SOTU analyses

In case you're wondering, no, I didn't watch it.

The US president preened over a growing economy and pledged a return to national greatness with a nostalgic appeal to family, faith, law and order, the military and the national anthem. “Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve,” Trump said.

  Guardian

Seek common ground with him, it sounds like. I'm not interested in returning to family, faith, law and order, the military and the national anthem. As a country, we returned to those after a brief hippy uprising in the 60s and haven't left them since. No return is necessary.

To his left, Republicans stood, applauded and sometimes cheered each new pronouncement. To his right, Democrats mostly sat stony faced, channeling the fury of millions who believe Trump has defiled the American presidency, and on occasion were unable to resist groans, or heckles of protest.

Well, it's the least they could do. The very least.

Sometimes it became too much. Trump’s statement that, “For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities”, prompted Democratic House chairman Joe Crowley to shout: “Oh, come on!”

Not quite brave enough to shout "You lie!" like South Carolina's Joe Wilson did at Obama.

And when the president pledged to end so-called “chain migration”, adding: “Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives”, there were such loud mutters of dissent that Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi waved her arms to mute them.

Jesus, Nancy. Were the kids out of line? Somebody should have shouted, "So does that mean Melania's parents are going back to Slovenia?"

A slight detour...I saw this bit on Melania's father in an article about her parents:

After his chauffeur job, Viktor became a traveling salesman for a state-owned car company. "In contrast to the privations that so many suffered in Communist times, the Knavses lived well," GQ reports. While Viktor was reportedly a card-carrying member of the Sevnica Communist Party, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the New York Times last year that Knavs had never been an "active member" of the party. He amassed a collection of Mercedes sedans and a "coveted" Maserati, and GQ describes Amalija as "always impeccably dressed and perfectly coiffed," even when "times were lean" under Communist rule.

  Town & Country

Just tuck that away in the back of your head.

Okay, back to the SOTU. Or STFU.

And when the speech ended, Republicans clapped and chanted “USA! USA!” – one even waved a red “Make America great again” cap – while Democrats raced to the exits with thinly disguised contempt.

  Guardian

I bet Charlie Pierce didn't get his wish.

Instead of the darkness of his inaugural speech, which warned of “American carnage”, Trump boasted of the “extraordinary success” of his first year in office and offered a more optimistic vision. “This is our new American moment,” Trump said. “There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.”

A total divorce from reality, as anyone could have predicted.

Trump spoke of the need to keep the nation safe from terrorism. He announced that he had formally cancelled Barack Obama’s plan to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. “We must be clear,” he said. “Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are.”

The "bring back torture" portion of the speech.

Well, somebody liked it:

“North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland,” Trump said. “Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this very dangerous position.”

If only that meant that he'd quit tweeting insults at Kim.

"Perhaps someday in the future there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.”

Unfortunately, we can't rely on magic.

The president’s family were in attendance, although Melania Trump travelled to the Capitol separately from Trump.

Still unhappy. Was Stormy there?

She entered the chamber without public announcement, wearing an all-white Dior pantsuit – evocative, perhaps, of Hillary Clinton during the election campaign.

Oh, now, that was cruel. Wouldn't that be funny if Melania were to start using Hillary phrases and wearing Hillary pantsuits around The Most Notable Loser? And, hey, win-win, she could get a haircut.

He made an appeal directly to be able to fire Mueller and Rosenstein.

“All Americans deserve accountability and respect, and that is what we are giving them,” said Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to dramatically cut the size of the federal government.

“So tonight, I call on the Congress to empower every Cabinet secretary with the authority to reward good workers and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people," he said.

[...]

Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) introduced legislation in July to make all new federal workers at-will employees. That change would mean they could be “removed or suspended, without notice or right to appeal, from service by the head of the agency at which such employee is employed for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all,” according to the text of the bill.

  The Hill

This is what the state of Texas calls a "right to work" law.

Of course, there were the usual media portrayals of a president finally becoming presidential, which got you to drink at each if you were playing along with Matt Taibbi's (Rolling Stone) annual SOTU drinking game.

Of course, an analysis of the speech wouldn't be complete without speculation about what drug he's on.

"It didn't deliver on substance. It wasn't inflammatory, for the most part. But we'll see what he tweets at 5 o'clock in the morning when his Adderall wears off," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said in an interview with The Hill.

  The Hill

It didn't disappoint, however, if you were waiting for a hilarious Trumpism.

And he misidentified one of his invited guests, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Celestino Martinez, who the written address referred to as “CJ.” “He goes by DJ,” Trump said. “And CJ. He said call me either one.”

  TPM

Sure he did.*

Buffoon.

Jeremy Scahill talks to Naomi Klein about this hate-filled SOTU:

*UPDATE2/1:  Chris Hayes has it.