State Of The Union Addresses Are Always Viewed With Skepticism. The One We Are About To Hear Will Be No Different.

The iconic State of The Union Address is almost here and there are already reports about the high degree of skepticism that many Americans will be receiving this presidential speech with. So I decided that before we are treated to the State of The Union message this time, I would explore some of the reasons that so many do view it with suspicion, cynicism or disbelief. So, here we go:

Every year, the President of the United States delivers the State of the Union address, a speech which is meant to be a reflection of the current state of the country. Unfortunately, many Americans view the State of the Union address with suspicion or cynicism, instead of seeing it as an opportunity for the President to outline his plans for the nation.

The primary reason for this skepticism is the lack of trust in the President and his administration. The 2016 election cycle was incredibly divisive, with many Americans feeling that their voices were not taken into account. This distrust has been further compounded by the President’s tendency to make bold promises and statements that often don’t come to fruition.

The reason this election cycle was so divisive included the fact that once the cycle was underway, more than 77 million Americans on the more radical spectrum of The Republican party immediately coalesced in their support of the bullish energy of Candidate Trump thus embracing their own reality, their own conspiracy theory-driven cocoon of comfort and release from some of their accumulated paranoia and left the Main Stream ideology that formerly had held the Nation together in one mostly-united body.

From healthcare reform to immigration policies, many Americans feel that the President has made promises that he can’t keep, creating a sense of distrust and cynicism.

Another factor that contributes to the cynicism is the fact that the State of the Union is often used as a political tool by the President. Instead of focusing on issues that are important to the American people, the President often uses the State of the Union address to score political points with his base, instead of outlining meaningful policy initiatives. This often leads to the feeling that the President is more interested in scoring political victories than actually improving the lives of Americans.

I am of the personal opinion that no president in History before Trump ever made the greatest use of every possible political talking point and mechanism to push his own image and to gloss over the greater needs of The People more than Trump was able to do.

A large mass of the American electorate ate this divisiveness up and embraced it with all the fervor at their command finally leading to the tragic events at the Capitol in Washington on January 6th, 2021, a date, as many say, that will live in Infamy.

Finally, it is important to note that the current political climate has made it difficult for the President to craft a meaningful State of the Union address.

With the nation increasingly divided along partisan lines, the President is often limited in the topics he can address. This often leads to a speech that is more focused on rhetoric than actual policy initiatives, which does little to address the nation’s major issues.

In conclusion, the State of the Union address is a tradition that should be viewed as an opportunity for the President to outline his vision for the nation. Unfortunately, many Americans view the address with suspicion or cynicism due to a lack of trust in the President, the perception that the address is used as a political tool, and the current political climate.

And I believe that I am safe in saying that none of this mess is going to get any better anytime soon because the parties are still biting and devouring each other when what is needed is some kind of willingness to work across the aisles. I believe that working across the aisles is a lost art in Washington and it will take a massive catastrophic incident or climactic event to come anywhere near bringing the two sides anywhere near together ever again.

I believe that the upcoming State of The Union speech will be viewed in Right Wing circles as an endless cacophony of false promises and lies about achievements already made and in Liberal Circles as a list of things that are desperately needed to move the nation forward but will be a list of things that will be dead on arrival when they fall into Republican hands.

Thus the hand that writes will write and will then move on and we will be no better off than we were before the speech was ever given.