Another interesting, thought-provoking article (at least to the extent that I could read it).
David Frum wrote this in The Atlantic, and he suggests that Trump's most recent State of the Union speech - which was the longest one in history - might have called this tradition itself into question. He began by saying that the address itself "was very like the man who delivered it: divisive, abusive, and childish."
No arguments here. But then Frum suggested that the glaringly obvious contradictions and hypocrisies which have pretty much always defined the Trump presidency (both terms) began to be so glaringly obvious and so "in your face" (another trademark of the Trump years in the White House) that it began to be ridiculous. He then goes on to suggest that easily the biggest and most obvious lie is the one which Trump claims he is creating for the country. Namely, that under him, it is entering a new "golden age." Here is as much of Frum's article as I was able to gain access to:
The speech turned reality on its head in many ways. The president who has enriched himself and his family by more than a billion dollars in his first year in office called on Congress to clean up its corruption. The president who has collected about $175 billion in illegal tariffs from the American people falsely told them that he had given them a great big tax cut. The president solemnly condemned political violence—the same president who ended his first term by inciting a mob to sack Congress and overturn an election. Maybe most shocking, Trump demanded that members of Congress rise to agree that it’s the first duty of government to protect American citizens—even as his own government by its brutal police methods has shot American citizens dead on the streets and then tried to deceive the country about how those Americans had been killed and why. Then of course there were the many misstatements of fact about the economy, about crime, and about wars and peace—many of which look like deliberate decisions to deceive the public watching on television.
Fair enough to that point. You'll get no arguments from me.
Yet, Frum correctly points out that perhaps more serious than this is Trump's apparent ability to get his loyal cult following to believe in the picture that he paints for them, that this country is now entering a new "golden age." Even when, in almost every single way, it seems like we as a nation are closer to plunging into an abyss.
Here is what Frum says:
The most radical fantasy in the speech, though, was its claims of a new golden age of prosperity. That misstatement surely deceived nobody. Prices continue to rise; the job market stagnates. In almost every way that can be measured, Americans are communicating economic anxiety and discontent. Trump insisted that they are all wrong. It is as if the nation were being soaked by a torrential downpour, water rolling over umbrellas and into boats, soaking everyone’s clothes—and the leader whose job it is to lead them through the deluge insists that it is not raining at all, that in fact it is sunny, the sunniest day ever.
This is the part that I never got. Trump is blatantly lying. He promised, as a candidate, to lower prices of gas and groceries. In fact, most people seem to believe those were the issues he won on. Then he immediately began to back down, saying that it was going to be more difficult than expected.
Yet no backlash from his voters. Once again, the real Teflon President gets a pass with obvious lies.
Worse than that, though, he claims that gas prices did go down. According to him, they went all the way down to $1.99 "in parts of the country."
What part of the country right now can you get gas for $1.99 or less? I almost would be willing to take a trip to wherever this is happening, just to verify. Because it rings untrue. It smacks of Trump's trademark gaslighting and lies.
Still, he seems to get away with it.
Indeed, it seems like Trump is proudly proclaiming that it is a bright and sunny day while most Americans are experiencing only driving rain.
Is there anything that this guy will not get away with? Really, I'm curious. Is there anything that his ridiculous cult following will actually hold him accountable for?
Because if there is, I'm sure not seeing it yet.
Anyway, take a look at this article from Frum, if you have access (perhaps more access than me, anyway):
The State of the Union Revealed a Sad Reality by David Frum February 25, 2026:
Donald Trump misused the annual presidential tradition in ways so radical as to call the ritual itself into question.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/trumps-childish-state-of-the-union/686133/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Inside%20the%20Trump%20Presidency%20%28V3%29
The State of the Union Revealed a Sad Reality - The Atlantic
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