(Before getting to the SOTU — Trump just posted the $91 million appeal bond in the E. Jean Carroll case. Now let’s see him come up with the bigger one.)
I have to say I’m feeling a LOT better about the November election after last night. There will be many bumps ahead, of course. But even as I keyboard a lot of Republicans probably are wondering if they overdid the “Joe is old and senile” claim a tad.
Best headline so far: GOP Stunned To Discover It’s Not Running Against A Cadaver In 2024
Republicans who have turned Joseph R. Biden into a caricature of falling-down dementia and drooling incontinence have set the bar so low that anything above a flatline EKG from the president knocks them back on their heels.
They were left spluttering that Biden’s State of the Union was too loud and too campaign-y. They couldn’t maintain a basic level of decorum in the chamber, giving Biden the chance to knock them around with ad libs and direct call outs, directly facing the GOP side of the chamber. He turned the call and response of the Black church into whack-a-MTG.
Brian Tyler Cohen at MSNBC wrote,
Unfortunately for Donald Trump and his campaign, Biden didn’t sound like a man in the throes of cognitive decline. The GOP may have gaslighted itself into selling one version of Joe Biden to its loyal sycophants — but that version exists only in their fever dreams. And the president proved as much tonight.
It says something about the Republian mood, I think, that the GOP response from Alabama Senator Katie Britt got the harshest blowbacks from other Republicans. I didn’t watch it, but I take it that after President Biden’s near-virtuoso performance, her response was just weird. A number of commenters predicted it will be replicated on SNL tomorrow night. See ‘What the Hell Am I Watching’: Republicans Torch Their Own SOTU Rebuttal at Rolling Stone. And this is from Daily Beast, Official GOP Response to SOTU Has Republicans ‘Losing It’
The freshman senator is considered a rising star in the party. But her speech’s intense tone—with an over-the-top dramatic cadence that was delivered in a kitchen—left political operatives and observers struggling to make sense of it.
The performance was so bad that some Republicans watched the high-profile speech with a grimace.
A GOP strategist told The Daily Beast that Britt’s delivery quickly became a gossip item Thursday night among operatives connected to Donald Trump—something that could have potential implications for her consideration as a vice presidential pick on the 2024 ticket.
“Everyone’s fucking losing it,” this Republican said, requesting anonymity to discuss private conversations. “It’s one of our biggest disasters ever.”
It may be they weren’t reacting to Britt as much as to the realization they’d just been owned by Joe Biden, and Britt’s speech didn’t help. And to add insult to injury, Trump’s toy social media platform went down during the speech, leaving his fans unable to enjoy Trump’s witty retorts (/sarcasm). I understand a handful of House Republicans actually left the room during the speech. Whether that was in protest or because the whole event was too painful for them, I cannot say.
If you didn’t watch the speech, you’ll want to watch it. It wsn’t just the words, but the energy in the room (or lack of it on the GOP side), that made it an event. This is not to say there weren’t spots that could have been better, but on the whole it made a lot of Democrats very happy.
Dark Brandon strikes again! Joe honestly likes the back and forth tussel with Republicans and can give it back better than they can dish it out. I did not see the speech, but from the reports it sounds like he silenced them, knocking them back on their heels.
This^ is music to my ears. We have every reason to be optimistic. Via Joyce Vance, E. Jean Carroll tweeted
Wonder who loaned the bond money to Trump and at what terms.
comment found on the WaPo –
Best comment I've seen re: Britt – "Alabama's best Senator".
"But her speech’s intense tone……….was delivered in a kitchen"
Well she's a republican aint that where the women belong! I saw she had the prerequisite Jesus cross I wonder was she barefoot? I saw we also got another vile screen grab of Marge with her trademark scowl!
Wasn't it charming that he revised his earlier BFD assessment of the Affordable Care Act to it's a Very Big Deal? That was a perfect example of a president with some dignity and self-control. The republican pols are incapable of expressing themselves without ugliness and profanity.
Trump lost to Biden by $7 Million. Let's ensure that trump loses by $70 Million this year!!!!!
I tried to watch Sen. Britt's SotU response.
But I couldn't hang in there more than a couple of minutes.
She's very attractive, I'll give her that.
Republicans always choose good looking people as the faces of "Modern Conservatism."
Pretty. Handsome. But with hearts as hard as diamonds.
OT: If we wanted a do-over with a new Adam and Eve (NOT STEVE!!!), and if what we wanted was good looking kids who aren't more "sharp" than a bowling ball, we could do a hell of a lot worse than choosing Sen. Britt and Sen. Thune to fill those biblical roles.*
Back to Sen. Britt: And she sounded kinda shrill. (Yeah, I know, I know! The "S"-word… But she really sounded shrill!).
And pretty dim.
Almost like the epitomy of the ideal submissive Southern Belle housewife – as imagined in the dreams of Cheeto-dust covered incels everywhere, jerkin' their mini-gherkins.
