Trumpâs State of the Union: A diatribe against immigrants
President Trumpâs State of the Union address was the perfect reflection of him â self-satisfied  self-congratulatory  disingenuous and entirely lacking in empathy. âThere has never been a better time to start living the American dream â he declared  as if the dystopia of the Barack Obama years â that bleak  losing  crime-ridden nightmare â had vanished in a short year to be replaced by nirvana. And if you are white and rich  he had a point.
Many  if not most  Democrats remained glum with arms crossed and withheld applause as he entered and during his draggy speech. The contrast between Trumpâs paean to unity and the divisions he has wrought could not be wider â and according to polls is acknowledged even by Republicans. It is the sort of thing a normal president  one who had actually attempted to bring the country together rather than investigate his political opponent  wage war on the free press  demonize immigrants  launch a smear campaign against the FBI and accuse  his predecessor of criminality (wiretapping Trump Tower)  would have said. But then  Trump  has always asked  his  audience to believe  him  and not their own experience or observation.
What if the American public  not President Trump  defined the State of the Union address? The Washington Post Opinions section asked you to finish this sentence: "The state of the union is _____." Here's what some of you said. (Adriana Usero Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post)
And then on cue came the meat of the speech: Demonizing immigrants. When  he  declared  âStruggling communities  especially immigrant communities  will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families â  he  would have us believe  he  had not eradicated DACA  had not doubled the deportation of noncriminal illegal immigrants and not understood a single economic study finding immigrants contribute to our society by starting more businesses  committing fewer crimes and owning more homes (by percentage) than the native-born population.  He  utterly rejects the notion that America is the land of immigrants â the place made prosperous and dynamic by those who come here from elsewhere.
And sure enough  he  played the âimmigrants take from usâ card (âmy highest loyalty  my greatest compassion  and my constant concern is for Americaâs children  Americaâs struggling workers and Americaâs forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to riseâ). It never dawns on  him  that immigrants do benefit our children and struggling workers and are an essential part of a pro-growth agenda. And in yet another scare-mongering tactic  he  blamed the visa lottery for terrorist attacks: âIn recent weeks  two terrorist attacks in New York were made possible by the visa lottery and chain migration.â For those who care to recall the facts  these terrorists were radicalized after years being here and  therefore  do not implicate the lottery system.
The amount of time devoted to this topic and the resumption of scare tactics confirm immigration restriction and xenophobia (there was the mandatory MS-13 reference) remain centerpieces of the GOP agenda.  He  also falsely insisted chain migration â that would be family reunification â is bringing in hordes of immigrants â âunlimitedâ numbers in fact! Even for  him   thatâs an outrageous misstatement.
As one would expect   he  equated economic success with the stock market (which dropped more than 300 points today) and claimed credit for three million (!) bonuses; no mention was made of the layoffs or stock buybacks.  He  exaggerated  his  job record. NBC chimed in with a fact check: âTrumpâs first year in office was marked by 2.1 million jobs being added to the economy â the slowest year of job growth in six years â while the other job gains came under President Barack Obama. Wages are indeed rising  but they were not exactly stagnate. Theyâve been rising steadily for years  according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.â
Beyond taking credit for the economy that was already on an upward trajectory when  he  arrived   his  domestic accomplishments are so few that  he  was forced to fill space with anecdotes that have literally nothing to do with  him  (e.g.  a boy putting flags on veteransâ graves) or to speak of  his  plans to do things  with little indication as to how  he  will accomplish them. (âOne of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries  these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States. That is why I have directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of our top priorities. Prices will come down.â)
 He  did sound the call for an infrastructure bill. (âI am calling on the Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment we need. Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and  where appropriate  tapping into private sector investment â to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit. Any bill must also streamline the permitting and approval process â getting it down to no more than two years  and perhaps even one.â) Republicans seemed unenthusiastic. One wonders how his presidency would have been different had he started his term with this rather than a failed effort to repeal Obamacare.
His discussion of foreign policy was perfunctory but also entirely undistinguished aside from a pledge to keep Guantanamo Bay open (did anyone think heâd do anything different?)  a call for more military funding  praise for progress on fighting the Islamic State and threatening foreign aid. He did NOT call for an end to the Iran nuclear deal but instead offered: âI am asking the Congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal.â It seems saner heads have prevailed on the issue. Most surprising was his focus on human rights atrocities in North Korea and his lack of bombastic threats. Both were appropriate. The parents of Otto Warmbier  the American student who died of abuse in the hands of North Korean captives  was certainly moving. Ji Seong-ho  a refugee from torture in North Korea who traveled on crutches to escape  was an unintentional reminder of how perverse it is to keep immigrants out. Would America not benefit by his permanent presence?  Trump  apparently finds  him  admirable only insofar as  he  lives elsewhere. Finally  one could only marvel at how  his  speechwriters could have claimed  Trump  has improved our standing abroad.  He  uttered the word âRussiaâ once â in passing.
The speech was far too long â or maybe just boring when it was not being insulting and inflammatory on immigration. With so few actual accomplishments the speech felt padded. With the exception of  his  determination to paint immigrants as a danger and a drag on America (in the face of all evidence to the contrary) it was rather ordinary. An on-message Trump is a dull  Trump .
