I watched the speech last night. It was awfully good. Even for a cynic like me — who believes that this Republic, due to the inherent liabilities of democracy itself, is in the late stages of necrosis, and perhaps an early stage of civil war — Mr. Trump’s message of unity and greatness was rousing. His oratory, as usual, was blunt and unpolished, but his message was direct. It was, essentially, this:
We had a great thing going here once, people, and there may still be hope for it. Since taking office I have tried to show you what promise remains in the great nation that my predecessors, and so many still in power, have tried so hard to destroy, and the results so far have been impressive. But tonight I have also shown you what we are up against: a culture of death and victimhood that reviles our history, rejects our founding principles of national sovereignty, natural rights, and individual liberty, and seeks to replace it with a dismal, suffocating and divisive regime that breaks us into sullen and dependent enclaves, kept alive, and in our proper places, only at the pleasure of a self-interested ruling class with unlimited power. It is up to you to choose, in this moment, which America you prefer: the one that by labor, faith, and sacrifice built this great and prosperous nation that too many of us now take for granted, or a dark future of resentment, coercion, mediocrity and decline. Choose greatness! I believe it is still possible, and I hope you are with me.
Obviously you can’t please everyone, and there will be many of us who will take issue with some of what Mr. Trump put forward last night. (In particular, I think he is far too enthusiastic about increasing legal immigration, for reasons I won’t go into here.) Imagine, though, if it had been Hillary Clinton giving that speech…
Above all, Mr. Trump radiated confidence and optimism about America. Contrast that to these people, who rose to applaud only when Mr. Trump acknowledged their rise to power in the recent election:
Nice optics, you fools. America was watching.
All in all: a good night for our side.
12 Comments
So Trump wants to increase legal immigration? To more than the million a year we already take in? It would appear that the whole point of the wall (which is not happening) is just to allow the citizens to monitor their demographic replacement and the transformation of the country into a one-party dictatorship (such as many states have already become).
After all the hot air about Trump’s “populism,” it turns out – surprise, surprise – that he is on the same side as Paul Ryan and the Chamber of Commerce. Trump is just a new front for the same old racket. Marco Rubio with bad hair and more juvenile tweeting. Who could have seen that coming?
So he gave a nice speech. Sorry, I don’t see the point.
I would think that Trump’s presidency is a means to real world ends, but some see it as an end in itself. Enjoy the reality show while it lasts. Cancellation looms, sooner or later.
djf,
Like I said – I’m someone who “believes that this Republic, due to the inherent liabilities of democracy itself, is in the late stages of necrosis, and perhaps an early stage of civil war”. And yes, the death of the United States will come in part from demographic disintegration, as one of the many mortiferous late-stage effects of a disease that I have come to believe was latent from the Founding.
Listen: I’m almost 63 years old. I grew up in this great nation, and it has been my home all my life. I remember it when it wasn’t like this, and throughout my adulthood I’ve watched it sicken and ruin itself. I believe that it doesn’t have long to live. Can you permit me just a moment of gladness when a man comes along who, despite his many flaws and shortcomings and errors of diagnosis and prescription, at least remembers it all with the fondness I do, and is willing to be, perhaps, the last American President to say so in public?
Yes, the nation he and I knew is probably on its deathbed — but Hillary Clinton would have kicked it, cackling, into its grave. Under this president, at least we get to see the patient sit up and shake its fist one last time, and rage against the dying of the light.
The hour is late, the clouds gather, and the birds are wheeling overhead. So I’ll take a little cheer where I can find it. Can you offer me anything better?
Fair enough, Malcolm. I basically share your sentiments.
But I think Trump’s fondness is mostly reserved for himself.
djf,
Thank you.
Yes, that may be (as it usually is among these people).
But he’s what we’ve got, and I am grateful to Providence that it wasn’t Her.
“So Trump wants to increase legal immigration? To more than the million a year we already take in?”
I took that as a ‘throw away line’ tailored for the seated audience as well as the suburban voters who are uneasy with Trump because they read only headlines.
It was more basic than that – in my estimation.
It nullifies the accusation (refrain) “Trump is anti-immigrant.”
Just to be clear, Trump didn’t just make an unscripted comment about having legal immigration “in the largest numbers ever” during the SOTU speech, the next day he doubled down on the supposed “need” for increased legal immigration in an exchange with a reporter:
“REPORTER: Last night, you said in your SOTU address, “I want to come into this country in the largest numbers ever.” Is that a change in your policy?
“TRUMP: Yes, because we need people in our country because our unemployment numbers are so low and we have massive numbers of companies coming back into our country – car companies, we have seven car companies coming back in right now and there’s going to be a lot more – we’ve done really well with this, and we need people.
“REPORTER: So, you’re changing your policy officially, then? You want more legal immigration?
“TRUMP: I need people coming in because we need people to run the factories and plants and companies that are moving back in. We need people.”
Jeb! couldn’t have put it any better.
Sounds to me like something he really believes (and, in fact, has said before, even during the primaries) and on which he would be happy to make a deal with the Democrats, in return for some symbolic gesture on border security. IMHO, it is the restrictionist rhetoric in the speech – which, unlike the above, was scripted for him – that is more likely to be a throwaway line. YMMV.
So be of glad heart and good cheer!
Yes, he has definitely cucked on legal immigration. It’s an unequivocal betrayal of a major campaign promise, and legions of his supporters, including me, are angry and disappointed.
I take no pleasure in pointing this out. I, too, had hoped for more from Trump. After all, what choice did we have?
Well maybe rather than Somalia being the source it’ll be Norway.
Which I seem to recall being taken umbraged at in, what was it, 2016?
Hopefully Bokmal or Nynorsk being what they spoke in their former homes rather than Somali or Bantu. Be easier that way to translate assimilatus into their daily lives.
Yes, he has definitely cucked on legal immigration. It’s an unequivocal betrayal of a major campaign promise, and legions of his supporters, including me, are angry and disappointed.
You should delete the contents of your SOTU post and replace it with that comment alone.
chedolf,
I disagree, on the grounds of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. And to pre-empt the objection that nothing can be good if we get immigration wrong, I’ll say that good is relative, and relative to the cataract of evils that would already have befallen the nation if That Woman had been elected, the Trump presidency is, at least comparatively, quite good indeed — and that now and then I’m going to appreciate that fact in print.
Don’t worry: I am still very much aware of the gloomy prospect ahead, and I understand that immigration policy is critical. I suspect Mr. Trump may well understand this too; he says a lot of things from day to day, and you never know which of the things he says will actually be translated into action.
So I’m leaving the post as is. Except for the part about immigration, I liked the speech; he went out of his way to defy the Democrats on nearly every one of their pet issues, and to speak of the traditional American nation in proudly unapologetic terms.
You can’t have perfect. We could have had far worse.