She seemed like a mentally slow Miss Congeniality winner who's trying to answer the question of how America is faring under the current president.
She practically bled empathy.
Fake empathy.
And they put her in HER KITCHEN?
Hello?
Her kitchen?!?
1950's sit-coms called: They want their show plots back!!!
So when the camera finds her, there the poor Senator was, forced to give her idiotic, WTF, FTW, speech from her kitchen. (Did they put her in pearls, like Donna Reed? I didn't notice. And I don't care enough to check on the inter-tubes!).
And folly ensued!
*And generations of future inbreeding will not make the new humans any "sharper!"
"Republicans always choose good looking people as the faces of "Modern Conservatism." "
I wouldn't say always?
https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/08/25/LRUKWY372RFZZKF7ZCVRTX24GQ.jpg?w=620
A Stepford Wife, yes?
The tax cuts Trump passed were done by reconciliation, which means the cuts expire at the end of 2025. They could be renewed by Congress if the president would sign the law. I don't think you can overstate how this is driving the presidential election for the GOP donor class. That means the GOP in Congress has the word – you MUST keep a majority in the House, a simple majority in the Senate (for a tax bill passed by reconciliation) AND the White House.
The way I read a bunch of the taunting from Biden to the Republicans was missed by the media, but clear to everyone in Congress. The Democrats will take the House in November. (My opinion, yes, but the USSC has redrawn the maps in enough states that Democrats are almost guaranteed to pick up enough districts to take back the gavel.) A tax bill HAS to originate in the House.
IMO, Joe was gloating (and I'm pleased) that not only are the Trump Tax Cuts sinking like the Titanic, Biden fully intends to go for more. The tax formula under Obama wasn't even close to a balanced budget. Biden's gonna fight a class war to cut the gap without cutting government services.
Remember, Biden brought up "shrinkflation?" Same size bag – fewer chips. Likewise bank fees. Biden is pitching to the resentment Americans have for how big business picks our pockets and continually walks away with a bigger slice of the pie. Let the election shift to a discussion about business has exploited Covid, how much "inflation" was badly disguised corporate greed. And put Republicans in the position of defending the abuses, the subsidies, and the tax loopholes Biden proposes to close.
Biden announced that he's also going to define the issues of the election. The GOP has been granted a disproportionate level of authority to decide what Americans care about. Trump will refuse to debate unless he can stack the deck with interviewers from his camp. I'm a lot more comfortable today than I was that Biden can handle a hostile question better than Trump can.
I'm starting to look forward to this campaign.
A little off topic, but I just thought I'd share this sentence I read in an article. Sometimes things just jump out at you as being a profound truth when they weren't intentionally being conveyed to impart message from on high. They were simply intended as a passing observation but nevertheless that simple observation reveals itself as a profound truth. See if you agree?
"Ultimately, those who applaud and, in some cases, literally worship Trump do so despite every indication that he is not only uniquely unfit for the White House, but generally speaking is wholly unfit for society."
Maybe it's me, but I consider Trump to be a complete abomination. I fail to see any redeemable qualities in his character. He is the antithesis of every value and standard of civility and decency I've ever held dear. What a despicable big of shit he is, and I'm still at a loss to undertand how anybody with a shred of decency could gravitate to such a vile creature. All I can do to counter this scourge upon our nation is echo the words of Jesus.. Father,If it be thy will,Take this cup from us. A stroke would be ideal!
"do so despite every indication that he is not only uniquely unfit for the White House"
The way I see it they worship him because he IS uniquely unfit. They don't understand what democracy is about. They only see it as a system that rewards people they consider undeserving, blacks, brown, women, migrants, queer, secularists, etc. They love an idea of this country that doesn't exist what they been sold as the black and white 1950's. Deep down they know it won't exist under Stump either but they do believe he will cut off the population they see as the undeserving. As Hillz said they are fucking deplorables.
He's the anti-Christ of ancient prophecies.
All people of good will must stand together.
“It’s one of our biggest disasters ever.”
Homer Simpson: "Your biggest disasters SO FAR."
I am happy to report many others had the same reaction to MRS Britt's way too long STU response;" WTF is this?" then switch channels. then come back, and she is still doing it? WTFuckity fuck is this weird- ass woman/ girl doing? SNL skit worthy.
Angry Southern male voice yells from the next room, "Hey woman, quit yer yappin' and bring me that beer, Ah'm still waitin' !!!"
Eisenhower was called a doddering old fool. In retrospect that was an underestimate. On the other hand Reagan was called senile, and that was accurate. I say that Biden is slowing down, but Trump is breaking down.
Sister Katie Britts cross wasn't big enough. How can anybody judge how truly holy she is if her cross isn't as big as Sister Angelica's or Mother Terasa's?
Her little whisper of "We hear you" sounded like something you'd hear coming out of the mouth of a suicide counselor.
We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home