Cal Thomas: The President’s speech

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, March 6. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Now, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas weighs in on Tuesday night’s presidential address.

CAL THOMAS: It was a partisan speech. It was an optimistic speech. It was a long speech. It was a deliberately divisive speech when it came to policies pushed by the Democrats as opposed to policies endorsed by Republicans. And it was at times a funny speech as President Trump pointed to Democrats and the silly signs raised by some, blasting them for all sorts of things when they had the power.

It was also full of empathy for victims of migrant crime. President Trump brought some of the widows and daughters whose husbands and fathers were taken from them by gang members. Gang members who had committed repeat crimes but were let go after being arrested in Democrat led states with “sanctuary cities.”

As if to rile Senate Democrats who wouldn’t vote for a bill protecting women's sports, Trump invited a woman who suffered traumatic brain injury after being hit with a volleyball. The player on the other side of the net who spiked the ball was a male—yet played with women on the opposite team.

Perhaps the sweetest moment of the night was when Trump authorized the Secret Service to bestow the title of “agent” on a young boy who was given five years to live after being diagnosed with brain cancer. He always wanted to be a police officer. The boy hugged the agent who gave him an official identification card. His proud father lifted him up for all to see.

Incredibly, all the Democrats remained seated, stoic, and would not applaud anything. Not the boy with brain cancer, not families of murder victims, not even the First Lady when she entered the chamber. So deep is their hatred for President Trump who is running circles around them with the speed of his policy initiatives. Some held up signs, reminiscent of that TV ad for a pharmaceutical company that treats depression. The woman in the ad carries a round sign with an upside-down smiley face. That appears to be the face of today’s Democrat Party. They are being beaten by Trump at every turn. Polls show the public are mostly with him, especially in his quest to downsize bloated government

That’s where Democrats are these days. A lowlight during the speech was when Texas Democrat Representative Al Green began yelling and interrupting the president. Green, who has filed articles of impeachment against Trump that are going nowhere, was escorted out of the chamber by the Sergeant at Arms as Speaker Mike Johnson pounded his gavel and called for decorum.

It is supremely ironic that Democrats are criticizing the economy when it was the previous administration that caused inflation and accompanying high prices. It took Ronald Reagan two years to turn around the bad economy of Jimmy Carter.

The headline was kept until almost the end of the speech. President Trump announced he had received a letter from Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he is ready for negotiations to end the war with Russia. And a willingness to mine Ukrainian minerals to help repay the U.S. for its $350 billion contribution to the war. Trump said he has heard “strong signals” from Russia that Vladimir Putin is “ready for peace.” We’ll see about that.

It was a good night for Trump and Republicans. All the Democrats and their media allies could do is look like they were attending a funeral. They have nothing else to show the country except policy failures from the last four years.

I’m Cal Thomas.

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