Biblical and Constitutional Politics

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2019 SOTU Highlights

By Gary F. Zeolla

      President Trump gave his second State of the Union Address (SOTU) on Tuesday evening, at 9:00 pm, on February 5, 2019. I didn’t watch it that evening, as 9:00 is my bedtime. Then when I tried to watch it Wednesday evening, I fell asleep! Not because it was boring but because I was exhausted from working out and other problems through the day. But I finally watched it Thursday evening. And I must say, it was excellent. Below are the highlights.

Immigration

      In regard to illegal immigration, he seems to have followed my advice as to how to convince skeptics of the need for his Border Wall and improved border security in my articles Additional Thoughts on the Border Crisis and Government Shutdown and While I Was Occupied: Part Three.

      First, seated in the gallery were the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of an 80-year-old couple who had been murdered by an illegal alien. When he told their story, it was a heart-tugging moment that defied the Dems’ claim there is no crisis at the border.

      Second, adding to shattering that claim was his next guest, an ICE agent whose team had freed 300 women and girls from sex slavery and had put 1,500 human traffickers behind bars. Those women and girls had been snuck across the border and sold to perverts here in America. Trump emphasized that ICE agents are heroes, which is far from the Dems call for ICE to be abolished.

      Third, he discussed a recent murder committed by a member of the notorious MS-13 gang and cited statistics about how widespread this gang has become in American due to illegal immigration. That further drove home the need for improved border security.

      Fourth, he mentioned the opioid epidemic and the fact that 90% of the opioids are coming in through our southern border.

      His answer to these problems is of course a Border Wall, as “Walls work and walls save lives.” That is not the only aspect of his border security plan, but it is the centerpiece.

      The President then put the nail in the coffin to the lies that the Dems and the MSM make about him, saying he is against immigration because he is a racist, when he said, “I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally.” That was the best line of the night. It showed that Trump, along with all of us conservatives, love immigration, but it must be legal, as there is a big difference between legal and illegal immigration.

      I discuss all of these points in detail in regard to illegal immigration and Trump’s alleged racism elsewhere on this website and in my book Tearing the USA Apart, but Trump summed them up nicely.

Women

      Then Trump focused on the advancement women have attained in our country, with more women working than ever before and more women in Congress than ever before. That brought the biggest applause of the night, with the new female Democratic lawmakers giving themselves a standing ovation and cheers of “USA! USA!” My only problem with this is it makes it sound like stay-at-home moms are somehow “less than,” but they are not, as I detail in my two-volume set God’s Sex Plan.

      All of the Democratic women were dressed in white, showing that group think now rules in the Democratic Party, while the Republican women dressed in whatever they wanted, showing that Republican women can think for themselves.

The Economy

      The President touted the great economy due to his economic policies. I don’t remember all of the specific statistics he cited, but they were similar to the ones I cite elsewhere on this website and in my Tearing Apart book. He especially emphasized that under his polices, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans all have the lowest unemployment rates ever recorded. That is quite an accomplishment, and for him to be so proud of it belies the false narrative that he is a racist.       

Investigations

      “An economic miracle is taking place in the United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.” That is how Trump transitioned from talking about the bustling economy to the Mueller witch hunt, though he did not use that term in the SOTU, though he has often otherwise. He further said that such investigations would stall any progress on bipartisan activity in Washington. On those points, he is totally correct. But the Dems hatred for Trump trumps their concern for the American people and getting something done that would benefit us.

Energy Independence

      The President declared that America is now the world’s largest producer of energy, having surpassed both Saudi Arabia and Russia. As a result, we are now energy independent. That means we are no longer dependent on countries that hate us for our energy. This is a huge point that you probably have not heard in the hate-Trump media. And this great achievement is the direct result of Trump’s energy policies.

