Donald Trump and the Fictitious State of the Union

I tried to watch Donald Trump's State of the Union address last night from start to finish.

But it was really long, and really boring, and since I was lounging on the couch I soon fell asleep.

Only to wake up with a start, and appreciate the true horror of what I was watching.





Watching a depraved hog who never should have been president, rambling on about what Frank Bruni calls the fictitious state of his fantastical union. 

The word that came to mind most often as I watched Donald Trump deliver his first State of the Union address was “pretend.” He pretends to be a statesman, and we’re supposed to pretend that hundreds of vulgar and recklessly divisive moments before this — thousands, if we’re adding tweets — don’t negate that claim.

A grubby vulgarian whose words mean nothing.

We’re supposed to pretend that he gives a fig about decorum, though it disappears almost as soon as the teleprompter does. Above all, we’re supposed to pretend that what he says today has any bearing on what he’ll say tomorrow, when what he said yesterday contradicted it.

A groping pervert who would judge the demoralized state of his country on the state of the stock market...



And of course, one who lies like a thief.

Trump declares: “We have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government.” Hm. Yet Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims in his first year in office, according to The Washington Post. That’s 5.9 per day. https://t.co/xzUlVbjfit

— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) January 31, 2018

But despite the horror, I did get something out of Trump's speech. 

It was pretty clear that Melania Trump didn't think much of it...

And doesn't think much of him...



For even if she did make an appearance after weeks of keeping a low profile.  

It was a high-profile resurfacing for a notoriously private first lady who in recent weeks has stayed largely out of sight. Her recent absence from public life was said to have been caused, in part, by anger over reports that the porn star Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 just before the 2016 election to keep quiet about an affair she had had a decade earlier with Mr. Trump.

But Mrs. Trump, unlike other first ladies, did not travel with her husband along the protester-studded route to the speech.

She did seem to want to keep her distance from Trump. She may have been sending a coded message with the colour of the clothes she wore.

Mrs. Trump’s cream pantsuit stood out in a sea of black suits and blue ties. Those trying to read the tea leaves on her choice of dress would have two telling options: Her suit was close to the white color and style chosen last year by women in the Democratic Party, who wore it in a salute to suffragists during Mr. Trump’s first speech to a joint session Congress. (It was also a color favored by his campaign opponent, Hillary Clinton, in public appearances.) 

More recently, musicians wore white to this year’s Grammys in a nod to the “Time’s Up” movement.

And of course should she start telling the FBI what she knows, Trump will go down hard.

So this might actually be a good thing.

President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Tuesday to keep open the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and opened the door to sending new prisoners there. The decision is a major reversal of his predecessor President Barack Obama's policy.

For while Trump being a small little dotard, is just doing it to spite Obama's legacy.

It might actually come in handy...



For we are going to have to find a place to house the whole Trump crime family.

And in the name of human decency.

The sooner the better...