Longly is the New Bigly
Instead of Trump’s address to Congress, I watched the Warriors-Knicks game; partly for my sanity and partly because I’m pretty sure the game was shorter. The highly-partisan, rally-esque diatribe ran a cool 99 minutes. I know government is in cost cutting mode, but I move that we hire a Congressional band. Sometimes, even presidents need to be played off the stage. (Maybe he just wanted a speech so long that even Nancy Pelosi couldn’t rip it in half.) In fairness, Trump had to squeeze in lot of falsehoods and offend a lot of allies. Glenn Kessler in WaPo (Gift Article) with a fact-check that also doubles as a pretty good overview of the entire speech: Fact-checking 26 suspect claims in Trump’s address to Congress. 26 suspect claims in 99 minutes. If my math is right, his pace is slowing. The most notable aspect of the speech was the attack on social security. These attacks are usually followed by action. It’s something to keep an eye on. (In the meantime, the Warriors won.)
+ There’s no doubt that the speech appealed to the most enthusiastic Trump supporters and Maganablers. But even for them, it probably seemed a bit long. “Much of what Trump said was inflammatory, radical, and dangerous. But it was also familiar, his by-now-standard mix of braggadocio and self-pity, partisan bile and patently absurd lies. It turns out that even the most unhinged of Presidential speeches can seem kind of boring if it goes on long enough.” Susan Glasser in The New Yorker: Trump’s Golden Age of Bunk. (They’re keeping egg prices high so they’ll be too expensive to throw during speeches.)
+ “Armed with a portfolio of fabricated statistics, Trump judged that ‘the first month of our presidency is the most successful in the history of our nation — and what makes it even more impressive is that you know who No. 2 is? George Washington.’ Republican lawmakers laughed, whooped and cheered. Usually, such talk from Trump is just bravado. But let us give credit where it is due.” Dana Millbank in WaPo (Gift Article): In just five days, Trump has set the country back nearly 100 years. This line captures the moment perfectly. “The blizzard of executive orders that Trump has issued, though constitutionally alarming, can be rescinded by a future president. Elon Musk’s wanton sabotage of federal agencies and the federal workforce, though hugely damaging, can be repaired over time. But there is no easy fix for Trump’s smashing of the security and trade arrangements that have kept us safe and free for generations.”
+ David Frum gets at exactly what I’ve been worried about when it comes to Trump’s policy moves, which are wildly unpopular and will hurt his base as much as anyone. The only way this makes sense is if Trump doesn’t care about the politics and the only way he doesn’t care about the politics is if he doesn’t plan on free and fair elections in 2026. Trump, By Any Means Necessary. “He talks of the Democrats as remorseless enemies. At the same time, he is making political choices that would normally seem certain to deliver those enemies a big majority in the House after the midterms. Is he delusional? Crazy reckless? Or is this a signal that the man who tried to overturn the election of 2020 has some scheme in mind for the 2026 midterms?”
+ We knew Greenland and Panama would be offended by Trump, but saying no one has ever heard of Lesotho? Come on. Ka nnete, monna, reka globe.
