My Take on the 2018 State of the Union Address

Last night I watched President Trump deliver his first State of the Union address.  Like many viewers, I also showed up early to watch the "pregame" show, and watched Joe Kennedy deliver the Democratic Response to Trump's address.  Here are some of my thoughts about the events, in no particular order.

-I checked out all of the major networks before the show, and for the most part I was disappointed in the amount of spin that the commentators put on things.  Fox, as usual, were behaving like Trump's cheerleaders, and the other outlets were significantly less kind.  I finally settled on CBS, because their views seemed the least  biased.

-I was pleasantly surprised by Trump's speech.  It was significantly more conciliatory and positive than I expected, and far less self-congratulating than I anticipated.  I knew there would be exaggerations, but the speech didn't scream "liar, liar!"

-I was struck by how much Trump basked in the applause.  Indeed, he seemed to prompt it several times.  I was disgusted by how the Republicans looked like a bunch of yes-men, and how the Democrats sat stone-faced, even when Trump made comments that could have been bipartisan.  The Republicans looked like sycophant lap dogs.  The Democrats looked (and occasionally sounded)  uncooperative and obstructionist.  It was unprofessional on both sides.  I was particularly disgusted with Nancy Pelosi's dour demeanor.

-I was genuinely impressed with Kennedy.  I think this kid has a future.  He seemed passionate and genuinely moved during his response.

Overall, I suspect that the event did what it was supposed to do... it mellowed my harsh opinion of Trump, and it made me more acutely aware of Kennedy and left me with a generally positive impression of him.  It utterly failed to reduce my contempt for Congress.  I'm still skeptical that Trump will change his ways, and I'm not a Kennedy fanboy, because I haven't yet researched his record.  But I walked away from the State of the Union speeches feeling less angry than I've felt in a long time.