Back in my days writing for what has become the Johnstown Woke Gazette, a local sporting type fibbed to me. I got the truth from someone else and put it into my column, along with the untruth that made it clear who was lying.
The next day, I arrived at work to a message on one of those pink, while you were out sheets. Said liar’s message for me: Thanks for making me look like an asshole.
I called him up and pointed out he’d made himself look like an asshole by lying to me and I’d just spread the word in my column. I told him it would keep happening if he didn’t clean up his act. As far as I know, he never again lied to me.
I thought of this while watching the State of the Union speech Tuesday night, during which President Trump gave Democrats multiple opportunities to make themselves look like assholes and more often than not, they eagerly did just that.
Most notable was when Trump challenged anyone present who thinks the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal immigrants, to stand. The Republicans leapt to their feet. The Democrats? Maybe some stood, but it was not evident.
No, mostly the Democrats were glued to their seats as the Republicans stood and cheered for what must have seemed like an interminable stretch for those hate-America leftists.
Imagine, given the chance to pick a side, either their fellow citizens or illegal invaders who too often commit crimes and live on the public dole, Democrats virtually unanimously, if not entirely unanimously, sided with the illegals.
It’s not clear if Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, uncharacteristically actually wearing a suit instead of shorts and a hoodie, stood. If he did, he was a lonely man.
But, consider the temerity of Democrats, giving a middle finger to the U.S. citizenry during a nationally televised address and then expecting you to vote for them. If you still vote for Democrats in the wake of this, you probably should be living in a group home, with more rational types helping manage your affairs.
Earlier in the evening, many Democrats had stood to acknowledge the presence of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, which claimed gold in Italy. This surprised both Trump and me. I thought, maybe these fools are developing some perspective. I was wrong.
Later in Trump’s mammoth address, Democrats routinely refused to stand and cheer, including for the mother of a slain woman who escaped war in Ukraine only to be killed on a North Carolina train by a man with 14 prior criminal arrests. He was out due to that Democrat affinity for criminals.
Trump, in a blessed moment of brutal candor, took in the scene of Democrats refusing to commiserate and said, “These people are crazy, I’m telling you. They’re crazy.”
There was other ample evidence of this, from last year’s disruptive pimp-looking member getting thrown out again early, to a couple of Squad members shouting at Trump from their seats and coming off as petulant adolescents.
Maybe they should have gone to the protest outside, which might have swelled that turnout to triple digits.
Trump was masterful Tuesday. It was a speech of record length, but he had a lot to stay, a lot of people to honor and recognize, a lot of salient policy points to make on what separates Republicans from Democrats, which is a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon.
Trump drew a distinct contrast on that last point. If Republicans aren’t cutting campaign ads with that moment when Democrats picked illegals over citizens, they are asleep at the switch.
Trump did what he needed to do Tuesday night and the Democrats fell into the trap. Now, Trump and the Republicans need to press the issue right on through mid-term elections.
Sam Ross Jr's site 