2025 State of the Union

[Carborendum]

Tonight, we'll hear the annual address from the President.  For many years we have called this the "State of the Union" address.  And no one batted an eye.  But for some reason, many media sites (both liberal and conservative) are refusing to call it that.  Instead, it is the "President's joint address to Congress."

Yes, yes. I know.  The technicalities... blah...blah...  But in all my adult life, it has been called the State of the Union Address. It's like arguing about us being a republic rather than a democracy.  It's a distinction without a difference.  It's just pure semantics.

Why the change now?  Why both sides of the aisle at the same time?

***************

Beyond that, the Dems are apparently getting ready to do a walk-out and throw a hissy-fit... errr... I mean, they will do a bunch of other stuff in protest.  And to hear Karoline Leavitt and James Clayburn (D), Trump has something in store for them.  I am chomping at the bit to see what that is.  Trump is a master at this kind of thing.  It will be a sight to see.

I'm wondering if he can just stop the address short and call for a session of Congress to pass bills that the Dems have been blocking.  They only need 51 senators to form a quorum.  So, if ALL the Dems are gone and ALL the Republicans are present, they can get a LOT done without any interference from the Dems.  It was their fault they left.

Are there rules about giving notice to senators to call for a vote?

Edited March 4 by Carborendum

[NeuroTypical]

Traditionally, after the SOTU speech, the minority party does their press conference with all the "nuh-uh!".

In T's first term, I think the dem women all showed up in white, in a Handsmaid Tale-esque protest of Trump.
Also in T's first term, he held the SOTU on the same day as his 1st impeachment, scheduled hours after the result, basically stealing the news cycle from the Dems. 

I've heard the D's will have several "fired while crucial" people in attendance, to force powerful eye contact with T.   I'm not too impressed by that.  As Carb mentions, Trump is master at this stuff.  In an event with former presidents in attendance, Trump brought 2 women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault.  Now THAT was some powerful eye contact.  

 

 

Required viewing for folks wanting to understand like 75% of what happens in politics: 

 

Edited March 4 by NeuroTypical

[zil2]

I've heard that a State of the Union Address isn't had until after the President has been in office for a year.  I've also heard that this is not intended to be a State of the Union Address.

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Trump has something in store for them.

I think this is why the address, and why Trump ordered them all to be there (not sure he has authority to make that demand, but whatever).

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Trump is a master at this kind of thing.  It will be a sight to see.

Though what seems obvious (and what people whine and complain about) may have nothing to do with Trump's real intent.

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

I'm wondering if he can just stop the address short and call for a session of Congress to pass bills that the Dems have been blocking.  They only need 51 senators to form a quorum.  So, if ALL the Dems are gone and ALL the Republicans are present, they can get a LOT done without any interference from the Dems.  It was their fault they left.

That would be fun.  I'm wondering if he plans to have several of them arrested on the spot.

[NeuroTypical]

This helped: 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/03/trump-unofficial-address-congress-state-of-the-union/81136395007/

[Carborendum]

29 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

This helped: 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/03/trump-unofficial-address-congress-state-of-the-union/81136395007/

Yeah, I got all that.  Hence...

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Yes, yes. I know.  The technicalities... blah...blah...  But in all my adult life, it has been called the State of the Union Address. It's like arguing about us being a republic rather than a democracy.  It's a distinction without a difference.  It's just pure semantics.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44770/10

But whatevs.

[Carborendum]

Well... that was anti-climactic. 

He said all the right things and all.  So, not disappointed.  But I guess I got hyped up to expect some fireworks.  But it was just another address.

I honestly don't understand how callous all the Dems could be about Jocelyn Nungaray and Devarjay Daniel.

[NeuroTypical]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

I honestly don't understand how callous all the Dems could be about Jocelyn Nungaray and Devarjay Daniel.

Gotta give 'em credit for following their marching orders: No applause, no standing, no agreement, show disagreement and disdain no matter what Trump says. 

There was a script to follow on social media too, apparently: https://x.com/InsiderWire/status/1896965208830308778/video/1

[Carborendum]

32 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Gotta give 'em credit for following their marching orders

No, I don't.

I didn't like W.  I wouldn't have followed him simply because he had an R after his name.  And I hated Obama.  But I'd still show him the respect of the office.

Biden was a special case because... he wasn't really there... at all...  There was nothing to respect... 

[zil2]

Democrats (in front of the camera): "Shame on Trump for giving tax breaks for billionaires!"

Also Democrats (behind the camera): "We have to keep the war in Ukraine going so Zelenskyy can keep laundering money into our pockets!"

[Traveler]

Sometimes I am concerned that politicians (both democrat and republican) are focused on legislation and spending to benefit themselves, their political party and their hidden agendas (including friends and colleges) rather than the citizens of the country they pretend to represent despite the oath of office they took.   I believe that because democrats and often republicans vote as a block that the citizens – especially citizens like myself that do not align with democrats or republicans – are denied the right to be represented.  We ought to be Americans first and party members secondary.

Maybe we ought to think about requiring an oath for bureaucrats and other government workers.

 

The Traveler

[EH12NG]

I cant decide which is the bigger cringe fest. Trumps '' joint address '' or Ben Shapiro expecting Ukraine to surrender in a way he'd never accept of his mother Israel. The bold face double standards in american politics right now is jaw dropping, yet not surprising. 

Full tilt loony toon stuff. 