 Trump âs solution to Americaâs crisis: Nationalism
Trumpâs radical attack on national unity
President Trumpâs State of the Union address was the perfect reflection of him â self-satisfied  self-congratulatory  disingenuous and entirely lacking in empathy. âThere has never been a better time to start living the American dream â he declared  as if the dystopia of the Barack Obama years â that bleak  losing  crime-ridden nightmare â had vanished in a short year to be replaced by nirvana. And if you are white and rich  he had a point.
Many  if not most  Democrats remained glum with arms crossed and withheld applause as he entered and during his draggy speech. The contrast between Trumpâs paean to unity and the divisions he has wrought could not be wider â and according to polls is acknowledged even by Republicans. It is the sort of thing a normal president  one who had actually attempted to bring the country together rather than investigate his political opponent  wage war on the free press  demonize immigrants  launch a smear campaign against the FBI and accuse  his predecessor of criminality (wiretapping Trump Tower)  would have said. But then   [TGT] has always asked   [TGT]   audience to believe   [TGT]   and not their own experience or observation.
What if the American public  not President Trump  defined the State of the Union address? The Washington Post Opinions section asked you to finish this sentence: "The state of the union is _____." Here's what some of you said. (Adriana Usero Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post)
And then on cue came the meat of the speech: Demonizing immigrants. When  he  declared  âStruggling communities  especially immigrant communities  will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families â  he  would have us believe  he  had not eradicated DACA  had not doubled the deportation of noncriminal illegal immigrants and not understood a single economic study finding immigrants contribute to our society by starting more businesses  committing fewer crimes and owning more homes (by percentage) than the native-born population.  He  utterly rejects the notion that America is the land of immigrants â the place made prosperous and dynamic by those who come here from elsewhere.
And sure enough  he  played the âimmigrants take from usâ card (âmy highest loyalty  my greatest compassion  and my constant concern is for Americaâs children  Americaâs struggling workers and Americaâs forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to riseâ). It never dawns on  him  that immigrants do benefit our children and struggling workers and are an essential part of a pro-growth agenda. And in yet another scare-mongering tactic  he  blamed the visa lottery for terrorist attacks: âIn recent weeks  two terrorist attacks in New York were made possible by the visa lottery and chain migration.â For those who care to recall the facts  these terrorists were radicalized after years being here and  therefore  do not implicate the lottery system.
The amount of time devoted to this topic and the resumption of scare tactics confirm immigration restriction and xenophobia (there was the mandatory MS-13 reference) remain centerpieces of the GOP agenda.  He  also falsely insisted chain migration â that would be family reunification â is bringing in hordes of immigrants â âunlimitedâ numbers in fact! Even for  him   thatâs an outrageous misstatement.
As one would expect   he  equated economic success with the stock market (which dropped more than 300 points today) and claimed credit for three million (!) bonuses; no mention was made of the layoffs or stock buybacks.  He  exaggerated  his  job record. NBC chimed in with a fact check: âTrumpâs first year in office was marked by 2.1 million jobs being added to the economy â the slowest year of job growth in six years â while the other job gains came under President Barack Obama. Wages are indeed rising  but they were not exactly stagnate. Theyâve been rising steadily for years  according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.â
Beyond taking credit for the economy that was already on an upward trajectory when  he  arrived   his  domestic accomplishments are so few that  he  was forced to fill space with anecdotes that have literally nothing to do with  him  (e.g.  a boy putting flags on veteransâ graves) or to speak of  his  plans to do things  with little indication as to how  he  will accomplish them. (âOne of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries  these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States. That is why I have directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of our top priorities. Prices will come down.â)
 He  did sound the call for an infrastructure bill. (âI am calling on the Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment we need. Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and  where appropriate  tapping into private sector investment â to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit. Any bill must also streamline the permitting and approval process â getting it down to no more than two years  and perhaps even one.â) Republicans seemed unenthusiastic. One wonders how his presidency would have been different had he started his term with this rather than a failed effort to repeal Obamacare.
His discussion of foreign policy was perfunctory but also entirely undistinguished aside from a pledge to keep Guantanamo Bay open (did anyone think heâd do anything different?)  a call for more military funding  praise for progress on fighting the Islamic State and threatening foreign aid. He did NOT call for an end to the Iran nuclear deal but instead offered: âI am asking the Congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal.â It seems saner heads have prevailed on the issue. Most surprising was his focus on human rights atrocities in North Korea and his lack of bombastic threats. Both were appropriate. The parents of Otto Warmbier  the American student who died of abuse in the hands of North Korean captives  was certainly moving. Ji Seong-ho  a refugee from torture in North Korea who traveled on crutches to escape  was an unintentional reminder of how perverse it is to keep immigrants out. Would America not benefit by his permanent presence?   [TGT] apparently finds  him  admirable only insofar as   [TGT]   lives elsewhere. Finally  one could only marvel at how   [TGT]   speechwriters could have claimed   [TGT] has improved our standing abroad.   [TGT]   uttered the word âRussiaâ once â in passing.
The speech was far too long â or maybe just boring when it was not being insulting and inflammatory on immigration. With so few actual accomplishments the speech felt padded. With the exception of  his  determination to paint immigrants as a danger and a drag on America (in the face of all evidence to the contrary) it was rather ordinary.  [TGT]  is a dull  Trump .
  [TGT]  âs solution to Americaâs crisis: Nationalism
Trumpâs radical attack on national unity