The "State" of the UNION?

How TIME FLIES It will be President Trump's second State of the Union address where he will lay out his agenda for his third year in office. The theme of the speech is “choosing greatness,” according to a briefing. The prepared text includes this statement: “Together we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future. "The decision is ours to make.”    (1)>>So far what do the POLLS say???     Personally this speech was a good one , unlike his last State of Union which was divisive . This one Donald Trump pulled the wool over the eye's of the Democrats . The speech address not as much the STATE of the Union  , BUT KEY criticisms of Trump's own (1.2)>>Xenophobia accustions .  It’s something of an irony Trump is choosing to highlight togetherness after the longest government shutdown in American history, in which he amped up divisions over immigration and his campaign promise to build a border wall. Democrats have said they don’t want to negotiate over border security with federal workers’ paychecks in the balance. Trump finally reopened the government, but has been continuing to keep up pressure on building the wall.  After the speech, Stacey Abrams, whose run for Georgia governor galvanized Democrats although it was ultimately unsuccessful, will respond for Democrats. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will also issue a response of his own. You can watch the full live stream of the State of the Union above or on the White House YouTube channel.    President Trump is expected to call for unity during his second State of the Unionaddress — but a handful of Democrats aren't planning on listening to the president's pleas Tuesday night, as they don't plan to attend the historic event.Some of his 2020 rivals, such as Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, will also be attending. Many Democrats are trolling Trump with their

specific State of the Union guests — inviting government employees recently impacted by the shutdown, people living in the U.S. affected by the ongoing immigration debate, among others. Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, Schumer (D-N.Y.) forecasted that Trump would exaggerate — if not lie about — his administration's achievements and offer a litany of empty promises. Schumer listed a number of promises Trump made during his last State of the Union, from defeating IS to opening more manufacturing plants in the country, that the minority leader said the president has failed to keep in the months since. (2)>>The president and Democrats spent the hours before his State of the Union address exchanging political fire, making clear that whatever ritualistic calls for across-the-aisle cooperation he would issue later in the evening were unlikely to transform an environment that has turned increasingly toxic.Still stung by his failure to use a partial government

Pelosi's famed defiant Clap.

shutdown to pressure Congress into paying for his border wall, Mr. Trump has hardly been in the mood for collaboration with the other party, anyway. As he and his team have drafted his address in recent days, he has groused about the text, complaining that it is too gentle on Democrats, according to people briefed on the matter. (3)>>HOWEVER the Democrats pulled off  embarrassing themselves , while the newly formed circle of women who won a seat in Congress decided to show their resistance to Donald Trump by wearing white as a sign of solidarity . I must concur that the move was  to honor the legacy of women’s suffrage. It seemed out of line during the State of the Union . While looking at these women during the Union speech  , its much more about women's suffrage.There was a message . It's was more about opposing Trump . While President Donald Trump highlighted the number of women who now have jobs thanks to his administration, the

