Trump's SOTU — a few quick hits

Friend Brains has a bit more. I didn't watch, but semi-followed the Tweeting.

Point one? New Trump is same as Old Trump. We won't get fooled again. Or in the first place.



Van Jones has officially self-exited the "we," though, with his blathering about a "new Trump." Note to Van: Presidents have used heros, alive or dead, military or civilian, as SOTU props for decades. Reagan, Obama, and even Shrub Bush did this more smoothly than Trump did.

Note two: "New Trump" = "New Coke." In other words, to the degree there was a New Trump, this is just a head fake to prepare the ground for more of Old Trump.

Point two? If you think he spoke well, is your reference the "soft bigotry of low expectations" of his inaugural? That includes at least one member of Texas' inside-the-Mopac media gushing about the speech.

Point three? Per Brains, yes, he is doing some fake credit sheepdogging. However, AP folks, name me a president who hasn't. You know, like Reagan with the Iranian hostages.

Point four? Even by the vagary standards of a modern SOTU (first-year presidents need to be somewhat less vague, as a note, for obvious reasons), Trump was still too vague. Eventually, when they can't dodge town halls, and snail mail and faxes work past dodging phone lines, the Congressional GOP is going to push harder for more specifics.

Beyond Brains, Robert Schlesinger of US News has a good take. Trump, subdued, still exhibited large chunks of the mercurial core of his personality.

And, FactCheck.org has weighed in.