I normally don't watch it. But I was on my iPad just as it was beginning and watched the video on the "Wall Street Journal" app while I skimmed the Apple News.
And I was impressed. With what Biden was saying, as well as his sense of humor.
But then he was heckled by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Now in light of Trump, commentators have reached back in history, to the 1800s, to point out similar craziness.
I wasn't alive back then, and neither was Biden. And I lived through the sixties, and I protested, but my parents taught me how to behave, how to have respect, or to not show up at all. Everyone has their turn, let the other speak and then you'll get your chance. But if you keep shouting out while another person speaks it devolves into chaos, and the people watching the shenanigans wonder where you're coming from, who you are, what your motivation is.
I guess I was taught to respect if not politicians, at least the government.
If you grew up in the early sixties you would do.
America was the can-do nation. If it was made in Japan it was junk. China was perceived to be a backwater. And the only enemy was Khrushchev and the Soviet Union. We had to go up against Yuri Gagarin and Vostok 1. Does anybody even know who he is today? The first man in space. Turned out the Russians weren't so backward after all. And JFK promised to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and by gosh, he did! Well, we did, he was cut down back in '63, an event every boomer remembers vividly.
Now the chaos of the sixties evolved into the somnambulance of the seventies and then when taxes were lowered in the eighties, all the boomers switched sides, stopped being concerned with their brother and focused only on themselves. And as opposed to admitting this, they fought back, saying they deserved their success and their accoutrements.
And then the internet came along and blew apart everything. Suddenly not only did everybody have an opinion, but they could express it. And to whatever degree our nation was cohesive...it was blown to smithereens. We don't listen to the same music, we don't watch the same television shows, we don't even read/see the same news.
But the aged boomers still in power deny this change, because it would make them obsolete. In truth, the world is nearly incomprehensible. No one can know everything, nothing close. There's always some sideshow that is ignored and then becomes the main show. It's niches on steroids, but those are hard to quantify, and everybody loves a chart, everybody loves rankings, so we have ratings/lists in every domain but they eschew the reality of the situation, which is it might be number one but not only have many people never heard of it, they don't care that they're out of the loop.
So how are we supposed to bring the nation together, when it is separated into so many parts?
Even worse, there are winners and losers. And the winners live in a rarefied air the hoi polloi are not privileged to experience. And just because Elon Musk bought Twitter that does not mean he's an expert on every subject he pontificates about. Free speech? This guy doesn't even know what it is! Nor do many of our nation's citizens, because of the piss-poor education they've received. It used to be a badge of honor to be educated, to work hard and move up the ladder, but in the past decade or so the script has flipped, you're a chump, the enemy if you've worked hard and made it.
And the workers became Republicans and so many corporate titans are now Democrats. It's nearly unfathomable.
So why watch the State of the Union, it doesn't really matter. It's mostly promises and pats on the back.
But in truth, Biden has been a great President.
I scratch my head when my Republican brethren speak of the "Biden Crime Family." I mean hate Biden, hate what he's done, but if you're looking for criminals... No one is totally clean, but come on.
But Biden has focused on the good of us all.
And that's too much for many, they're just concerned with the good for them, what they want.
But Biden was doing a good job tonight. Illustrating the differences between him and the other guy.
But as the speech wore on... It was hard not to see him as old. Stiff.
I'm not saying unintelligent, inexperienced, I'm just saying old, which he is.
They've got to stop trying to convince us he's young and spry. They've got to start selling Biden as an elder statesman, a wise man you want to go to for advice.
Only the young think they know everything. Their elders know how much they don't know, which is an asset, they've seen so much and know how the pieces fit together. That's Biden's advantage, that's the secret sauce.
He's obviously the candidate, barring a health issue or an accident, and he's given up on Bidenomics, which got almost no traction. But he's got to run on more than the other guy is evil.
Biden is one of the most experienced Presidents we've ever had. And that means something. You may not listen to your parents, but I know I'm constantly stunned when oldsters in the music business drop wisdom, explain how things really work. It's all about seeing the landscape.
Biden sees the landscape. But the longer you put him in front of people he reminds you of nothing so much as an old actor getting an honorary Oscar at the Academy Awards. You know, someone who touched your heart decades earlier, who you remember as a young person and are now stunned to see is old. Their speech is halting...
So, if Biden is running on personality, charisma, he's toast. If he ever had those elements, he's lost them or no longer knows how to evidence them.
Your grandparents don't try to convince you that they're young and hip, your equal. They're selling something different, experience. They've seen so much, they know how to soothe you, take care of situations.
So...
You can't watch the TV analysis. Talking heads taking sides. They don't speak to the people, actually Biden did a better job tonight than they did.
And most people are not paying attention.
And most people don't know how much the government does for them.
And everybody hates paying taxes, but that's what makes our nation run.
It's pure math, addition and subtraction. You keep taking away and taking away... Hell, right now you can't search tweets on Twitter/X. And that's because Elon fired everybody. It's a creaky system now.
And America was going in the wrong direction, but now...
Oh come on, we're fighting climate change, we're eliminating hobbling student debt (and if you're against that, you're selfish, own it) and so many of the big issues are obscured by the little. Like Ukraine needs money. And Palestinians are being slaughtered, but how do we make Israelis safe?
It's complicated. And Biden has been there and done that.
But he was never on a network TV show, he's not a clothes horse. And none of this used to matter, but now image is everything.
Along with perception.
Perception is Biden is old and senile. He proved tonight he is not senile, but he certainly is old.
But chances are you've already made up your mind. You know who you're going to vote for and nothing is gonna change that. But we're all going to be subjected to endless analysis for months and months.
Which is why you didn't tune in tonight to begin with. It's a waste of time, and if I wasn't ultimately eating dinner I'd agree with you.
Furthermore, who are these people in Congress? Not the ones in "My Weekly Reader." They lie, they're worried about themselves first and foremost and they think being a lawmaker is a team sport.
Which is why they've lost respect, and don't even realize it.
Lawyers have never recovered from Watergate.
And politicians have lost their esteemed perch over the past two decades and are ignorantly languishing in the muck.
So I wish Biden wasn't the candidate. The dude is damn old, and every time you say he's not it makes me believe you're deaf and blind. I mean come on, can't you see?
Does that mean he can't be President?
No.
But it does put up obstacles in running for President.
He shouldn't engage Trump, no one ever wins that battle, Trump eats up all the air, like a schoolboy bully.
But if we just focus on Biden's wisdom and experience...
You want the doctor who's been practicing for decades to do your operation, not the one who's got a fresh license.
Can we get right down to the real nitty gritty?
President is a job. Plain and simple. Would you hire a bloviating self-aggrandizing relatively inexperienced person to run your family's business?
I'm sure you wouldn't. Even if the person could be in the news every day. You want someone focused on the work.
Think about that and decide who to vote for.
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