[NeuroTypical]

So, I've watched SOTU addresses since 9/11.   It's political theater, where the party in charge spins things one way, and then the minority party tries to spin things the other way.  Every statement generates a response from the audience, and the nation proceeds to judge the responses.  News is generated not only from what POTUS says, but also how it is received by both sides of the aisle.   Who stands and claps, who sits silent, body language and facial expressions - all are a measure of the vibe present in congress, how much bipartisanship or divisiveness there is at a certain slice of time.   I am not a fan of political theater, but I watch it, because I want to see what's being communicated back and forth.  I don't trust recaps or summaries or news coverage - might as well drink from the stream at the source, rather than after the water has run through a few fields of cattle.

In every single one, part of the show involves POTUS showcasing various individuals with stories that support their spin.  The noble and the tragic everyman gets a spotlight for a minute.  Look at this patriotic American (succeeding due to the policies of my administration).  Look at this poor victim (who has suffered due to the policies of the other guy).   There's an art to it, and these folks are usually held up in such a way that both sides of the aisle must rise and applaud or be seen in a negative light.  Every speech I've ever witnessed has fallen somewhere on @EH12NG's cringe fest scale, no matter who is POTUS or who's side of the aisle is bigger.  But yeah, this one is the most cringeyist I can remember.

So, with all that said, here's Trump's picks for the valorous and best and most victimized of us.  Democrats sat still and stony faced through them all.  Applause was sparse and barely given begrudgingly.  Only the little kid with cancer got only one single democrat to rise and applaud.

        

      

      

 

Yeah, Trump is better at political theater than anyone else.  He took the Dem's pre-planned stony silence, and made 'em look like a bunch of bad guys with disinterest towards female victims of deepfakes, murder victims, victims of male to female violence, innocent bystander victims of an assassination attempt, former hostages of Russia, and a plucky little black kid fighting cancer.  

On @EH12NG's cringe-fest scale, one can hardly be more cringe than sitting stony-faced and silent when presented with an opportunity to publicly show appreciation/support/empathy for such folks.   Dems played right into Orange man's hands, and it's costing them.

[Phoenix_person]

1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

He took the Dem's pre-planned stony silence, and made 'em look like a bunch of bad guys with disinterest towards female victims of deepfakes, murder victims, victims of male to female violence, innocent bystander victims of an assassination attempt, former hostages of Russia, and a plucky little black kid fighting cancer.  

There are several reasons why Dems made themselves look like fools by being in the chamber at all, this being one of the bigger ones. If the idea was to resist, then a better way would have been to boycott the address like some of their colleagues did. I also would have loved to see every Dem in that room get up and leave with Al Green. But as you said, it's all political theatre. They wouldn't have been able to sit there with their paddles and disappointed looks if they left. 🙄

Also, it's transGENIC mice, not transGENDER. Big difference. I'd say a speech writer should be fired, but I have a feeling the mixup was deliberate. 

Edited March 6 by Phoenix_person

[Carborendum]

23 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

it's transGENIC mice

That is true.  That is the label that was put forth to dump on Trump.

23 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

not transGENDER.

This is not true.  Both labels can be true at once.

The trangenic procedures they were performing included changing their sex hormone levels.

23 minutes ago, Phoenix_person said:

Big difference. I'd say a speech writer should be fired, but I have a feeling the mixup was deliberate. 

So, no.  Not a big difference.  And there was no mixup.  But it appears that the leftist media are putting quite a spin on it for the sole purpose of denying Trump's narrative.

[NeuroTypical]

Govt ain't payin' ta turn the mice trans nothin nomore.

I mean, it sounds lowbrow when you say it that way, but it's basically the response the majority of the entire world has given to radical gender theory.  

Since the dawn of humans, every civilization at every point in history, pretty much without exception, has figured men are male and women are female.  Here come progressives with a new way of thinking that will supposedly be a net benefit of empathy and caring for all humanity.   

"Convince me", said humanity. 

After half a dozen years of cancel culture, deplatforming, accusations of transphobia, men injuring women in women's sports so much the UN finally took a stand against it, and parents being told "you can either have a dead son or a live daughter" only to regret it later, y'all have failed to convince us.  

Radical gender theory is this century's version of the frontal lobotomy.  Including the 'crimes against children' parts.

If it's any consolation, y'all have pretty much succeeded totally with the LGB end of the acronym.  The humans are just rejecting the TQIA+2SpiritZe/Zir/Meowself end of the flag. 

Did you know that the highest ranking openly gay US Cabinet member in history sits in Trump's cabinet?  We saw him in that address.

Edited March 6 by NeuroTypical

[Carborendum]

59 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Radical gender theory is this century's version of the frontal lobotomy.  Including the 'crimes against children' parts.

I tend to think of it as the hysteria that cause the Salem Witch Trials.  It ended when (IIRC) someone from the State Government came to see what was going on in the locality and put a stop to it.  The participants still took a while to cool down.

I hope something like that happens today as well... regarding the cooling down.

59 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Did you know that the highest ranking openly gay US Cabinet member in history sits in Trump's cabinet?  We saw him in that address.

I pointed this out during his first term on this very forum.  But no one else here had heard about it. And I couldn't remember the source.  And a google search didn't return anything.  It may be the same man.

[NeuroTypical]

It's Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary. 

Here's his giant pink gay mansion he and his husband bought a few years back: 

 

(To be fully honest, I don't think anyone considers the John Ravanel/Charleston Pink Palace to be a symbol of the rainbow.  But you sure the heck didn't buy it, now didja?   )