Before the evening of the State of the Union begins in 2018 - Trump has once again outdone himself in vileness and corruption, desecrating the Presidency and insulting the nation while enriching himself. For a $35 campaign contribution to Trump you can have your name shown on the screen during the live-stream of the #SOTU on his website.
Did I mention that he sent out tickets with the word Union misspelled?
Was this what the Founding Fathers intended?
The State of the Union derives from a duty given to the president in the Constitution:
Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. He [The President] shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.
From the time of Jefferson (who had objected to a spoken address as "too monarchical"), the State of the Union was generally a written report.
Though Jimmy Carter uniquely wrote a written report in 1981, since the time of Woodrow Wilson ("the modern era"), the speech has been oral.
Tonight it is a political circus.
Here is some background to the current situation.
This extreme and present politicalization of SOTU seems to date from 2010 when the President -President Obama- directly criticized the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and a member of the Supreme Court - Justice Alito audibly responded, "Not true." (though perhaps that speech should be seen only as a continuation of the anger directed at our first black president in September 2009, when he was interrupted at a joint session of Congress by Republican Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina shouting "You lie!".)*
The politicization from that time forth has become so extreme, that even Supreme Court justices, who, by custom in the modern era, would show up in their official robes and sit impassively, now "voice" their attitude to a sitting President by attendance or absence.
Going attendance by the justices has been declining: From 1965 through 1980, the attendance rate was 84 percent. Over the next two decades, the number dropped to 53 percent. Since 2000, the rate has fallen to 32 percent, according to a study by Todd Peppers of Roanoke College and Michael Giles of Emory University.
By 2015, just 6 of 9 justices were in attendance, while 3 of the most conservative members of the court, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, were absent.
This year, as of the time of this post, only Justice Ginsberg has announced in advance she will not attend, based on a "prior commitment."
The stakes of whether or not to attend in 2018 have risen sharply for Politicos and for the Public.
In 2017, only 2 members of the House - Reps. Maxine Waters (Dem-Calif.) and Al Green (Dem-Texas) - skipped Trump's address to a joint session of Congress, though more than 60 Democrats boycotted his inauguration.
Here are the non-attendees so far for tonight:
Absenteeism is not the only message of solidarity against Trump expected this evening.
Democratic women will wear black to the State of the Union to show support for #MeToo and to remind the Public that Trump is a self-acknowledged sexual predator, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 17 women,
This is also a statement of solidarity with women across multiple industries who are standing up against sexual harass
ment.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus in attendance will wear red pins to honor Recy Taylor, a black woman whose white rapists never faced trial.
There will also be more special guests with attending Politicos than I can list here. For example, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (Dem.-NY) will host San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.
Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) will bring Danielle McGuire, a historian who has studied Recy Taylor's life, as her guest, and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), will bring Rose Gunter, Taylor's niece and her caregiver at the end of her life.
Other members of Congress will bring assault survivors or anti-harassment advocates as their guests.
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) plans to bring Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women's Law Center, which administers the Time's Up legal defense fund.
Trump's anti-Immigration policies will also be highlighted as part of the implicit protests in the Room.
HuffPost counted nearly 30 Democratic lawmakers who are bringing Dreamers as their guests.
Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich)'s guest will be Cindy Garcia, whose husband, Jorge, was recently deported to Mexico after living in the U.S. for nearly 30 years.
Objections to other Trump policies will also gain voice. Representative Joe Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, will be accompanied by Patricia King, a transgender soldier. He will then offer the Democrats' formal response to Trump's speech.
Like the Political figures, the Public too faces what to do about this speech.
To watch or not to watch? Should we follow the lead of Maxine Waters and John Lewis and boycott, or should we clothe ourselves emotionally in black and tune in, shaking our heads at his every hateful word?
Personally, and after much consideration, I have made up my mind what to do. Have you?
I am going to boycott and I hope you will too.
I am returning to what by now is a tried and true strategy. Let's give Trump the #LowestSOTURatings EVER.
If you REALLY want to get under his very thin skin, join me. Have your television on during his SOTU address, but on a channel that is NOT broadcasting his speech.
That's the only way to guarantee that his speech gets low ratings, registered to a point that it will send him into a #TrumpTwitterTantrum.
After the SOTU Circus is over, late tonight, I will catch up with my favorite politicians' reactions and watch Joe Kennedy's response, and pray for Mueller to speed up his investigation.
At least my evening won't be poisoned by his inevitable poisonous polemic.
#BoycottSOTU
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January 30, 2018
Post Script. 1. On Joe Wilson's attack on President Obama in 2009: in those days, decency toward the Presidency was still a value and the incident resulted in a reprimand by the House of Representatives.
2. Following this SOTU speech, if you hear the word "Presidential," urge the poor, delusional soul to read Michelle Goldberg's rational words here http://www.voices4hillary.com/please-dont-call-him...