Happy Brandon rises
Well.
I was told that the State of the Union address was a worn-out concept, nothing but a baring of teeth between tribes, that it offered only smoke and no light, and that President Joe Biden should skip it and do the body politic a signal service.
Bollocks.
What we saw Tuesday was a wily, experienced politician using a microphone and captive audience to bamboozle, befuddle, utterly blinker his opposition. The big news of the night was when he cornered Republicans into releasing the hostages of Social Security and Medicare from the debt ceiling confrontation. But he did so much more than that.
In a one hour speech, Pres. Biden was at his best. He was impassioned. He was folksy. He was clever. He sliced and diced the Republican opposition. He threw so much liberal red meat that he got the GOP to break their solemn promise to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to, for one night, behave like the adults their government ID says they are. You had the spectacle of Marjorie Taylor Greene, dressed like a dime-store Cruella de Vil—or a weird pimp—booing the president, giving him a thumbs down like some putative Roman empress. You had Lauren Boebert looking like she had swallowed a fly, such was the disgust on her face as Joe Biden spoke of building up the middle class.
Pres. Biden got Republicans to sit on their hands as he talked about the twelve million jobs he'd created over two years, a record unmatched by any previous president. He got them to look on with sour faces as he spoke about "buying American". He maneuvered Republicans into appearing churlish and un-American as he spoke about creating an America for everyone. When he decried "capitalism without competition", dark clouds arose from them.
His speech was positive. It was hopeful. It was expansive on the promise of America. And he boxed the GOP into corner after corner.
Those who were saying that the State of the Union speech had no modern utility are those who want to control the narrative. The media which is constantly looking for ways to keep you fearful and mired in anxiety. The instant polls conducted after the address showed that the viewers responded overwhelmingly favorably to the speech. And why shouldn't they? What Pres. Biden laid out was a vision of a prosperous, equitable Republic. One in which ordinary people would have a fair shake and a decent life.
Joe Biden came across as a president for all Americans, those who voted for him and those who voted for Trump. And that is as it should be. Kevin McCarthy's Republicans came across as petulant children. And that's really why the great and good don't want these venues where Pres. Biden can shine, commanding the nation's attention for one hour. When he does so, he puts paid to their "sleepy Joe" motif. He comes across as what he is: decent, caring, honest, concerned with the citizens who have put the country into his care. He calms people, and calm people tend not to have MSNBC on all day.
Far from "dark Brandon", what we'll see in the run-up to 2024 is "happy Brandon"; a Joe Biden who knows he's in this moment for a reason, who will be energized and ready to fight whomever the GOP throws up against him, be it Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis. This is a man with decades of lived experience, of triumph and tragedy, and it has shaped him. Call me a cock-eyed optimist, a fool with rose-tinted glasses, a hopium pusher, but these next two years will be prelude to something remarkable. This is all the more so because of the complete shambles the House GOP is making of things. They look like lunatics braying in a field. The comparison will be stark.
Two years of Happy Brandon fileting hapless Republicans. I'm here for it.
Late breaking news
Well, well, well.
As the sun was beginning its journey into the Pacific, we received word that Special Counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence.
Now, I have no doubt that Pres. Biden is keeping his distance from the Trump investigation. But I also have no doubt that he knows Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland will do their duties without fear or favor. The GOP will go into 2024 having to explain Trump's sedition. It won't be pretty. And that makes Brandon very happy indeed.
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