About 45 minutes in, I shut off the State of the Union and went and had a drink. I hated it, and I hated everyone involved in it. Long before it started, I hated the event per se, because it’s monarchical and inappropriate and unrepublican. But this one was particularly obnoxious. I hated the president, who lied and smirked throughout. I hated the Republicans, who made stupid farm noises in response to those lies. I hated the pundits who had to pretend that Biden was magnificent and that the address represented the pinnacle of a long and virtuous career. I hated the insta-reactions on Twitter, which could all have been drafted last week — and probably were. The whole thing was a disgrace, unworthy of the attention of a free people.
The Constitution requires that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union.” Biden did nothing of the sort. There was nothing informative or educational about his speech, and, what he said he could have said at a campaign rally. He barely mentioned Ukraine. He talked about China in passing. He spent about 47 seconds talking about the lunatic social policies that his administration spends so much of its time advancing. He pretended sleazily that there is no looming entitlements crisis, while focusing on a bunch of minutiae — ticket prices and resort fees, for example — that are not within the federal government’s remit. Like all presidents these days — Democrat and Republican — he cast himself as a talisman, responsible for all the good things that happen in America, liable for none of the bad. It was unserious, unappealing, and, ultimately, intolerable.
Yesterday, a reader asked Phil Klein why National Review bothers covering the State of the Union at all. It’s a good question, and I speak only for myself when I respond to that reader that, going forward, I will not do so — unless it is to pour scorn on the entire enterprise. I’m a single-issue voter now: whatever the rest of your agenda, if you promise to abolish the State of the Union, I’m with you. Throw in a drink, and we’ll be friends for life.