OK, you know full well that I am an adoring fan of Nancy Pelosi, but she's full of shit. Her ostensible reason for canceling the invitation to Trump is the cost of the security detail during the shutdown, but that's bullshit. The real reason is a good reason.
I've been saying this for a long time. Don't give microphones, bullhorns or other voice amplification devices to liars. This has been my constant advice regarding Donald Trump and all of his spokespeople since the 2016 campaign. This is a sort of extension of that principle, but with another element. Ceremony. The State of the Union Address is one of these bizarre, little rituals in which we engage which contains within it several elements.
First, there is the intellectual delusion that presidents sway either Congress or public opinion. I've referenced George Edwards's On Deaf Ears enough that perhaps I won't belabor the point extensively today, but the basic observation is that most people are partisans. If you are a Republican, you've already bought the crappy bill of goods that Trump is selling, so what he says doesn't matter. If you aren't a Republican, you know he's a con-man. There's a little more nuance when dealing with a non-Trump president, but we aren't. We are dealing with... Trump.
The other observation I'll make about the State of the Union Address is... who cares?! Once you take away the notion of presidents actually influencing anyone, it's just ceremony. Empty ritual. Empty ritual is something that I find neutral at best, as a contrarian jerk, but here's where it gets problematic. Normal... what'r'they'called… humans! That's it! Humans! They find rituals comforting and reassuring and all of that. They indicate normalcy.
Have you noticed that things aren't normal? If I tried to write a post about everything that isn't normal, I'd never get to the shit I need to do today, and I got shit to do today.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our union is STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And god bless the United States of America."
OK, are we done now? Can we all just pretend it happened? Can we, like, say that once every fuckin' January, and never have that stupid, fucking speech again? Light a candle, gather around the fireplace, sing the national fuckin' anthem, shoot our guns in the air like a bunch of yahoos while eating grotesque parodies of food, leer over sexualized images while acting like a bunch of puritanical dipshits, impose systemic racism and patriarchy while denying the existence of either through stupid linguistic games and devolve into a bunch of petty, anti-intellectual nitwits across the ideological and partisan spectrum who never fucking read. Whatever. Let's just not do that speech thing again. It's funny what bothers me, isn't it?
Look, these rituals are silly. For those of you who, like me, are obsessed with the world of sci-fi and fantasy, you may be aware that there are finally real plans to turn Terry Pratchett's City Watch books into a tv series. Will it work? Who knows? There are a bunch of rants in them about the guards wandering around town at night yelling all's well. What about when it isn't? Do you still do it? And if it is, why bother? Shut up, asshole! That's kind of the problem with the State of the Union Address in normal presidencies. There are default lines, like the direct quote above from every fuckin' president ever. (OK, let's not get into the history of "These United States..."). Then, there are attempts to, um... "suborn" Congress to pass the president's agenda. It doesn't work. There are attempts to move public opinion. It doesn't work. See George Edwards, On Deaf Ears.
And these aren't normal times, nor even United States. See what I did there with "these?" 'Cuz I'm a grammar nerd. And I break rules whenever I feel like it. I'm a rebel too! Anywho, what would have happened if Trump had given a SOTU Address this year? Lots of lies, because he's Trump, lots of mindless partisan attacks, blaming Democrats for shutting down the government, right after he said he wouldn't do that, because... he's a liar, lots of racism, and... why bother?
Like I said, don't give microphones to liars. Nancy Pelosi is full of shit, but she did the right thing. Hopefully, she does it again next year. There's nothing in the Constitution that says we have to have this yearly, televised bullshit. I could go the rest of my life without ever watching another one of those things, and be happier for it. Wouldn't it be more fun to watch Commander Vimes get piss-drunk and deal with crazy-ass crimes in a city run by Havelock Vetinari, who is what Trump thinks he is?
Yeah, I'd rather watch that. Right now, the real world is too crazy for me. Discworld is more sane. It's a flat world, resting on the backs of four giant elephants, standing on the back of a giant turtle. What's the turtle standing on? Don't ask. And everything about Discworld makes more sense than our world today.
In an election between Trump and Vetinari, you bet your ass I'd vote for Vetinari. He wouldn't even try to make me sit through some damned SOTU speech.
Thank you, Nancy! I still love you!
Related Posts :
No One In Official Washington Wants To Talk To The Russian Ambassador To The U.S.
World News Briefs -- March 30, 2018
Southeast Asian Nations Have Failed In 'Restraining' China's Behavior
Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 30, 2018
U.S. Ambassador To The U.N. Nikki Haley: US Won't Pay More Than 25 Percent Of UN Peacekeeping Anymore