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On March 4th, President Trump gave an address to a joint session of Congress. I didn’t watch it. Frankly, I'd sooner stuff my shorts with razor blades than pay witness to his grandstanding. I did, however, read the speech. Just as I expected, it was chock full of misinformation and gaslighting.
Ahead of his address, I predicted that Mr. Trump would blame the dysfunction of the last month on his predecessor. Neither grandstanding nor gaslighting, however, will change the fact that, in the short time he’s been in office, fuel prices are up 60 cents per gallon on average, food prices have risen by 3.5% (with the average price of a dozen eggs up by 41%), we've entered a tariff war with our allies, the US Consumer Confidence Index declined by 7 points in February, the GDP has gone from +3.9% to -1.5%, the stock market has lost $1.7 trillion, we are on the brink of a diplomatic collapse with NATO, the only solution presented for the avian flu is “buy backyard chickens,” there’s a measles epidemic breaking out for the first time in decades, and Mr. Trump has spent 27.91% of his time golfing.
Then there's DOGE, a trainwreck mired in mishaps and miscalculations, supposedly established to uncover “government waste.” But whose waste, exactly? Since Mr. Trump took office, Elon Musk has been sleeping in the Eisenhower executive offices. The building was not designed to accommodate living quarters, yet Musk had staff members make one of the office suites into his bedroom. You might also recall that the US Marshals office deputized Musk's private security detail. The world’s richest man is likewise being chauffeured around the country via Marine One and Air Force One – all at the expense of taxpayers. Meanwhile, DOGE is incapable of citing any tangible evidence to back up its claims of government waste. The only proof the department ponied up was quietly deleted after being proven inaccurate and misleading by multiple independent agencies.
Nevertheless, Musk -- a South African born con artist who was not elected, not confirmed by the senate, and not subject to FBI background check, is receiving room, board, transportation, and security -- all at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. He's also receiving $38 million per day from taxpayers as a result of government contracts with his businesses.
In spite of it all, Republicans in Congress cheered on every lie and the evening quickly devolved into a MAGA rally – complete with tacky red hats.
The cult-like accolades should come as no surprise.
Thus far this term, the GOP members of Congress have put forth: a bill to put Trump on the $250 bill, a bill to put Trump on the $100 bill, a bill to add Trump to Mt. Rushmore, a bill to make Trump's birthday a national holiday, a bill to rename Dulles Airport to Trump Airport, a bill to allow Trump to run for a third term, and a budget that cuts SNAP by $230 billion, cuts $880 billion from Medicaid, and gives $1.1 trillion in tax breaks to the top 1% of wealthy Americans.
For their part, the Democrats continue to lack unity. Their party remains divided amongst itself. The DNC elects scorched-earth radicals like David Hogg to leadership; meanwhile, the more steady and rational members of the party like Senator Mark Warner argue that Democrats have gone too "woke" and lost touch with the average American. Simply put: Hakeem Jeffries is no Barack Obama, and a house divided cannot stand. Thus, if you're expecting a "blue wave" to save us from the chaos at the midterms, it's best to think again. As I've said before, the only hope at this point is for MAGA to implode.
Ahead of the midterms, Democrats need to convince independent voters like me that they have a plan. Rather than holding up placards during a speech, they need to put up or shut up. Recall, if you will, when they assumed, "Nobody in their right mind would reelect Donald Trump." While his victory was by no means a "mandate" as he suggests, it was no less a message to which the Democrats seem oblivious.
Every elected official -- from a local school board to Congress -- is a direct reflection of the majority of the voters they represent. The constituents have the power to extinguish these dumpster fires at any point. Failure to do so makes them complicit in chaos. Until we stop electing the showman over the statesman, we should anticipate more of the same.