record number of Democratic women elected to Congress last year rose to their feet and cheered.  The moment during Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday night allowed for a rare bipartisan moment, and the president then acknowledged the historic number of women who now serve in Congress, many of whom are Democrats pressing for investigations into his presidency. But it was the record number of women elected to Congress last year — many of whom vehemently oppose him — who stole the show.At first, many congressional Democratic women — many of whom were wearing white as a sign of solidarity and in honor of the suffragists — remained seated. But slowly, as the applause continued, they began to point to themselves, stand, and celebrate. Some pumped their fists in the air. “You weren’t supposed to do that,” Trump quipped, as cameras shot to high-profile new additions to Congress, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).This congressional House class includes not only the most women ever elected to these positions but also a series of historic firsts. Among the House first-term members alone, there are the first Native American women ever elected to Congress, the first Muslim American women, and the youngest women.President Donald Trump went out of his way to acknowledge this Congress’s milestone during his remarks, prompting cheers from the audience.“All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before. Don’t sit yet. You are going to like this,” Trump said, “And exactly one century after the Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than ever before.” (4)>>Resistance has become the motive power of the Democratic Party lead by these women. Every time Trump says anything , there is political fact checking.  The New York Times provided a masterclass in bad faith fact-checking by taking political contentions offered by the president and subjecting them to a supposed impartial test of accuracy. In his speech, Trump called the illegal border crossing “an urgent national crisis.” The New York Times says “this is false.” But Why? Because illegal border crossings have been declining for two decades, they say. Customs and Border Protection agents, they go on to explain, had arrested around 50,000 people trying to illegally cross the southwestern border each of the last three months, which was only half of the arrests they had made in comparable months in the mid-2000s. But the border issue is a real problem if you consider Caravans of thousands of people from Central America trying to crash the border . (5)>>The FACTS here are that the Democrats don't have a logical solution to this issue except by vetting all these people in at the expense of American Taxpayers ?? Trump was offering his rundown on the state of the union, not the Republican Party. It’s true that presidents take credit for all the good things that happen under their watch. Trump is no exception. In this rare case, however, Trump didn’t even take credit for electing the female politicians. In fact, he congratulated them after they broke out into cheers over his comment. Some people have argued that NPR’s piece was providing context to the president’s comment. Perhaps. Still, their nitpicking created the impression that somehow Trump had misled the public. He did not.President (6)>>Trump also mentioned examples of progress made when the parties worked together in the last Congress. He said, “In the last Congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new Farm Bill, historic VA reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed VA accountability so we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans.” He then noted Congress’s collaborative effort to pass the First Step Act, which was passed into law on December 21, 2018. He said, “And just weeks ago, both parties united for groundbreaking Criminal Justice Reform.” With one legislative chamber solidly under the control of each party now — Republicans picked up a few seats in the Senate to increase their margin there — there are two scenarios for what could happen in Washington for the next few years. The government could come to complete gridlock, with the Democratic House refusing to consider anything from the Republican Senate, and the Republican Senate refusing to consider anything from the Democratic House. Or, the parties — particularly the party leaders — could recognize the need to find middle ground.  From the president’s point of view, moreover, it’s an opportunity to press the administration’s priorities. Not all of those policies get enacted; in a system of separated institutions sharing powers, that can’t happen. But the first step for getting anything done is to be clear what the administration wants. And that’s complicated. A policy position reflects not just the president’s desires, but the input of the various relevant departments and agencies, along with interest groups, party actors and more. What’s driving a lot of the frustration is that Trump, now more than ever, runs the West Wing as a family business. Donald Trump never mentioned the unprecedented government shutdown nor the Democrats’ newly installed majority in the House of Representatives in his second official State of the Union address Tuesday night, but it sure felt like he talked about everything else. At 82 minutes and with POTUS’ red tie askew, the primetime speech also received some unexpected applause from unexpected areas when white-suited female Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rose for Trump’s comments about the growing role of women in the workforce and in Congress. (7)>>His State of the Union speech was more than passable. It was well-delivered, made splendid points, afforded moments of heartwarming drama in balcony visits and was in many respect nearly the opposite of his State of the Union last year.




NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>So far what do the POLLS say??? A recent poll from The Washington Post and ABC News showed that on a variety of traits — whether the president is a "strong

Donald Trump caught the
Democrats off guard .
This CBS Poll surprised
me as well.

