I have a lot of fun watching Twitter to see how the folks I follow comment on major events. I called this long list "Seen on Twitter, SOTU Edition":
—You have to be completely dead inside if you can't get your ass up to applaud for $35 insulin. *no Republicans standing* (Brooklyn Dad Defiant)
—First clap disparity. Vice President clapping for stopping Putin. Republican speaker of the house staying seated. Strange times. (Tim Miller)
—Biden: Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom, my god, what other freedom would you take away? With all due respect, justices, women are not without power. (Acyn, as Biden looks at the Supremes seated in the front row.)
—Okay that was dope. "You're about to find out how right you were," while looking the Supreme Court dead in the eye sockets. (Elie Mystal, after Biden said, "With all due respect, justices, women are not without power.")
—Biden quoted the Justices' own words to them from Dobbs where they said women can always vote on abortion rights, and he said they would hear from women about that this Nov. And the woman who said Pence should not have counted the electoral votes calls that a threat to democracy. (Ron Filipkowski, referring to Elise Stefanik, who tweeted during the SOTU, "It's disgusting that Joe Biden threatened the Supreme Court for upholding the constitution at the State of the Union. Joe Biden is a disgrace, a clear threat to Democracy, and unfit for office." Stefanik, a formerly moderate conservative, has gone full MAGA.)
—Anyone who follows me knows I have no problem criticizing the President or the government, but this SOTU is really, really good, despite the facial expressions of the snotty little shithead sitting behind him. (Jim Stewartson, referring to Mike Johnson.)
—POTUS was ready for MTG and pulled a chip out of his pocket with the name she has on her shirt of a child that was killed, and called on the GOP to stop blocking border reform. Fucking badass. #SOTU (Mueller, She Wrote)
—Holy shit. Marjorie Taylor Greene just interrupted President Biden about the border and he turned it right around on her masterfully. "Get this bill done." … This was one of the highlights of President Biden's presidency. He silenced Marjorie Taylor Greene. (Call to Activism)
—It is so weird that they all dress like Trump now. (Tim Miller; photo attached is Republican men at the speech dressed in blue suits with red ties.)
—If you told me that Biden called for expanding tutoring and summer learning so that "every child learns to read by third grade," and the House Speaker DIDN'T applaud or stand up, I wouldn't believe it … so here's the video to prove it. (Brian Stelter)
—MTG is in direct violation of the rules of the House by wearing campaign insignia on the House floor. (Rep. Jamie Raskin)
—"No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, sanitation worker, or a nurse." (Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, quoting Biden's speech)
—Every day as these projects get rolled out because of Joe Biden and congressional democrats in 2021–22, Republicans claim credit and make excuses why they can't pass anything themselves. (Ron Filipkowski, quoting Rep. Mike Garcia's [R-CA] tweet, "This cancer-screening mobile van is a perfect example of the good that can be done when Congress and community partners find real solutions to real problems. I'm so proud to have secured the funding for this …" which, as readers pointed out, HE VOTED AGAINST.)
—Republican Sen. James Lankford nodded in agreement and said [to the camera] "It's true" when President Biden touted the bipartisan border security bill. Lankford is the lead GOP architect of the bipartisan bill. (Republicans against Trump)
—Biden: Thanks to our bipartisan infrastructure law, 46,000 new projects have been announced all across your communities. I noticed some of you strongly voted against it are … cheering that money. If you don't want that money, let me know. (Acyn, with video showing Pete Buttigieg guffawing at that statement.)
—Mike Johnson won't even stand in condemnation of Vladimir Putin. Pussy. (Rick Wilson)
—One of our most important 2024 lines is going to be something along the lines of: "I need to point out that the crime rates for immigrants and undocumented immigrants are far lower than that of native-born Americans and the ***Republican nominee for President."*** (Simon Rosenberg, political strategist)
—The GOP couldn't applaud CLEAN WATER for kids. Jeepers.
—MTG looks like something pumped out of a trailer park septic tank. Pure trash. (Rick Wilson)
—People are going to criticize some of the garble and shouting, but this is a substantive speech delivered with a lot of fire. This is not the guy Republicans were expecting to show up tonight. Not the guy some Democrats thought was gonna show up either I suspect. (Tom Nichols)
—The ghost of James Lankford learning the hard way how the MAGA Party treats Republicans who try to solve problems. (Tim Miller)
—In his "pre-buttal" to the SOTU, the deranged lunatic says that the Biden Admin is all communists, marxists, fascists and socialist who have "looted" trillions of dollars from Americans and given it all to migrants. (Ron Filipkowski, commenting on an attached video of Trump.)
