On cusp of Biden speech, a state of disunity, funk and peril
WASHINGTON — In good times or bad, American presidents come to Congress with a diagnosis that hardly differs over the decades. THAT ‘M’ WORD Four decades ago, President Jimmy Carter confronted a national “crisis of confidence” in a speech describing a national malaise without using that word. THE SPEECH If State of the Union addresses are remembered at all, it’s generally because feathers were ruffled on a night of tradition and forced comity: Obama admonishing the Supreme Court justices seated in front of him for their ruling on campaign finance laws in 2010; Justice Samuel Alito mouthing “not true” in response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ripping up Trump’s speech in disgust in 2020. “State of the Unions rarely do because they tend to be listy rather than thematic.” Among presidents of the last half century, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama and Trump repeatedly declared “the state of our union is strong” while Bush’s father took a pass and Gerald Ford confessed: “I must say to you that the state of the union is not good.” Trump being Trump and Clinton being Clinton, both additionally claimed that the state of the union had never been stronger than on the nights they said it. Whatever diagnostic phrase Biden chooses, his task is to promote an agenda and plausibly claim credit for positive developments over the last year “without a ‘mission accomplished’ moment,” Jillson said.
Biden urges unity in July 4th speech, while acknowledging the country's sour mood
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