The State of the Union Address: A barrage of hypocrisy

Atmika+Iyer

Atmika Iyer

On January 30, President Trump delivered his State of the Union speech, presenting elegant words with beautiful messages, that so clearly contradict a majority of his words and actions in the past.

Now, we know what you’re all thinking. OK, Ms. Stereotypical-Californian, we get it. You think that Trump is a horrible, terrible, no-good person. Now, get back to your poke bowls and yoga and leave the rest of us alone.

We get it — at this point you’re all tired of talking about politics, Republican vs. Democrat, etc. But, bear with us, you might be interested in what we have to say.

The Trump of the state of the union honestly felt like a completely different president, but the next morning we went back to the same old same old. The writers of the speech looked past all stereotypes the president espouses on this Twitter feed to orchestrate a performance that contradicts what most people expected of his first State of the Union.

We mean, at least he didn’t go saying anything that would make the “you’re-being-discriminatory-ometer” go off, beeping like crazy. The reality is, whether or not President Trump woke up and understood the weight of his statements, someone in his office/cabinet did.

He started off with a, “We have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission — to make America great again for all Americans.”

Either President Trump doesn’t acknowledge immigrants’ as Americans, for he has taken away many of their rights, or he has perpetuated hatred towards them through his crass and crude remarks. Which one is worse due to the fact that this is coming from the President of the United States is up for debate.

But, let’s dive into a more topical conversation, gun control.

“With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this House — a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work three and a half months later: the legend from Louisiana, Congressman Steve Scalise . . . In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people.”

Really, President Trump? Because it seems to us that only one party, mainly, is trying to make gun reform happen so that things like what happened to Congressman Scalise happen on less of a regular basis. We need to take the time to look around. Since the beginning of 2018, we have had thirty mass shootings. Thirty. Eighteen of which happened at schools. Why isn’t anyone responding to this wake-up call? This isn’t about our right to bear arms, this is about how people should be able to live their lives without fearing someone showing up to their school, college, or work with an AR-15.

Our absolute favorite comment (notice the sarcasm) of all, however, was, “And just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.”

How cleverly worded! Biggest tax cuts and reforms, maybe, but who did they benefit exactly? The top one percent, that’s who. The people who have money exuding from their sweat. They get the biggest tax cut, when they are the ones who can actually afford to give money to the government.

Tax cuts aside, let’s take a look at how President Trump views the American lifestyle.

“In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the American life. Our motto is ‘in God we trust.’”

According to CBS 22.8% of the citizens of the USA are unaffiliated with any religion. So, are they now considered un-American because they don’t believe in God?

Moreover, this is a statement coming from a man who is purported to have had an affair with a playboy model. Not only is this against the supposed family values that Trump “reveres,” but it also contradicts the Ten Commandments that are at the center of his religion.

The following statement was a clear reference to Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protest against police brutality.

“And we celebrate our police, our military, and our amazing veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support. . . [Preston Sharp, a boy who planted flags on the graves of veterans] reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem.”

Believe us, we respect the men and women who put their lives on the line on a daily basis to keep this country safe, both domestically and internationally. However, someone who called those who peacefully exercised their rights by kneeling for the anthem “sons of bitches” probably shouldn’t reference an event where he tried to bully citizens from peacefully protesting. So, allow us to protest without fear of reciprocation for exercising our rights. We can love our country and still help it become a better and more fair place for minorities through peaceful protest.

We can keep going, but we believe we have made our point. The State of the Union Address was nothing but a series of hypocritical comments.