Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Trump's first national address, the crisis at the border

Trump began by saying it is his sad and regretful duty to report tragic news relating to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg ...

Psych! Just kidding.

The whole speech is recycled material. It was not intended for us. It was not intended to inform low-information voters who don't watch such things, although it might. And it was not intended to change any one's mind, although it might. Rather, it was advised by White House legal team as legally defendable first step to declaring a national emergency; address the nation and declare a crisis. Then call on Congress to act and provide guidance. When Congress fails to act on the national emergency, then take executive action. The speech is short and sweet to the point. The first part is rather mechanical the rest more natural.

The prepared rebuttal by Schumer and Pelosi is material for comedians. Stiff as boards to avoid the dreaded body language experts, the two steps of first recording the hostage message and then the embalming are reversed.

 Care to see the speech? 9 minutes.

 Care to see the rebuttal? 5 minutes.

Text of Trump's speech, transcript, White House.

1 comment:

ricpic said...

Disagree. The speech was intended for those Americans who are not particularly fond of Trump, sense the need for border protection, but needed a little nudging. In other words "I don't like the guy but he's made the case for a wall. I'm now on board." Did it work? Yes, IMO.