1. Let's just talk about the point of the State of the Union. It's not about approval ratings, it's about governing. https://t.co/GdwPK3QL3B
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
2. Every government agency, Congressional office, committee, lobbyist - they are all looking for guidance on their priorities.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
3. The President isn't just a guy on TV. He's also the manager of a $3T bureaucracy. The State of the Union is an important management tool.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
4. In the speech, what is and isn't included, and every word and phrase, is usually the result of thousands of discussions filtered up.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
5. That's why State of the Union speeches are usually boring lists of priorities. It's essentially a list of decisions the President made.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
6. It's a speech for a company-wide meeting. Vague platitudes without direction actually cause governing problems.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
7. After a day or two, pundits and voters forget about it. But the people that implement the wars and stuff - it's their guidance.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
8. Like this paragraph, in the 2012 speech, was the result of a massive four year fight over foreclosure fraud. It revealed a decision. pic.twitter.com/EtNG16jskk
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
9. Anyway, that's how to understand a different way to see the State of the Union. It is for the people. It's also for the bureaucrats.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 2, 2017
Furthermore, as Radley Balko notes in the Washington Post, President Trump's speech was filled with lies and half-truths, many of which are holdovers from his campaign, though he certainly has the information to know better now, as president. The worst of them divide the nation and tarnish whole groups of people. It's worth thinking about why he keeps lying on these points.