Joe Biden may walk with a stiff gait but he proved he’s not a stiff with his State of the Union speech.
At a time when people younger than him might want to slip into bed for the night, Biden offered an hour-long address that’s been labeled “feisty” and fiery.” His targets included “my predecessor,” Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Supreme Court and the Jewish Space Laser Lady from Georgia.
In return, we heard from Senator Katie Britt, a 42-year-old first-termer sitting in what was apparently her kitchen calling Biden out of the touch. Ageism 101.
While SOTU responses are usually only memorable for their gaffes, you do have to wonder whether picking someone from a state that recently declared frozen embryos are people will prove to be a wise move. Particularly among young women.
Showing his willingness to give as good as he knew he was going to get, Biden took aim at Supreme Court justices (who actually showed up for the speech) for enabling a decision that forced Alabama legislators to specifically permit in vitro fertilization banned by its own Supreme Court. Of course those in attendance did not include the Dobbs decision principal authors Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas:
“Those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women,” Biden said, in an apparent reference to Trump. “But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot and we won in 2022, and 2023. And we’ll win again in 2024.”
Biden was clearly prepared for what has been a nonstop focus on his age and alleged mental frailties — not just from Republicans but from legacy media that seem to ignore the same issues with Donald John Trump.
“My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are, it’s how old are our ideas. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are the oldest of ideas. But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future and what can and should be done.”
Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge and retribution. That’s not me.”
There are two schools of thought on dealing with hecklers, an art Republicans have excelled at since a South Carolina lawmaker yelled “you lie” at Barack Obama. While POTUS 44 later said he “wanted to walk down and smack this guy on the head” he basically let it go.
Not so Dark Brandon. Last year he challenged booing Republicans to stand up for Social Security and Medicare and got them to blink.
This time it was Marjorie Taylor Greene, part-time lawmaker and full-time crank, who gave him a button and challenged him to say the name of a Georgia college student murdered by an “illegal.”
He stood up to the challenge — to the dismay of some Democrats who don’t like the term — but quickly added “how many thousands” had been killed by people living in the United States legally.
An immigration reform and gun control two-fer.
Biden certainly didn’t let the GOP’s “I was for tougher border security before I was against it” go unnoticed either.
“I'm told my predecessor called members in the Senate Congress and demanded they block the bill. He feels it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him. It's not about him or me. It'd be a winner for America!"
He also used the occasion for his most direct public rebuke of Netanyahu, whose devastation of Gaza in pursuit of the fruitless effort to eradicate Hamas has cost him support among key voting blocs. With quiet diplomacy not working, Biden took aim.
“Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza. To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution.”
In the end, Biden, the youngest person elected to the Senate, said age is simply numbers.
“I’ve been told I was too young. And I’ve been told I’m too old. Whether young or old, I’ve always known what endures. I’ve known our North Star: The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.”
A good night for Dark Brandon. Hopefully he sticks around.
The Alabama Senator’s response describing sex assaults at the border clashes with her favored candidate, convicted of sexual assault, quoted urging men to sexually assault women and charged with fraudulent business payments of hush money to a porn star. Her ageism against Biden was nasty. Whose bright idea was it to select an Alabama Republican after what just happened there?