Looking ahead to the State Of The Union address Tuesday

Politico's SOTU coverage  "Everything you need to know: Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address"

President Donald Trump will deliver his first formal State of the Union address at 9 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Jan. 30, before a joint session of Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) presides in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol, with Vice President Mike Pence beside him in his constitutional role as president of the Senate. Congress, Supreme Court justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all but one of the president’s Cabinet members — the so-called designated survivor — will attend. . .

White House sets the tone for Trump's 'bipartisan' State of the Union address: Democrats 'have yet to come to the table with anything except wearing black tonight, saying "Me Too" '. . . "More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers will be bringing Dreamers with them to Trump's address to highlight their desire to provide illegal youth with amnesty.

"The White House said Friday during a briefing on Trump's remarks that the president would emphasize 'bipartisanship' in his progress report, delivering remarks that are 'optimistic' and 'unifying' this evening.  

" 'Trump's speech will touch on immigration, infrastructure and national security, the White House says, in addition to traditional topics like jobs and the economy and will center on 'Building a safe, strong and proud America.'

" 'You can expect the President will be speaking from the heart. It will be a speech that resonates with our American values, and unites us with patriotism, and also unites us with the greatly expanded opportunities that is lifting up all Americans,' a senior official said.

" 'It’s a big speech, an important speech, we covered immigration...We’re going to get something done, we hope,' President Trump said Monday.  'It’s got to be bipartisan because the Republicans really don’t have the votes to get it done in any other way.' " . . .

Monica Showalter: Democrats acting as if Maxine Waters will embarass them in SOTU response  . . . "So it's weird stuff to see the noisy, flamboyant Waters being shunted off to the Black Entertainment Television network representing the Democrats in their response to President Trump's State of the Union address, while the bland, pedigreed Kennedy is being given the prime time slot for the wider-audience mainstream media response. It certainly looks like ghettoization. So much for the face of the Democratic Party.

"A case could be made for racism, given that the Democratic Party has a rather notable history of racism from Woodrow Wilson on down to the Podesta emails.

. . .  "But to admit this is to also admit that Maxine Waters has been making a fool of herself with her wild statements and only black voters won't be turned off." . . .

The California Democrat will, well ...speak. Or something.


"Waters makes some of the craziest members of her party look sane, so her response should be very entertaining."  . . . "Yes, I’m sure a Kennedy who went to the Buckingham Browne & Nichols school in Cambridge before attending Stanford and Harvard Law has a deep understanding of hard working men and women in America." . . . Just speak in liberal platitudes; you'll be fine.

State of the Union to emphasize economy, military strength  . . . "It will focus on five broad topics: the economy, a $1-trillion-plus plan to rebuild infrastructure, Mr. Trump’s new immigration proposal that includes a pathway to citizenship 1.8 million young illegal immigrants, trade policy and a plan to rebuild the military.

“ 'To Congress, the tone will be one of bipartisanship and very forward-looking,” a senior administration official said. “The economic upswing is helping everybody — all groups are benefiting.”

"Mr. Trump is facing an increasingly hostile Democratic minority in Congress — several black lawmakers plan to boycott his speech. The White House’s proposal to rebuild crumbling bridges and roads offers perhaps the most realistic opportunity to work with Democrats in this election year." . . .

Frederica Wilson: Trump Doesn’t Deserve To Be Honored With My Presence At SOTU  . . . “ 'I’m not going because to go would be to honor the President and I don’t think he deserves to be honored at this time, after being so hateful towards black people and then black countries, Haiti and the whole continent of Africa. It hurts. And then he’s brought the White House to the lowest. And I don’t think he needs to be honored with my presence,” Wilson said." . . .