—People writing "this is the most political #SOTU ever." Donald Trump gave Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom at his last State of the Union! (Luke Russert, MSNBC)
—Can we dispense with the media fantasy that Biden isn't ready for the fight? This speech was a barnburner. (Rick Wilson)
—Scheduling State of the Union is not up to the President. Speaker decides the date & invites him. Republicans tried to be clever by delaying it this year. Huge mistake. 2 days after Super Tuesday was perfect for Biden campaign. (Lawrence O'Donnell)
—Even MAGA hated Katie Britt's speech (Ron Filipkowski)
—They had a United States Senator deliver the SOTU response in a kitchen because they wanted to prioritize "housewife" over "Senator" in their messaging. Let that sink in. (Ron Filipkowski)
—Hey @KatieBrittforAL why did you lie about the cartel gang rape during your #SOTUResponse ? This guy has receipts that it happened during GW Bush's presidency, and that it didn't happen in the US. You need to answer for this. (Mueller, She Wrote, referring to a TikTok video)
—"All she had to do was look into the camera and read, but she tried to do more. Too much more. Her handlers attempted to brand this political newcomer as 'America's mom,' but instead, she came off as the aunt who's … going to tell you about sex dungeons beneath the pizza parlor." (George Conway)
—Wow, @katzonearth busts Senator Katie Britt on the sex trafficking anecdote she used in her rebuttal, revealing (courtesy of @MarshaBlackburn's site) it happened to the woman she referred to 20 years ago, in Mexico. Needless to say, Joe Biden was not president of Mexico in 2004. (The Tennessee Holler, referring to a TikTok video)
—Sex cartels are bad, says Katie Britt, which is why she wants you to vote for a rapist.
—The Jacuzzi bath remodel lady has a better cadence than Katie Britt. I'd rather watch Jardiance commercials for eternity. (Mueller, She Wrote)
—The acting chops on display here are somewhere between porn and high school play. (Julia Ioffe)
—Truly nothing will convince moderate suburban women to vote Trump like putting the woman responding to the President in the kitchen. (Mallory McMorrow, Michigan Senate)
—Folks, it worked! ChatGPT brought us the first SOTU Rebuttal. It is a work in progress but "Katie Britt" was almost lifelike. Stay tuned for version 2.0. (Andrew Weissmann)
—Look, this Katie Britt address—breathy, theatrical, on the verge of tears—is completely weird, very coached and like a high school acting audition. But you have to remember that these people know their base, and the base is going to *love* this. (Tom Nichols)
—Katie Britt voted against aid for Ukraine and Taiwan. (JojoFromJerz)
—@POTUS basically drove a policy and political truck over Republicans last night, leaving them so stunned they failed to stand up and applaud for: IVF treatment and families; ending cancer as we know it; fixing lead pipes, and Buy American for purchasing. (Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI)
—The Extreme MAGA Republican response to being destroyed by President Biden is to lecture us about decorum? Get lost. (Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY)
—On the heels of President Biden's pro-women, pro-family and pro-freedom State of the Union, Happy International Women's Day everyone! The key to ending poverty and oppression for humanity is to empower and invest in women. (Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-MD)
—Biden got the job done. He slammed Trump as a threat to democracy at home/abroad. He cited accomplishments & presented a progressive policy wish-list. Above all, he showed some fight—undercutting the caricatures. Dark Brandon was in the room. [Also] Watching Biden, you can tell he's a normal and intelligent person with a healthy range of emotions. For those who have to pay attention to Donald Trump, that is quite refreshing. (David Corn, Mother Jones)
—Longest stretch of <4% unemployment since Nixon's first year in office. That's right: we haven't had that spirit here since 1969. (Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate, NYT. Extra points to those of you who recognize his second line.)
• • •
Bottom line, Biden was brilliant, Katie Britt was not.
It should be noted that Sen. Katie Britt delivered her rebuttal in what is called the "fundy (or fundie) baby voice" that evangelical women are taught to use. No, really. This was something new to me, but it had already been seen in House Speaker Mike Johnson's wife:
Kelly Johnson, married to Christian Nationalist House Speaker Mike Johnson, was recently invited on Fox News to tell viewers that she is a kind and loving person despite equating homosexuality with bestiality and incest. However, most people weren't paying attention to what she was saying because they were more focused on the bizarre childlike tone of her voice.
Why does Kelly Johnson speak like a toddler? It could be that her vocal cords are naturally configured that way. Alternatively, as former evanglical Christian Jess Piper suggests, it could be that she's been indoctrinated to speak in that manner, as it's common for wives in the Christian fundamentalist world to adopt a childlike tone, and is known as the 'fundie baby voice.'
Learn something new every day, right?
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