guardian

It's Trump. What were they expecting?

The raw economic nationalism of chief strategist Steve Bannon was notably sweetened for politicians’ palates on both sides of the aisle.

[...]

But there was audible dissent from Democrats when Trump derided Obama’s healthcare policy, claimed he is “draining the swamp” in Washington, called for an end to “trivial fights” – despite his regular Twitter spats – and said he was setting up a group to represent victims of crimes committed by immigrants.

Seriously? There ought to be a constitutional challenge to that, surely.

“I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart,” Trump said, sticking fairly closely to a prepared text.

And then he went on to deride Obamacare, drain the swamp and threaten immigrants.

“A new chapter of American greatness is now beginning. A new national pride is sweeping across our nation. And a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp. What we are witnessing today is the renewal of the American spirit,” he claimed.

[...]

Trump claimed that since his inauguration numerous companies had announced that they would invest “billions and billions of dollars” in the US and create tens of thousands of new jobs. But a Bloomberg analysis has found most of these cases predated Trump, do not actually create jobs, or have nothing to do with him.

One of the videos I watched talked about the Trump approach as coached by beast attorney Roy Cohn. The basic rules are push back harder than you're being pushed, sue everyone and if you lose, claim you won. He hasn't forgotten a thing.

Trump mourned what he called the mistakes of recent decades: a shrinking middle class, inner city decline, open borders, spending trillions overseas. But, he said, the earth shifted beneath our feet in 2016 – there was a “rebellion” with a crucial demand, “that America must put its own citizens first... because only then, can we truly make America great again.”

[...]

But soon enough there was a dubious claim. “Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world.” In fact the US is not even in the top 30 highest-taxed nations in the world, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone. It will be a big, big cut. At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class.”

A conservative thinktank, the Tax Foundation, has found half of Trump’s tax cuts would go to the top 1% of earners, while most families below the top 20% of earners would have income gains of less than 1%.

He's going to revive the shrinking middle class by cutting even more regulations and offering even more tax breaks to corporations. That should work.

“Dying industries will come roaring back to life. Heroic veterans will get the care they so desperately need. Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve.

“Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our very, very beautiful land. Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately, stop. And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity. Above all else, we will keep our promises to the American people.”

Can we use the Godwin rule now?

When the president claimed he has already begun to “drain the swamp” of government corruption there was some sarcastic laughter from Democrats, who could see in attendance his cabinet, with its strong Wall Street and boardroom connections.

They'll be barred from the next speech.

In a marked shift from Obama, he used the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” with relish, pausing after each word for dramatic effect, when promising to protect the American people.

“The time has come for a new programme of national rebuilding,” he said. “I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States – financed through both public and private capital – creating millions of new jobs.”

However, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, said after the speech that he had submitted an infrastructure proposal to Trump and heard nothing back. “The speech and the reality have never been more detached in a presidential speech,” he told MSNBC. “What the president says and what the president does are almost at opposite ends.”

[...]

“I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in the Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster,” he said, gesturing towards the disgruntled Democrats, two of whom gave a thumbs down sign.

He can either say they were signaling thumbs down for Obamacare in agreement with him, or he can bar them from future speeches.

Trump said he wanted to work with both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have paid family leave, to invest in women’s health and to promote clean air and clear water – yet hours earlier, Trump signed an executive order to review the Clean Water Act, designed by Obama to protect streams, wetlands and sources of drinking water.

Chuck, want to comment?  EPA?

The president reaffirmed America’s support for Nato despite having cast doubt on the organisation in the past. He said its partners must meet their financial obligations. “And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.” He went off script to add: “In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in.”

Really? Could we get some examples?

Summing up, Trump returned to the theme of America’s approaching 250th anniversary. “When we celebrate our 250 years of glorious freedom, we will look back on tonight as when this new chapter of American greatness began,” he said.

 Glorious leader,  Kim Jong Donald.

“The time for trivial fights is behind us.”

We'll remember that when the next Twitter fit strikes him.

But the biggest applause, and most poignant moment of the night, came when Trump singled out Carryn Owens, the widow of a US Navy Seal, Ryan Owens, killed in a controversial raid in Yemen.

“Ryan’s legacy is etched into eternity,” Trump said. Carryn Owens sobbed and gazed heavenward, whispering “love you” as Trump’s daughter Ivanka sought to console her and Congress stood and applauded for long moments.

Trump added: “And Ryan is looking down right now, you know that, and he’s very happy because I think he just broke a record.”

What record?? Cheers in Congress?  Jesus Christ.

Truly, aside from being exploitative and sappy, this is despicable. It was a point made to counter the fact that Owens' father isn't so Trump-happy as Owens' wife apparently is.  If that hadn't been in the news lately, Ms. Owens wouldn't have been invited to the speech, and Ryan Owens wouldn't have been mentioned.

Bill Owens, the father of the Navy SEAL killed in a late-January raid in Yemen, leveled biting criticism at the White House and called for an investigation into his son's death in a news story published Sunday.

Owens told The Miami Herald that as his son William "Ryan" Owens' body made it to Dover Air Force Base outside Washington, he was told President Donald Trump was coming to meet him and his wife to pay his respects.

But Owens told the chaplain he didn't want to see the commander-in-chief.

"I told them I didn't want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me talk to him," Owens told the newspaper.

Owens, himself a veteran, raised a number of questions about the raid itself.

"Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration," the paper quoted him as asking.

  CNN

Pretty glad I didn't watch that speech.  But, also pretty sure I'll never watch one.





Or at least tweet a link people can watch, if they can stomach it.

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I guess that will have to do.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.