In a lifetime of listening to presidential State of the Union addresses, President Joe Biden’s Thursday night speech was one of the best, if not the best, I’ve ever heard.
The grand “old man” hit a grand slam.
In fine form, he delivered a speech brimming with feisty energy, eloquence, optimism, confidence, a firm grasp of facts and a powerful forward momentum.
The rousing success of that vigorous speech could be gauged by the looks on the faces of those in the House chamber as they listened. Democrats, smiling, grinning, looked effervescent, elated and some chanted “Four more years!” Many Republicans looked glum and disappointed – some like Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Matt Gaetz, sneeringly so. Others jeered and booed the president.
At first, just before and after the speech began, the Republicans looked eager, almost giddy, that Biden would stutter-and-stammer, verbally stumbling over his words, thus betraying his encroaching senility. However, as the president confidently forged ahead, their faces became flat and fairly scowled with derision. There sat rabble-rouser Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a red MAGA hat perched on her head, with a frown on her face that can best be described as seething. Sitting behind Biden’s left was the proud, beaming Vice President Kamala Harris. To her left was House Speaker Mike Johnson, who did stand to applaud at one point but who mostly looked like a fidgety boy being forced to sit through a class lecture.
Biden chastised Trump, without naming him, for his huge tax cuts for the rich, for his help in overturning Roe v. Wade, for his inciting the Jan. 6 insurrectionary riot at the nation’s Capitol and for his lack of support for NATO and how Trump, in a speech, said Vladimir Putin should do “whatever the hell you want” in Europe.
Biden did acknowledge the migrant/border crisis, but he also touted a bipartisan Senate border security bill that was sabotaged at the last minute by pressure from Trump and by House Speaker Johnson who called the proposed bill “dead on arrival” and refused to consider it.
Other topics Biden raised were women’s rights to reproductive choices, the Israeli-Hamas bloodbath, the need for a two-state solution in that region, a cease fire (at least temporary) so hostages can be returned to Israel and food aid can reach Gazans quickly.
Biden touted a climate bill that was approved and defended his administration’s economic strategies that led to record employment numbers, higher wages, cost limits on medications and vast, widespread infrastructure projects. Then he rapped the media by saying the economic recovery was “the greatest comeback story never told.”
Biden urged Congress to pass an aid bill for Ukraine, a bill now stalled in the Republican-dominated House. He also called for gun reforms, including a ban on military-style assault weapons and universal background checks. In the audience was a sister of Jackie Cazares, who was one of many children slaughtered by a gunman at a school in Uvalde, Texas.
Throughout the speech, as some Republicans shouted taunts, Biden countered them with a sly, deft wit of his own.
Toward the end of his 68-minute speech, with a wink and a nod, he had this to say:
“I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while. And when you get to my age, certain things become clearer than ever.”
Then he added: “My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone, to give everyone a fair shot, to give hate no safe harbor.”
Again with a wink and a nod, Biden, 81, mentioned “some other people my age,” clearly referring to 77-year-old Donald Trump.
Biden’s remarkable performance is receiving kudos from far and wide, even from some of his peskiest critics.
Biden’s speech can best be described as passionate, engaging, energetic, invigorating. Not bad for an “old man.”
