The 2023 State of the Union.

 

The 2023 State of the Union address from President Joe Biden had everything that you wanted. Biden gave an emotional speech filled with humor at times, seriously outlining his views, and a promoting his political agenda. It was a call to invest in American businesses, wanting to compete with China without conflict, and he wants to preserve Social Security and Medicare. Many Republicans like Greene heckled Biden, and Greene called Biden a liar. Biden responded by debating Trump Republicans on how some GOP leaders have explicitly proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare. Biden addressed many social and foreign policy issues from the Chinese balloon being destroyed of the Atlantic Ocean to the issue of immigration. He has made it clear that the work isn't finished yet like desiring to reduce the price of insulin shots and eliminate lead from pipes in America. He believed in causing large wealthy corporations to pay their fair share of taxation. Biden also wants to work with Republicans in a bipartisan fashion to solve problems. That is easier said than done. President Biden also explicitly wants an assault weapons ban which happened in 1994, and he wants legislation federally to address police brutality. Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy listened and agreed with him on some issues and disagreed with him on many issues. Biden spoke about the middle class and how he supports capitalism (which has notorious imperfections as history and other facts teach us). It is important to point out that the poor, the working class, and the middle class contribute the heaviest to the stability of the American economy. 

Biden's speech was filled with energy, and many Republicans disagreed with Biden with energy (some of it inappropriate in my view. GOP Rep. Bob Good said that he was one of the hecklers on Tuesday night. Good called Biden a liar after Biden told the truth that some Republicans wanted to cut Social Security and Medicare. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was rude in the House of Congress like usual). The economy now is much stronger now than during the Trump years. Yet, we have a long way to go as inflation is high, rent is high, and millions of Americans are struggling. Many of us are blessed with a lot of savings, resources, etc. Yet, we have massive homelessness, economic inequality, and other economic issues that must be addressed by a radical redistribution of economic and political power. Biden acknowledged the family of Tyre Nichols, who was a victim of police terrorism. Biden's family never had the talk like many black and brown families in America to talk about in dealing with police interactions. Republican Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (the daughter of Mike Huckabee. She is a pro-Trump ally who bans the term of Latinx in state documents) gave the Republican response by promoting the same far-right extremism (she condemns "woke" views, but she doesn't condemn bigotry against marginalized communities in her speech) that doesn't work to alleviate the issues. She said that Democrats want big government, but ironically big government contributed to the development of unions, environmental protections, civil rights legislation, voting rights legislation, and other blessings that some take for granted. We don't want the government to be draconian to control every aspect of human life. Yet, the government has the right to promote the general welfare and provide human beings the basic freedoms and rights to enrich society (as a whole). The Biden administration is not perfect, but the Biden administration has passed some of the most progressive legislation in American history from helping the poor, fighting for gun safety, building our national infrastructure, and growing our economy in general (we have record-low unemployment and massive job growth since 2021). Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine was exposed in the speech. The government is made up of the people, and the people have the right to advance equality, a strong social safety net, justice for all, and human liberty.

One of the most important news now is the recent Earthquake in Turkey that has killed more than 7,700 people in Turkey and Syria. The magnitude was 7.8. It happened on Monday. Thousands of buildings have collapsed in both nations. That is why aid agencies are worried in northwestern Syria where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance. We have seen people from across the world helping the victims. Many Americans from California were sent to help get more survivors from the rubble. The quake was one of the strongest quakes in the region. The Turkish Vice President Faut said that more than 34,000 people have been injured in Turkey and at least 3,849 people have been injured in Syria. There are at least 16,139 teams working on search and rescue efforts. The strength of this earthquake could have been felt as far as Israel and Lebanon. German communications giant Deutsche Telekom is making all phone calls and text messages from its network between Germany, Tukey, and Syria free of charge until February 15. Scientists warned that the disaster was imminent and implored public authorities to strengthen buildings, warning that failing to do it will cost more lives. Turkey's geologist and advocate of building earthquake-resistant cities Professor Dr. Naci Gorur said that major earthquakes are a threat in the world.

According to the Justice Department, there is a breaking news story about a Neo-Nazi leader and a Maryland woman being accused of plotting to completely destroy Baltimore. The federal government is right to mention that white nationalist far-right terrorists are the largest terrorist domestic threat in America. These 2 white racists are Neo-Nazis. They wanted to damage energy facilities to try to harm the city of Baltimore (which is a city with a large black American population. I have been to Baltimore before in my life where many of my cousins live at). Extremist groups continue to attempt to target power facilities as they have the energy to power whole cities and towns. These racists' names are Brandon Clint Russell and Sarah Beth Clendaniel. The woman references Hitler, the Unabomber Ted Kacynski, and the perpetrator of the 2011 terrorist attack in Norway in her hate-filled manifesto. These 2 evil racist cowards should have a trial and be placed in prison.

Our economy is at a crossroads. Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and other companies have the highest profits ever, but we still have high levels of inflation in our world. Many of the same corporations telling us that they have no option but to raise prices are spending billions of dollars on stock buybacks to enrich their wealthy shareholders. The richest 1 percent took home nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years. Law enforcement killed 1,176 people in America last year. That is the deadliest year of police violence since 2013. We need more investments in our communities to solve the problem of police brutality. Public safety is not equivalent to public tyranny. The same Republican hypocrites who complain about the deficit voted for $1.9 trillion in tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations.

By Timothy