Pittsburgh Synagogue Mass Shooting

      Then Trump introduced “Judah” (I forget his last name). He survived the holocaust and then arrived at Tree of Life synagogue here in Pittsburgh four minutes after the shooting started, so he survived that massacre as well. Then Trump introduced a Pittsburgh police officer who entered that synagogue on that fateful day, and despite getting shot several times, helped to take down the scumbag shooter. That hero cop has undergone a dozen surgeries and has more yet to come, but he proudly (though barely) stood when he was introduced.

      I discuss this tragedy in depth in two chapters in my Tearing Apart book.

Jerusalem

      Trump touted him doing what four Presidents before him had promised but never managed to do—to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. These were great moves that I discuss elsewhere on this website and in my Tearing Apart book. In the latter, I discuss that these moves and other aspects of Trump’s policies and life belie the attempt to paint Trump as an anti-Semitic and somehow responsible for the Pittsburgh mass shooting.

Additional Foreign Policy Successes

      Trump then flaunted his other foreign policy successes. First, he mentioned North Korea (NoKo) and the fact that its nuclear testing has stopped, and there have been no rockets fired for 15 months. He reminded people of the American hostages that had been released from NoKo and the remains of American soldiers from the Korean War that were returned. He then announced he will hold a second summit with NoKo leader Kim Jung Un on February 27-28.

      Then he mentioned about ISIS being almost completely defeated. At one time they held much land in Iraq and Syria, but that has now been reduced to almost nothing.

Another Holocaust Survivor and His Liberator

      Trump introduced another holocaust survivor. He was seven years old when his family was being taken by train from one concentration camp to another. They all got very frightened when soldiers stopped the train. That is, until other prisoners started shouting, “It’s the Americans! It’s the Americans!” If that doesn’t cause tears to swell up in your eyes and pride in your heart, you are not an American.

      Trump then introduced one of those soldiers who liberated that trainload of holocaust survivors. The soldier and the survivor were sitting beside each other, and that made for great optics.

Paid Parental Leave

      Trump also pushed his plan for paid parental leave. This was one of the few points that had both Republicans and Democrats applauding. But I must point out that it is a bit hypocritical for Republicans to do so, as they have been opposed to this idea in the past. In fact, I can remember back in the Clinton years, when unpaid parental leave was first proposed, conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh warned that if it passed, it wouldn’t be long until there was a push for paid parental leave.

      The problem with parental family leave is two-fold. First, it is costly to businesses. Second, the government mandating such is an overreach of governmental power far beyond Constitutional authority.

      Conservatives used to believe such should be left to each company and their employees to negotiate. And in fact, most large businesses now offer some form of paid parental leave, while small business can ill-afford to do so. The government mandating it puts small business at a disadvantage as compared to large businesses.

      This is thus the one point of Trump’s speech that I had reservations about. But it is a favored position of the First Daughter, Ivanka Trump, so the President continues to push it.

Late-term Abortion

      Trump then talked about abortion and the recent wave of states legalizing or proposing to legalize late-term abortion and infanticide. I discuss this deplorable situation in my articles While I Was Occupied: Part Two and Part Three and Ralph Northam and the Rage Mob.

      Trump addressed it declaring, “I am calling on Congress to protect the dignity of every person by passing a law banning late-term abortion to protect children who can feel pain in their mother’s womb.” Needless to say, the Republicans gave that a standing ovation, while the Dems sat with sour looks on their faces.

      Trump’s stated reason for calling for a ban on late-term abortions was because, “all babies, born and unborn, are created in the holy image of God.” I use the same reasoning in my in-depth discussions about abortion and the personhood of the preborn baby in my Sex Plan books.

Venezuela and Socialism

      Trump then discussed the tragic events unfolding in Venezuela, saying it used to be the richest country in Latin American, until President Madura’s corruption and socialism destroyed the country. Trump then declared, “America will never become a socialist country.” The Republicans gave that a standing ovation and began cheering “USA! USA!” while the Dems again sat on their hands.

Conclusion on SOTU

      That was the pattern throughout—Republicans giving a standing ovation for Trump’s many great points about how great the USA is and how his policies have added to that greatness, while Dems sat, “looking like there were sucking on 12 lemons,” just as Kellyanne Conway predicted they would do.