leader," whether he has the right "personality and temperament," whether he "has brought needed change to Washington," whether he is "good at making political deals" — women are about 20 points less likely than men to view the president favorably. And on the question of how Trump has done on "handling issues of special concern to women," 44 percent of men said "excellent" or "good," compared with 23 percent of women. A CNN poll conducted by SRS following President Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night found that 59% of viewers had a very positive reaction to the speech, 17% had a somewhat positive reaction and 23% had a negative reaction. (1.2)>>Xenophobia accustions . For this president and his party, xenophobia isn’t an irrational impulse. As a political strategy, it works for them, the larger and long-run consequences for America . Trump’s brand than his “tough on immigrants” approach. His attacks on Mexicans and Mexico helped fuel his rise in 2015, he threatened to shut the government down unless Congress funded his border wall and changed the law to make it easier for him to deport undocumented immigrants.His message has long been that, of all the challenges facing the country . Long run exchange for feeding xenophobic zealots with policy that quenches their hatred for anything immigrant and anybody "foreign," the imminent Trump policy will bludgeon American economic and industrial interests by scaring promising foreign workers away. Instead of coming to the United States, where their spouses cannot work and their very being an affront to a swelling segment of xenophobes, foreign workers will choose to work elsewhere. And in turn, the United States will miss out on the innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and skill that foreign workers bring, by the droves.(2)>>The president and Democrats spent the hours before his State of the Union address exchanging political fire, making clear that whatever ritualistic calls for across-the-aisle cooperation he would issue later in the evening were unlikely to transform an environment that has turned increasingly toxic.  American politics has been clogged with nastiness for 200 years -- It may built  under Bush- Obama era and now it has EXPLODED UNDER TRUMP . The political temperature soared in the three years since Trump announced his candidacy. "Trump bears much of the blame for the current climate," stated John Pitney, professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College, adding that the brash billionaire "lives on the dark side" of the rhetorical line. NOW the DEMOCRATS have come in with a vendetta to do the same what the REPUBLICANS did to OBAMA . The Key word : OBSTRUCT , the reaction will be Trump either shutting the Government down again or declare a national emergency .(3)>>HOWEVER the Democrats pulled off  embarrassing themselves . Donald Trump pulled a fast one on the Democrats .  Well they [we]  did not expect that Trump would speak about key issues that seem to align with some of the accusations levied against him. The STRONGEST opposition to Trump are the newly elected women who stood down in white . While I did not see a single male Democrat wearing white , the whole picture of our congress emerged to my eyes . While its been said that the midterms the Democrats took a majority of the house seats , the congressional side of the Democrats looked bleak. Perhaps some Senators boycotted . Its really made me think how much of a circus our Congress really is .  Donald Trump’s presidency has rocked a long-complacent Democratic Party like nothing in recent history. Liberals, with their confidence that the trajectory of the country points in their direction, never had quite as much practice as conservatives in expressing their anger. That’s what makes the “Resistance”—the many marches, the seething hostility at town-hall meetings, the anti-Trump placards shouting at passersby from bungalow windows—a transformational break in the pattern. In the end Congress could be gridlocked. (4)>>Resistance has become the motive power of the Democratic Party lead by these women.   Some of these activists call themselves “the Resistance.” Trump and his allies call them an “angry mob.” Trump’s election and performance in office have clearly pushed independent and Democratic women into action, resulting in record numbers of women running for office, and surges of women involved in local political organizing for the first time. But what about Republican women? Is it possible that Trump—and the Republican politicians who enable him—are not just alienating left-leaning women, but are permanently damaging the GOP’s female ranks, driving some splintering portion of women away for good?(5)>>The FACTS here are that the Democrats don't have a logical solution.       Democrats should also focus more of their attention on a permanent solution for the so-called Dreamers, or DACA recipients, and curbing overzealous immigration enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and going back to treating immigration violations as civil offenses rather than criminal ones. The hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children should be offered a path to citizenship.  Will Democrats ever say yes to immigration reform? They now have an opportunity to do so as President Trump demands funding for additional miles of physical barrier along the southern border.   Democrats should also focus more of their attention on a permanent solution for the so-called Dreamers, or DACA recipients, and curbing overzealous immigration enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and going back to treating immigration violations as civil offenses rather than criminal ones. The hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children should be offered a path to citizenship.  (6)>>Trump also mentioned examples of progress made when the parties worked together .   Democrats took charge of the House of Representatives while Republicans gained seats in the Senate. Voters may want the two parties to work together, but differences of values, unlike differences of interests, are difficult to compromise. People's politics are driven by both interests and values. They sometimes conflict.  Why might bipartisanship be possible today? There are two reasons, and Senate Republicans will be the key to what happens. Basically, two developments are creating political pressure on Senate Republicans to at least consider working with Democrats. The first is that President Trump keeps delving deeper and deeper into politically intolerable territory.  Democrats took charge of the House of Representatives while Republicans gained seats in the Senate. Voters may want the two parties to work together, but differences of values, unlike differences of interests, are difficult to compromise. People's politics are driven by both interests and values. They sometimes conflict. (7)>>His State of the Union speech.  I found a good transcript of the speech Donald Trump gave to Congress . While thing mentioned in this blog summery is way too long to continue . Here is a good transcript that is anointed for fact checking [ go here : https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/05/us/politics/trump-state-of-union-speech-transcript.html  ]