The Stream

The Brew Goes to State of the Union

"So I held her head like this, then I went in for the sniff, folks." (Okay, so maybe that wasn't what he was really saying.)

By Al Perrotta Published on February 8, 2023 •

Al Perrotta

Happy Morning After the State of the Union!

If you want a review of the speech, check out my “Well, Folks, How About That State of the Union?”

But there’s so much more surrounding the speech to yap about. Including the question of the hour.

“Did First Lady Jill Biden just kiss VP Kamala Harris’ husband on the lips?”

Answer: Yeah, but it beats her husband kissing China’s tush.

Pre-Speech Curios

We got a hint of what the State of the Union would really be like hours earlier when Biden tweeted that he was “getting ready.” Gotta respect the chocolate chip cookies, but is he so far gone he needs a cue for taking a “pause” ten seconds into the speech? What else are you going to do but take a pause after acknowledging your audience and before you start the meat of your speech? How can someone who needs such simple instruction possibly handle complex issues?

More seriously, Biden already said what he thinks of the American people with the construction of security fences around the Capitol before the speech. Why are the only walls he cares about the ones protecting him … or Ukraine? Besides, let’s be honest. Would anyone care enough about what Biden had to say to protest what he had to say? Still it is telling they spend more effort to keep Americans out of the Capitol grounds than they do keeping Chinese spy balloons out of our country. Maybe he’ll show more respect if the American people gave his kid diamonds like the CCP.

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This was Biden’s first SOTU in front of a Republican House. The question was whether the GOP would act out, pull stunts and be petulant like the Democrats during Trump’s term. Their behavior gave the once respectful event all the dignity of an episode of Real Housewives of the Potomac.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy wanted to keep things civil, but some of the Biden whoppers couldn’t go unchallenged. Marjorie Taylor-Greene shouted at one point, “You lie!” Expect the photo of her standing and delivering a big thumb’s down to be everywhere this morning.

At one point McCarthy seemed to be trying to shush his more rowdy members. Does Marjorie Taylor-Greene strike you as someone who likes to be told to shush? Taylor-Greene did tease that she’d bring a white balloon to the SOTU.

Instead she brought a white outfit borrowed from the cast of Married to the Mob.

Dressing Up and Dressing Down

But no one was going to top Sen. Kirsten Sinema. The Arizona Democrat sported a bright yellow dress with large wing-like shoulders. She lit up the internet. Comparisons to Big Bird and Carol Burnett’s spoof of Scarlett O’Hara were plenty.

While Sinema was dressing up, beleaguered Rep. George Santos reportedly got a dressing down. Before the speech, Santos approached Sen. Mitt Romney. Romney reportedly told him, “You don’t belong here.” The account must be true. Afterwards, Romney remarked, “He’s a sick puppy. He doesn’t belong here.” On the other hand, about half the room believes in abortion up to and including post birth. So if you got rid of all the sick puppies, you’d have plenty of elbow room, Mitt.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders showed up in a mask, the only masked one in the room. Probably so people wouldn’t see him mouth, “I got cheated out of the nomination again for this guy?”

 

Kamala on the Hot Seat

It was nice to see Kamala Harris there for the whole speech. Given the New York Times recent hit piece on her, you half expected her chair to be an ejection seat flinging her up and out of the Capitol. How bad was the hit piece? Harris’ staff sent the NYT to get quotes from sources they thought would support her. Those sources told the rag they’d “lost faith in her.”

One interesting effect of the article. It showed the Democrats are racist. At least that’s what Democratic Dallas mayor Eric Johnson suggests. He tweeted “Please allow me to translate: The NYT just reported that some leading white Democrats want to get rid of Kamala Harris but don’t know how to do it without upsetting Blacks, women, and especially Black women. Wow.”

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Gives the GOP Response

America’s youngest governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas delivered the GOP response. She spoke as a mother, miracle baby, cancer survivor about the nation needing a new generation of leadership. The former White House press secretary told the moving story of Donald Trump’s secret trip to Afghanistan in December 2018. Yeah, I wiped away a tear. So what? While she showed off more of her father’s amiable charm than she tended to do in the White House press room, she did manage to land a few devastating blows.

I’m the first woman to lead my state. He’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is. (Mic drop.)

In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country.

Whether Joe Biden believes this madness or is simply too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely hijacked by the radical left.

Then an apt summary of our nation: “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left.  The choice is between normal or crazy. ”

Is she wrong?

Sanders succinctly summarized the Biden presidency, “President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people. He is unfit to serve as commander in chief.”

In an ending befitting of the daughter of a former pastor, Sarah looked upwards for the source of America’s strength:

“We know not what the future holds, but we know who holds the future in His hands. And with God as our witness, we will show the world that America is still the place where freedom reigns and liberty will never die.

Donald Trump Also Weighs In

You have to wonder what Donald Trump thought of Gov. Sanders’ talk of a new generation of leadership for the Republican party. But we do know what he thought about the Biden speech. He was on Truth Social throughout offering pithy commentary, surprisingly light on snark. He was actually encouraging to Biden, while also being critical. Several times he pointed out accomplishments of his administration that Biden tried taking credit for.

When it was over he summarized his thoughts in one Truth:

The video is much harder hitting, blasting Biden for the border, for crime, for inflation, for weakness and for weaponizing the Justice Department. “But the good news is we are going to reverse every single crisis, calamity that Joe Biden has created.”

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.

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