SOTU, just more of the same, but far more pathetic.
TAT readers,
On Monday I promised another essay by Tuesday or at the latest, Wednesday morning. At the last minute, I thought to wait, only to see if I needed to discuss anything from last evening’s, SOTU/ State of the Union Address. I now regret waiting and simply because there was nothing but the tired, old blustering lies, dishonest hyperbole, bracketed by the standard Trump cruelty and hateful attacks on the undeserving. The only value to last night’s fiasco was to inform us about where we are as a nation of values, being led by an administration and Republican Party devoid of them. They all proved this point last night in what I have assessed as, the most humiliating speech I have ever witnessed or read of in our history regarding high-level Government officials.
This is really saying something since I was a junior in high school when President Nixon was forced to resign, largely by his own Republican Party. His crimes were child’s play compared to the Mafia and oligarchical administration, we now suffer under. There is no resemblance between that GOP and our current MAGA GOP, and hasn’t been since the early 1980s. Conservatism is extinct and has been wholly replaced with far-right, violent extremism. Now, a couple of thoughts about last night’s debacle.
I will dispense with repeating all of the commentary from pundits and fact-checkers, simply because that is just about all that mainstream media is providing. Mainstream media has been as we say in Texas, bootlickers to Trump administrations and now live in fear of or tacitly support him for their own greedy reasons. ABC and CBS used to be just about the only TV news that I would watch although now, neither are worthy of my time. Their corporate taskmasters’ subservience to the administration is the reason. The rest and all cable news I refuse to watch. With only 6 or 7 primary media organizations in control of nearly all our broadcast media, their profit lines are more important to them than our national security, the health and welfare of the American people and above all, our constitutional rights.
My approach to last night’s SOTU was to only watch long enough to assess Trump’s cognitive and physical capabilities. For the rest, I followed the Associated Press’ steady stream of updates throughout. Frankly, ten minutes was nine too many. On a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being fully capable, I rate his cognitive health roughly a three, and his physical, possibly a four. What I saw was an old bloated man leaning heavily on the podium, which he consistently leaned far over while squinting, just to read the teleprompters. Talk about “low energy.”
His voice, nearly inaudible at times and when he did deliver his standard faux anger lines, it appeared staged and seemed as if the loudness of those scripted exhibitions of anger, startled him. Heaven knows what drugs they give him, just to make him semi-coherent for big events. The overt lies and conspiracy theories were just more of the same we’ve seen for years. Still, the overwhelming majority of thinking Americans, no longer believes any of it and his base is even beginning to become gun-shy. Even GOP applause was often a bit weak. I’m only speculating here but MTG, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent revelations of how much he is mocked and laughed at behind his back, may have had something to do with weaker applause. The real issue is most Republicans are being brutally thrashed at home and sense danger in the Midterms, as do all administrations. They are now aware that Trump is making it far more difficult to win in November.
After all, the midterms are the issue for Republicans, isn’t it? Midterms are typically hard on the sitting administration. This year, all across the country, Republicans are being beaten up in their home districts, with most just avoiding going home other than for photo ops. As we watched last year, Republican townhalls became the political version of a boxing ring for GOP reps. They ran and haven’t returned since, preferring to allow their seemingly endless GOP influencers to post social media for them from afar. They may have a winning hand though and all due to the GOP’s plans to “rig” our midterm elections. They have a wide spectrum of tactics to support their “cheating strategy.” Below are a small handful of links that every voter must become aware of as we speed headlong towards November.
The Trump Administration’s Campaign to Undermine the Next Election | Brennan Center for Justice
A reporter outlines Trump's options to subvert the 2026 midterm elections : NPR
Trump’s speech fell flat for the all important independent voters, where his approval rating has dropped to an abysmal 20%. Republicans may have applauded on cue but there was little enthusiasm. Most felt as if Trump gave them absolutely nothing to work with, as the midterms beckon them tauntingly. In fact, in a late January poll from the esteemed, Pew Research Center shows how far Trump has dropped in favor across a wide variety of the electorate.
“The golden age of America is upon us”: That’s how Trump rounded off his State of the Union speech. And despite the obedient nods and claps of the Republicans in the audience, it became fairly clear in the hours after the enormously long address that none of them really believed it." - Trump’s State of the Union was such a hot mess that his own party doesn’t know what to do next - The Independent - Holly Baxter - February 25th, 2026
From the Pew Research Center polling
Even among Republicans, there is a noticeable decline in their confidence regarding his mental fitness, his respect for our democratic values and his ability to act ethically.
No, the SOTU Address did not give Republicans a “bump” in their polls. Speaker Johnson has reason to be afraid of the midterms. The point of this article today is not about partisanship. It’s about what happens in the life-cycle of autocratic and dictatorial leaders. When men like Trump begin to lose, they become more dangerous and this typically ends poorly for him, his government and most often leaves the nation involved struggling to restore government. This should frighten all of us.
"The rise in the proportion of autocrats exiting office amid protests and decrease in those ousted by coups is particularly important because the way a leader exits office influences the subsequent political trajectory of a country. Specifically, it affects both the likelihood that the regime falls with the leader, and the chances that democratization will ensue." - How Autocracies Fall - Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Erica Frantz - THE WASHINGTON QUARTERLY - Spring 2014
Yes, we are beginning to see an end to this administration, but as we can see in the quote above, prudence demands that we remove him, his administration and their financial backers in the most democratic manner possible. We are already at a high stress point on our political landscape, and conditioned to administration attempts to wield force against all who stand in his way. We must be disciplined in demanding free and fair elections for November. This terrifies Mike Johnson and his party even more, because we will be displaying and role-modeling what American democracy looks like to those who would have stolen it for their own personal gain. We must lead, and if the DNC remains hidden in the shadows, we must lead as a group. It is very possible to do this, so long as everyone puts aside their own pet interests long enough to unite over our constitution and the intent of our Founders. Win first and pursue individual interests afterwards.
This is plenty to digest so I will briefly summarize here.
By all measures that matter, last night’s SOTU was at best a break even for Trump and his party. In the long run, I personally would assess the disgraceful circus and clown show in front of us and the entire world, a loss. Without any significant issue that the administration can turn into a cause celeb, their future looks bleak. Don’t put it past the ringmaster Trump to create a staged spectacle or to start a war in a desperate attempt to hold onto power. Without his GOP congress, his last two years should he make to the end, will likely be hell for him, his party and for all of us too. Tyrants rarely go quietly. Now that we know this, it’s time to prepare for what comes with the administration’s demise.
The mess to clean up and the accountability we absolutely must have, will consume our nation. The partisan divide will worsen so long as we don’t deal effectively with foreign and domestic influencers who will do all possible to rekindle the fire in their base. This includes the likes of FOX News and similar far-right media, but also a few on the left as well. It will take unity regardless of political believes to come together and do what it takes to make sure this never occurs again. That explicitly means, bi-partisanship in congress and statehouses around our nation.
The great tragedy is that those who’ve been so radicalized as to support the insanity of Project 2025’s dismantling of our republic, murdering Americans in our streets, protecting pedophiles and ignoring both our laws, and the constitution they are built on, will remain radicalized, even if quiet for a time. The ideology of the Confederacy was a precursor to what we see today in Republican ideology. We did not heal properly after 1865 and it became the cancer that was never in remission. Those traits lived on, generation to generation. Racism, oligarchy, White Christian Nationalism and political violence were not American values during the Civil War, and they still aren’t.
Back Friday or Saturday with a new essay.
Paul