State Of The Union: Great Again

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump addressed congress, and the nation, Tuesday night with a State of the Union speech that earned rave reviews from nearly everyone except for the Democrats in the chamber.

A healthy mix of bipartisan proposals, victory laps for a year of tax and regulatory cuts, inspiring stories of courage and overcoming adversity, and good, old fashioned pride in the American idea.

The low point of the night was most certainly the Democratic politicians intent on scowling and sitting on their hands during even the most universally popular appeals. Their insistence on being the petulant opposition, thinking they would appeal to their base of Trump-haters, likely worked against them because of the overwhelming approval of Trump’s speech.

According to CBS News, hardly a Trump-friendly media organization, three out of four Americans who watched the speech approved of it.

And the breakdown in the CBS post-speech survey only adds to the evidence that this was a Grand Slam for Trump.

“Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it. Two-thirds said the speech made them feel proud, though just a third said it made them feel safer. Fewer said the speech made them feel angry or scared.

Indeed, Trump outlined an immigration proposal that is decidedly middle of the road in that it gives the Left more amnesty than they have ever ‘dreamed’ of, and also seeks to reinforce border security and immigration reforms like ending chain migration.

His infrastructure proposal, a whopping $1.7 trillion plan to rebuild the nation’s long neglected roads, bridges, and waterways, represents the kind of government spending that makes conservatives (rightly) cringe and most of congress salivate at the chance to spend your tax dollars and get thanked for it.

Instead of paraphrasing, let’s take a look at some of the best excerpts from Trump’s speech:

State of the Union

“Let’s begin tonight by recognizing that the State of our Union is strong because our people are strong. And together we are building a safe, strong and proud America. Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including … 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone.”

A New American Moment

“This in fact is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.” He said, “If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve anything.”

Unity

“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. This is really the key. These are the people we were elected to serve.”

American Dream

“My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans, to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers, too.”

Tax Cuts

“And just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history. Our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small business.”

Regulations

“In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.”

On FAIR Trade

“Our nation has lost its wealth, but we’re getting it back so fast. The era of economic surrender is totally over. From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and, very importantly, reciprocal.”

A Government of, by, and for the people

“Americans love their country. And they deserve a government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return.”

Islamist Terrorism, North Korea

“As we rebuild America’s strength and confidence at home, we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad.

[…]

Last year I pledged that we would work with our allies to extinguish ISIS from the face of the earth. One year later, I’m proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated almost 100 percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq and Syria. But there is much more work to be done. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated.

[…]

Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of the past Administrations that got us into this dangerous position.”

Some of the most powerful moments of the night came when Trump highlighting some amazing and heartbreaking stories of guests in the galleries.

A pair of parents whose daughters were murdered by an illegal alien MS-13 gang member; a hero soldier that saved the live of his brother in arms against all odds; the parents of an American college student tortured and killed for stealing a poster; and, an amputee North Korean defector that escaped the evil regime and had tears streaming down his face as waved the crutches that carried him toward freedom. Truly powerful moments that underscore the necessity to abandon political correctness and stand up for freedom and rule of law.

All in all, Trump gave, by most accounts, an incredible speech that united America while not shying away from his positions. It was a speech that left one proud to be an American. It also highlighted just how anti-American the Democrats in congress must be.

At one point, as some Republicans began chanting ‘USA!USA!’, a Democratic congressman Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) became so disgusted with the American pride that he stormed out of the chamber. THAT is the current state of the Democratic Party – they view America with disgust.

The are becoming very lonely in that position, and the reception of Trump’s speech last night made that clear.