I watched President Biden’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night, along with millions of my fellow citizens. The audience for this speech was smaller than for SOTUs in previous years because President Biden is a relatively normal POTUS. When TFG was President, we watched because we know it’s important to watch authoritarians whenever they are in public. In 2021, we watched newly elected President Biden give a speech to a joint session of Congress (not officially a SOTU address) in April, the eve of his 100th day in office. The speech is always delayed when there’s a newly elected President, but the attack on the capitol building on January 6, 2021, heightened security concerns and delayed the speech. In 2022, people watched the March 1 SOTU because we couldn’t quite believe we had a normal president. We are now getting accustomed to "team normal” being in charge so we don’t feel the need to be vigilant.
There’s lots to say about this speech, but various people have already said anything I could think of, so I’m going to talk about what this speech revealed about political leadership in America – specifically, but not limited to, Congress.
One interaction before the speech captured the essence of my observations today. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) confronted Congressman George Santos (R-lalaland) as dignitaries were lining up to enter the House Chamber. It is always a good parlor game to identify the people who stake out positions along the center aisle – sometimes hours before the speech – so they can be in position to shake the President’s hand when he walks in. George Santos, the serial prevaricator who occupies a seat in Congress, was observed making his claim to a seat three rows from the front. Now, there are unwritten rules about how this is done; Congress operates through a general recognition of the importance of seniority, and a freshman Congressman is seen as both pushy and ignorant if he or she violates these norms. But Santos obviously didn’t care about anything other than getting on camera and shaking the President’s hand – although you have to wonder what he really had in mind, because he had shown no prior interest in anything Biden said or did. Was his plan to theatrically refuse to shake Biden’s hand? We’ll never know, because GOP Congressman Tom Massie blocked Santos as Biden walked down the aisle.
So, here comes Mitt Romney. They exchange words, and Romney essentially told Santos to go sit in the back and stop bothering the adults in the room. He told Santos “you don’t belong here,” summing up what all mainstream Republicans must be feeling about the circus led by Ringmaster Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The House GOP caucus did not disappoint those viewers who expected a circus.
The Speaker of the House (remember, arguably the most powerful public official in the United States after the President and Vice President) began the day by leading his caucus in the reading of the United States Constitution. This was not terribly creative – it was done in 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2017 – but I guess McCarthy thought this was a good way to “own the libs” before the SOTU.
McCarthy also had a closed-door session with his caucus on Tuesday morning, admonishing them to behave at the SOTU that night. He didn’t threaten to turn the car around and go home. This may be why the caucus did not apparently get the memo, despite McCarthy’s shushing gestures from his chair behind an almost gleeful Biden. The President was happy to allow the GOP to embarrass itself in front of millions.
In case you’ve forgotten, here’s what one of the shining lights of the House GOP caucus, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of the great state of Georgia, wore for the occasion. She had carried a giant white balloon around the halls of Congress all day Tuesday, saying she wanted to remind everyone of the Chinese balloon that had occupied the media for several days. She planned to take it into the chamber with her – to troll the President -- but someone obviously told her she couldn't do that. So instead she bought a $500 fur coat (according to leaks from her staff) and wore it over a white dress to the speech – apparently wanting to look like the balloon. Then she heckled the President as if she was at open-mic night at Lauren Boebert’s bar, trying to attract cameras to ensure that everyone would see that she was dressed like a balloon. You can’t make this stuff up.
You don’t have to search very hard to find more evidence of how the GOP is engaging in performance rather than governing:
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-NRA) first wore a lapel pin shaped like an assault weapon in 2021; however, in the week before the SOTU, he was distributing them to members of his caucus so they could sport them on TV. Reportedly the NRA promised to donate to the reelection campaigns of any member who wore this pin on TV.
Just yesterday, the Congressional Oversight Committee held a hearing investigating the role of social media – specifically Twitter – in the suppression of political discourse on its platform. The GOP chair of the committee had trouble keeping his caucus in line – specifically the aforementioned Marj – as she called the witnesses unflattering names and otherwise behaved like a petulant child. Meanwhile, Democratic members of this committee (Jamie Raskin, Dan Goldman, and AOC) shredded the GOP arguments. All of this was on national TV.
After receiving a classified briefing about the balloon, the aforementioned Marj reportedly screamed “bullshit” at the briefers and commented that she didn’t believe them. As grownups do.
But maybe they’re just not good at theater – maybe they’re better at passing legislation. Well, you be the judge. Here’s what they’ve accomplished so far in this session of Congress.
H. Con Res. 9 repudiated socialism
H. Res. 104 condemned the Chines Communist Party for the balloon
H.J. Res. 24 and H.J. Res. 26, both condemning aspects of legislation relating to decisions of the D.C. City Council.
H. Con Res. 3 condemned the attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.
HR 23 defunded the plan to hire 87,000 new IRS agents
HR 11 established a Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chines Community Party (imo, a strange way to refer to the government of China)
HR 12 created a select subcommittee on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the weaponization of the federal government against everyday Americans.
HR 26, the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, protected babies against something that doesn’t happen
NB: A resolution is not a policy
So now I’m going to circle back to Senator Romney. This is a man who has had a distinguished career as a public servant. I don’t agree with a lot of his positions on issues, but he takes public service seriously. He was Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, and he was the GOP presidential nominee in 2012. He was elected as United States Senator from Utah in 2018. He comes from a family that valued public service: his father was governor of Michigan from 1963-1969, ran unsuccessfully for president in 1968, and served in the Nixon Cabinet as secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969-1973. In retirement, he led the creation of the National Center for Voluntary Action, reflecting his long interest in volunteerism based on his Mormon faith.
This is the kind of person Mitt Romney strives to be. He is serious about the business of governing. The GOP used to be serious about the business of governing. Tuesday night Romney showed a rare departure from the civility that has characterized his career by confronting George Santos. Romney should have learned his lesson in 2016, when he treated TFG like a normal President-elect and had dinner with him and Reince Priebus, apparently believing that he was under serious consideration for the office of Secretary of State. Romney should have known better – TFG was fulsome in his condemnation of him as a weak RINO who should have won in 2012 – but he thought that TFG was approaching the Presidency with a serious intent to put good people in office. He found out later that TFG was trolling him. The GOP’s direction since TFG was elected is to become proficient and clever trolls. Thus we get Marj and George WhatsHisName.
Romney later commented that he thought Santos should be ashamed to place himself front and center in this venue. But he knows that “Team Crazy” in the GOP has no shame. He reminded us that the current GOP is dominated by seriously unserious people who confuse tweeting with governing and appearances on Fox News with importance. They tweet and they show up on Fox News. They are not capable of governing and they will never be important.
They hate that.
Trying to figure out what TFG means…
Loved this piece. So on target.