Guardian "Trump has lost the ability to entertain. Sadly, he hasn't lost the ability to offend"

[NewHendoLib]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/24/trump-state-of-the-union-speech?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

It is one of Donald Trump’s unique talents that he reveals the absurd obsolescence of long-held traditions. In presidential election years, his screaming bloviations on stage make the exercise of gathering the candidates together seem futile. In power, when he divorces facts from policymaking and relies instead on myth and grift to guide his decisions, he renders useless and impotent vast fields of expertise.

When he lies in public, and insists that his fantasies and distortions will dictate the course of government action, he makes those of us in the news business wonder if there’s any point, any more, in gathering and printing the truth.

Likewise, many Americans who watched the State of the Union address on Tuesday night might have wondered what the point of these speeches is any more. The constitution mandates that the president provide periodic updates to Congress on the condition of the country.

But nowhere does the constitution call for the kind of in-person, televised address that has become an annual staple of the presidency in the era of mass media. And certainly none of the Framers could have pictured the speech that Trump delivered on Tuesday night: a rambling, nearly two-hour address that was heavy on falsehoods, ad libs, and digressions that sometimes seemed like bids to kill time – and remarkably light on policy substance.

Snip

Well worth a read.

[leftstreet]

1. He did nothing to help midterm GOPers

Not a single policy idea they desperately need right now.

A decade ago, Trump crystallized a longstanding trend in American politics by avowedly fusing governance and entertainment. But Tuesday’s long-winded and boring spectacle showed that he has lost even the ability to entertain.

LOL I'd be curious to know what the ratings were for the speech

DURec