The Reviews Are In

Something tells me Kevin McCarthy is going to regret when he let Marjorie Taylor Green get bit by a radioactive Sarah Palin.

— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 8, 2023

Trump's lizard brain is still processing that Marjorie Taylor Greene got far more attention than him last night.

— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 8, 2023

So are we going to talk at all about how the 40 year old that was supposed to represent the future of the Republican party showed but a fraction of the energy, passion and endurance of the 80 year old?

— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 8, 2023

"Aren't those stars heavy?" Biden says to some high-ranking military officials. 😂 pic.twitter.com/bI3lh3YAas

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 8, 2023

"But they're up there watching," Dingell says, visibly upset.

"Yep. I have to-- I believe it," Biden says.

"I do too," says Dingell. 💔 pic.twitter.com/LEtQnO88Cg

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 8, 2023

And yet, Biden is still going, pepping back up to greet still more members of Congress.

He meets Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who introduces himself as a Democrat from Kentucky.

Biden responds with a weird drawl: "Kentucky! How's that, boy?" 😂 pic.twitter.com/Ol7JFYd4qL

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 8, 2023

Biden spent roughly an hour and 10 minutes in the House chamber AFTER his address was over, just talking to members, senators, Supreme Court justices, military leaders, Hill aides, lawmakers' children on phones and posing for selfies.

His speech was also about that long.

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 8, 2023

Biden understands what his job is. MTG is clueless:

I did not take any bait," she insisted. "I am a representative of the people, that is what I did last night. I got so many messages from people in my district and it was like I won my election again! People are pissed off! For the president of the United States to come into the people's house and lie about the economy, the border, and act like he is terrified of China and unwilling to talk about the fact that they spied on us!"

Which is merely to say Biden is good at his job. MTG is a joke.

In previous years, Presidents counted on respect from the House. Biden went in there knowing full well what would happen, and used it.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 8, 2023

"I’ve never seen anything like it in a State of the Union speech – they ran at him like a pack of lemmings and, with a wink and a grin, he politely directed them to the cliff."

Great @RexHuppke piece:https://t.co/jPZjAF0o4O

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) February 8, 2023

President Joe Biden, at the ripe age of 80, came out with ample vim and vigor in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address and proceeded to mop the House floor with the howling, discombobulated remains of the Republican Party. 

Preaching populism and leaning hard on his noted skill as the empathizer-in-chief, Biden bounded through a speech that acknowledged the nation’s struggles while remaining unerringly optimistic. He went off script regularly, parrying Republican lawmakers who heckled him, at one point backing the whole party into a corner and getting them to swear to protect Medicare and Social Security benefits.

I think that age question is not going to come up for a little while:  

Whatever the White House cooks are feeding Biden these days, I’d like a plate of it myself. It’s like he’s Benjamin-Buttoning all of a sudden. And as he ponders running for reelection and nervous Democrats eye a younger candidate, Tuesday’s speech suggests he’s still got it when it comes to retail politicking.

This overstates the contrast a bit but there’s something here:

Obama saw the SOTU as an opportunity to speak to the American people while Congress watched. Biden sees the SOTU as an opportunity to talk to Congress while the American people watch.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) February 8, 2023

💯