Master of the Moment Trump State of the Union Speech Challenges Dems to Rise Above Resistance and Serve the People

In many ways Trump out-reaganed Reagan with his mastery of the event!

Transcript
Bio of the President's guests

It was worth the wait.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California,  rescinded an earlier agreement for Trump to appear in the annual speech highlighting the Administration's goals.  By so doing, she elevated the importance of the speech above it's already high importance on the political calendar. And Trump knocked that curve ball out of the park on Tuesday night!

In the opening, Trump challenged Dems to rise above the partisan hate and hysteria they have unleashed the last two years. He reminded them that they have a choice:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution -- and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good. We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction.

Throughout the speech the President reminded his audience of the great things America accomplished in the last Century and called them to join with him in unity to achieve new greatness. He also listed some of the historic achievements of his first two years:

In just over 2 years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom -- a boom that has rarely been seen before. We have created 5.3 million new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs -- something which almost everyone said was impossible to do, but the fact is, we are just getting started.

Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, faster than anyone else. Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps. The United States economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world. Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in half a century. African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. Unemployment for Americans with disabilities has also reached an all-time low. More people are working now than at any time in our history –- 157 million.

We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit.

We virtually ended the estate, or death, tax on small businesses, ranches, and family farms.

We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare individual mandate penalty -- and to give critically ill patients access to life-saving cures, we passed right to try.

My Administration has cut more regulations in a short time than any other administration during its entire tenure. Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers thanks to historic reductions in taxes and regulations.

We have unleashed a revolution in American energy -- the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world. And now, for the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.

After 24 months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, and America is winning each and every day. Members of Congress: the State of our Union is strong. Our country is vibrant and our economy is thriving like never before.

On Friday, it was announced that we added another 304,000 jobs last month alone -- almost double what was expected. An economic miracle is taking place in the United States -- and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.

If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn’t work that way!

Democrats mostly sat on their hands as the President described the progress made by minorities. Finally, as he focused on women, female Democrat Reps. decided to get to their feet and cheer as if they were on guests on some rowdy Jerry Springer daytime television talk show. Then it was back to scowling as the President continued to roll.

President Trump pointed out what success is possible if both parties work together. He pointed to prison reform as one effort and two guests which highlighted the issue in the audience. The moving personal stories of these African Americans who received overly harsh sentences for non-violent offences should dispel the attacks on Trump as a racist which are mostly lodged by white Democrats seeking to use identity politics to divide Americans. The sight of Democrats sitting while two African Americans recently freed from prison stood in recognition should be all you need to know about the party of racial divisiveness.

The most critical issue before Congress is resolve the border security impasse which threatens to once again shut down the government as the short term funding bill expires. Trump spoke of the effectiveness of border barriers:

No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political class than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.

Meanwhile, working class Americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal migration -- reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools and hospitals, increased crime, and a depleted social safety net.

Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate -- it is cruel. One in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north. Smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country.

Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern-day slavery.

Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities -- including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.

Joining the First Lady in the gallery were the daughter, grandchild and great grandchild of Gerald and Sharon David who were murdered last month in their Reno, Nevada home by an illegal alien. Also present was ICE Special Agent Elvin Hernandez, a legal immigrant who now specializes in apprehending the human sex traffickers who prey on vulnerable women and children. The sight of Democrat Representative women sitting on their hands while President Trump described the horror inflicted on these innocent victims was appalling. But then, like racism, Dems seem to care only about women's rights when it can be used to bludgeon Republicans.

Trump's border security plan is simple and it's based on what has proven to work:

My Administration has sent to the Congress a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on our southern border.

It includes humanitarian assistance, more law enforcement, drug detection at our ports, closing loopholes that enable child smuggling, and plans for a new physical barrier, or wall, to secure the vast areas between our ports of entry. In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall -- but the proper wall never got built. I’ll get it built.

This is a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier -- not just a simple concrete wall. It will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need, and as these agents will tell you, where walls go up, illegal crossings go way down.

San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in the country. In response, and at the request of San Diego residents and political leaders, a strong security wall was put in place. This powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings.

The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime -- one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our Nation’s most dangerous cities. Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities.

Simply put, walls work and walls save lives. So let’s work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe.

Along with listing accomplishments in foreign policy and restoring America's military the President turned to the urgent crisis in Venezuela and reminded his audience of the important lesson it contains:

Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim President, Juan Guaido.

We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom -- and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.

Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence –- not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.

The sour faced socialist Bernie Sanders.  He would turn the
United States into Venezuela. 

Trump pointed right at the Democrats as he said it. Sour looks on the face of Bernie Sanders and other radicals in the Democrat Party greeted that lesson.

The President's address concluded with several emotional moments. In the gallery were two survivors of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh which left eleven dead. One of those present was SWAT Officer Timothy Matson who was shot 7 times while taking down the shooter. The other present tonight was Judah Samet, a survivor of Nazi death camps. Tuesday was Judah's 81st birthday and the audience sang an impromptu "Happy Birthday." President Trump continues the story:

Judah says he can still remember the exact moment, nearly 75 years ago, after 10 months in a concentration camp, when he and his family were put on a train, and told they were going to another camp. Suddenly the train screeched to a halt. A soldier appeared. Judah’s family braced for the worst. Then, his father cried out with joy: “It’s the Americans.”

A second Holocaust survivor who is here tonight, Joshua Kaufman, was a prisoner at Dachau Concentration Camp. He remembers watching through a hole in the wall of a cattle car as American soldiers rolled in with tanks. “To me,” Joshua recalls, “the American soldiers were proof that God exists, and they came down from the sky.”

I began this evening by honoring three soldiers who fought on D-Day in the Second World War. One of them was Herman Zeitchik. But there is more to Herman’s story. A year after he stormed the beaches of Normandy, Herman was one of those American soldiers who helped liberate Dachau. He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on earth. Almost 75 years later, Herman and Joshua are both together in the gallery tonight -- seated side-by-side, here in the home of American freedom. Herman and Joshua: your presence this evening honors and uplifts our entire Nation.

When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of D-Day, 1944, they were just young men of 18 and 19, hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war.

They did not know if they would survive the hour. They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this Nation, and generations yet unborn.

Why did they do it? They did it for America -- they did it for us.

Everything that has come since -- our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivaled progress toward equality and justice -- all of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before.

Think of this Capitol -- think of this very chamber, where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways, to defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, to face down an evil empire.

Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii; from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona; from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California. Together, we represent the most extraordinary Nation in all of history.

What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered?

I ask the men and women of this Congress: Look at the opportunities before us! Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still await. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream.

We must choose whether we are defined by our differences -- or whether we dare to transcend them.

We must choose whether we will squander our inheritance -- or whether we will proudly declare that we are Americans. We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown.

This is the time to re-ignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit, and set our sights on the brightest star. This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots.

This is our future -- our fate -- and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness.

No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together.

We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny -- that one Nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world!

Thank you. God Bless You, God Bless America, and good night!

Dem response: the state of sour grapes!

President Trump challenged Democrats to rise above the politics of hate. But in their response, failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams showed why that won't happen. The Democrat's message would have Americans ignore our progress and the great things we might achieve together and focus on grievance, division and discord.

Democrats want blacks, Hispanics and women to ignore the progress of the past two years, forget about America's great accomplishments and stoke anger instead. They succeeded in driving that message home with their near media monopoly in the Midterm election. But as the lives of real Americans continues to improve will they join the hate fest or look to the brighter future President Trump has laid before them? Time will tell!

Media Trump haters predictably negative. Public loved speech!