Let's go Biden

No point in watching the State of the Union address this year. I rarely do. Usually I skip it because it’s boring political theater, but tonight I’m skipping it because I can’t bear to witness (a) any potential Biden gaffes and (b) the jeering Greek chorus that is today’s GOP. 

Biden may well make a slip or two. He does that from time to time. No big deal. He’s proven himself a capable president with the wisdom to surround himself with capable people. But the stakes seem unusually high tonight. The slightest stutter or mispronunciation will be cast as a nail in his campaign’s coffin, and will command more commentary than the speech itself.  

His opponent, of course, mangles names and dates and syntax and basic reality every time he opens his puckered mouth. He does it so often that they aren’t considered gaffes at all, just more of the dark and demented worldview that features his bloated self at the center. Somehow, nobody minds. Far from it. I often think of the line from that Helen Reddy song: 

“It’s so nice to be insane; No one asks you to explain”

I can’t quite accept that Trump really has an edge in the polls, but he certainly has an edge in public expectation. His red-capped backers expect only bile and apocalyptic nonsense, and they are never disappointed. We are years past the point where mere madness can have any impact on the MAGAts..

Anyway: Go Joe. I won’t be watching, but I’m with you in spirit.