Wednesday, January 31, 2018

The 2018 State of the Union address




The Trump State of the Union address started with acknowledging many people involved in the rescue efforts of Hurricane disasters and other heroes who responded courageously to situations of tragedy. These tragedies represent the strength of Americans, but it also shows that our democratic values excludes xenophobia and any injustice. The tone of his speech that he wants to bring together Americans under his agenda. He believes in his mind that his views wants to advance common ground. He desires to promote nationalistic themes since he believes that the union is strong. He says that wages are rising, but wages are stagnant among American workers. The unemployment rate has declined in years, which was long before Trump was inaugurated. I will not compromise my views. The large stock market is not a total financial indicator of every facet of the economy. Trump also promotes his massive tax cuts law for the super wealthy. So, his speech was about praising his record while omitting key parts that shows the full context of the truth. The Trump regime is in the midst of a scandal relating to accusations of collusion and obstruction of justice. The U.S. trade deficit is expanding too. He admits that he massively cut the corporate tax rate when that tax rate was very low. He also omits that his tax plan strips away personal exemptions on many circumstances. The vast majority of economic benefits have been enacted by labor struggles, protests, unions, and social activism throughout history. He tried to invoke God, but hasn't apologized for his admitting to assaulting women, his other sexist comments, for disrespecting a man's wife, for his racist comments on Haitians (including Africans), and for his extremism. Crooked cops don't deserve our unwavering support. He supports the national anthem created by a racist, he mocked the NFL protests, and he disrespects Colin Kaepernick.

Trump has shown happiness that the individual mandate is gone when sick people need care. He talks about choice, but he refuses to promote the choice of universal health care (without insurance companies doing what it wants to do without restraint). Wages are not massively rising. He is anti-environment by opposing Native Americans defending their land in North Dakota, ending legitimate environmental regulations, and desiring to decrease national parks nationwide. Trump wants an infrastructure bill costing 1.2 trillion dollars. He wants federal government to partner with state and local governments along with private investments to fund it. The problem is that his plan is filled with tolls and massive privatization schemes (it has proposals to further weaken environmental requirements, limit judicial intervention in the approval process, and shorten building timelines). Trump's welfare to work coded phrase is about austerity and cutting social programs. He wants paid family leave. He also lies about immigration when undocumented immigration has declined in America for years and immigrants shouldn't be scapegoated collectively for every evil in America. Immigrants commit less crime than American born citizens. Crime rates overall has declined in the past 30 years.

He desired the end to visa lottery program and chain migration (which will harm the lives of immigrant families). MS-13 is a wicked group, but MS-13 is not representative of every immigrant in America. Trump is a notorious xenophobe in his belief of a border wall and his sick comparison of MS-13 members to undocumented immigrants (which is wrong and racist). He's a liar for fear mongering rhetoric about immigration when immigrants contribute a lot to American society. The Dreamers deserve much more respect than this. Trump omits one man being deported from America and sent into Mexico when that man was hardworking and loves his family. He supports a Muslim ban. His immigration plan is no compromise, but a far right policy position (filled with 4 pillars). He said that he wants to grow America's nuclear arsenal which is provoking war. He talks about Iran (I don't agree with the civil liberty violations in Iran, but America has its civil liberty issues too), but the Iranian nuclear deal has worked. He talked about ISIS and other issues. He wants to keep Guantanamo Bay open, which is a location that has been filled with torture. He has talked about North Korea too in provocative terms. Trump never talked about appeal to our better natures and has promoted divisiveness (when polarization in America is at its highest since 1968, which is 50 years ago). So, his speech was slick display of war mongering, omissions, jingoism, lies, and propaganda. It was a speech that was the third longest State of the Union address in history.

Today is the 50th year anniversary of the Tet Offensive. This was when Vietnamese forces attacked the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and other places throughout Vietnam. Many people died. American forces were taken by surprise. Back then, many American people thought the the U.S. had a near victory in the Vietnam War. After the Tet Offensive, more people realized that the war was a stalemate. LBJ knew of this and hid a lot of this information from the public for fear of being labeled as someone losing the war. The Tet Offensive established a new era of the war and ultimately the anti-war movement grew in power. The American forces won the Tet Offensive which included the massive bombing of the city of Hue. After Tet, the Vietnam War changed forever and LBJ soon would not run for President again. By this time, Dr. King was in opposition to the war. I was not born during that time, but my parents were alive back then. 1968 was a year of massive change and one of the most revolutionary years in human history.

One of the most talented singers of all time is Sister Jody Watley. She is now 59 years old. For decades, she has amazed people with her talent involving singing, songwriting, and producing. She was born in Chicago. She is a great trendsetter in music and dance. She worked with Jackie Wilson. She danced on Soul Train. Also, she was a well known member of the R&B group Shalamar. Back then Shalamar was a super group and they toured nationwide and worldwide. She came into London to record with Musical Youth (which is a Jamaican reggae group). In 1987, she displayed her debut album called Jody Watley. She won awards, made more albums, and continued to travel the world. She has worked in fashion and promoted many causes too. She has 2 children and she is a blessed black woman. I wish Sister Jody Watley more blessings. Yesterday was the Birthday of Brother Dexter King. He is now 57 years old and was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the son of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. When he was young, Yolanda watched over him. He was 7 when Dr. King passed away. After visiting the 1972 Democratic Convention, Dexter King became involved in politics. He is a lifelong advocate of nonviolence. He attended Morehouse College. He is known business professional and documentary filmmaker. He worked in the The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Also, he is a vegan and animal rights advocate since the late 1980's. He has a wife and he continues to live his life. I wish Brother Dexter King more blessings.

By Timothy









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