      That was especially so for Nancy Pelosi, who sat behind Trump’s left shoulder. She spent much of the speech looking through the cardboard print-outs of the speech Trump had given her and the Vice-President (who sat behind Trump’s right shoulder) prior to taking the podium. That was a bit distracting, as were the funny faces Nancy made throughout.

      The President ended the speech with a stirring call to “choose greatness.” Again, it was a great speech, and only a stanch Democratic partisan could not see that. It made one proud to be an American. At the end, I felt like giving the speech a standing ovation myself, along with a few fist pumps and chants of “USA! USA!” It was that inspiring.

The Democratic Response

      I didn’t watch the Democratic response until the next day. It was given by Stacy Abrams. I already gave my thoughts on her giving the response at While I Was Occupied: Part Three. Here, I will just say, her response was uninspiring, not at all like Trump’s speech.

      It also seemed like she didn’t even listen to Trump’s speech. Granted, she did not have time to redo her speech after he gave his, but I am sure she had advance notice on what Trump was going to say. But she just ignored that and gave standard Democratic lies and talking points.

      She lied about the government shutdown, calling it a “stunt.” She lied about the economy, making it sound like we are still in a recession, when in fact, the economy is bustling. She lied about the situation at the border, complaining about “children in cages,” when it was Obama not Trump who did that. She lied about race relations, making it sound like it was still the 1950s, ignoring all of the progress since then. She lied about “voter suppression,” but she needs to do that to give an excuse as to why she lost her gubernatorial race. She lied about mass shootings, blaming them on law-abiding legal gun owners.

      Then on Democratic talking points, she called for education “from cradle to career.” Along with K-12, that would also mean funding pre-K and college, but she did not say a word as to how to pay for it. She also did not mention how to pay for her expanded Medicaid plan, though she did not go as far as some 2020 Dem presidential candidates in calling for “Medicare for all.” When she mentioned climate change, she did not mention the “Green New Deal” AOC and other freshman Dems have proposed, but the import of her message would be as destructive as that plan.

      I discuss all of these points in depth elsewhere on this website and/ or in my Tearing Apart book, so I will not go into further details here.

      Stacy’s story about her family and the struggles they went through to make it was inspiring. But that inspiration was deadened by the grim picture she tried to paint of America. She seemed to miss that if her family could make it, so could others. It was all very unlike the optimistic picture President Trump painted of America, with his call to “choose greatness.”

The Media’s Response

      I recorded and watched the speech on FNC, but I also recorded Anderson Copper 360, which was set to start right after the SOTU on CNN. Not surprisingly, the talking heads on FNC immediately after the speech were unanimous in saying it was a great speech, while it was the exact opposite on CNN.

      The panel on CNN was quite unbalanced. It was compassed of nine pundits. Eight were liberal, with the token conservative being Rick Santorum, a former US Senator from my state of PA. I don’t need to go over all of the nonsense and lies that the eight liberals told, as I do so elsewhere on this website and in my book Tearing The USA Apart. But the level of the hatred and lies was quite disturbing. It was also troubling that Rick was barely given a chance to speak.

      The “Facts Checks” were also troubling, as they needed to be fact checked themselves. Again, I do that elsewhere, so I will not do so here. But what I found interesting was the “Instant CNN Poll” on the speech. It found the following attitudes toward the speech among speech watchers:

Very positive: 59%

Somewhat positive: 17%

Negative: 23%

      But of course, CNN could not let this very positive reaction their own poll found go unchallenged. The pollster immediately tried to discredit it by saying it reflects that more “partisan Republicans” watched the SOTU than Democrats. But he did not indicate that their poll included a question on party affiliation. It was just a guess by the pollster. What CNN was trying to hide was that the reaction of the majority of the American people was the same as mine—it was an inspiring SOTU that should make us all proud to be Americans.

SOTU Highlights. Copyright © 2019 by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org).

The above article was posted on this website February 9, 2019.

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