At State of the Union, women in white stand up (or sit down) to Trump

[webfact]

At State of the Union, women in white stand up (or sit down) to Trump

By Jeff Mason

 

Democratic female members of Congress cheer after President Trump said there are more women in Congress than ever before during his second State of the Union address. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He didn't count on the women in white.

 

President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday was billed as his attempt to unify the country.

 

But Democratic women lawmakers from the House of Representatives, many of them dressed elegantly in white to celebrate 100 years of women having the right to vote, projected a picture of calm displeasure during Trump's speech that made clear his version of unity was not one they could accept.

 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the country, sat behind the president on the stage, wearing a white pantsuit. She shook her head or looked on disapprovingly when he challenged Democrats or laid out a dark vision of illegal immigrants assailing America.

 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez arrives with guest Ana Maria Archilla of New York, before President Donald Trump delivers his second State of the Union address. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a young social media star, looked down or away when Trump delivered comments she viewed as egregious and stared daggers at colleagues who stood and clapped.

 

Then the president spoke about women in the workforce, and the dynamic changed. Briefly.

 

As he lauded the growing number of women finding jobs in the economy, the women lawmakers in white rose and cheered, apparently for themselves, for filling many of the open jobs in Congress during the congressional elections in November.

 

"You weren't supposed to do that," Trump said with a smile, pointing at them and drawing laughter.

 

Telling them not to sit down yet because there was more good news to come, Trump went on to recognize the record number of women serving in the Capitol.

 

They cheered some more and chanted: "USA, USA!" Republicans joined in.

 

It was a rare moment during the long speech, which otherwise drew mixed reactions from the audience, divided with Republicans on one side of the chamber and Democrats on the other, in a reflection of the deep partisan chasm that has characterized the country before and after Trump's 2016 election victory.

 

When Trump said the United States would be at war with North Korea had he not won the presidency, Democrats groaned. When he declared the state of the union "strong," they disagreed and most stayed in their seats. When he warned against "ridiculous partisan investigations," the sound of hissing could be heard.

 

Proclaiming that the United States would never be a socialist country, Trump drew an ovation from Republicans and even some Democrats. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential hopeful, hesitated but eventually stood up and clapped. Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic Socialist, smiled broadly.

 

BIPARTISAN MOMENTS

There were some moments of bipartisanship.

 

When the president called for embracing the principles of compromise, Pelosi stood up and applauded heartily. Trump turned around and nodded to her in acknowledgement.

 

Lawmakers applauded an elderly American who helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Germany during World War Two and erupted in cheers for former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.

 

But those moments were more a rarity than a rule.

 

At the beginning of the evening, as Trump entered the chamber, Republicans clapped, while some Democrats stood and kept their hands folded.

 

The image-conscious president's signature red tie hung slightly to the left in his jacket as he walked in, and stayed that way while he spoke.

 

In the chamber's balcony, first lady Melania Trump, dressed in black, sat with specially invited guests.

 

They included Debra Bissell, whose parents Trump said were killed by an illegal immigrant; Matthew Charles, a former drug dealer who was released from prison as part of bipartisan prison reform efforts; and Joshua Trump, a sixth-grade student from Delaware who has been bullied because of his last name.

 

Pelosi's guests included two active-duty transgender members of the U.S. Army, Captain Jennifer Peace and Major Ian Brown, in a critique of Trump's efforts to ban transgender men and women from serving in the military.

 

During the 35-day government shutdown that ended on Jan. 25,

 

Pelosi essentially rescinded Trump's invitation to deliver his address in the House chamber.

 

The White House considered choosing another location for the president's speech, perhaps at a venue near the U.S.-Mexico border to emphasize his call for a wall to keep out illegal immigrants.

 

But Trump decided to delay, wanting the pageantry and spotlight that only come with the annual address to Congress inside the Capitol's walls.

 

He got the pageantry. He got the decorum. But unity was scarce.

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-07

[Puchaiyank]

Trump will not receive Democratic support...ever.  Both sides will weigh every issue as a political victory or defeat as the run-up to the 2020 elections have already begun...

 

Meanwhile, important  much need reform and legislation will suffer in limbo.

[mikebike]

1 minute ago, Puchaiyank said:

Trump will not receive Democratic support...ever.  Both sides will weigh every issue as a political victory or defeat as the run-up to the 2020 elections have already begun...

 

Meanwhile, important  much need reform and legislation will suffer in limbo.

Or, from a different point of view, your second paragraph could read:

 

"Meanwhile, useless, divisive, Trump adjenda will suffer in limbo."

????????

[thaibeachlovers]

Like him or hate him, Trump is a divisive character. The politicians will do as politicians always do- waste taxpayers money by playing partisan politics and not dealing with important issues. Seems the US congress is more interested in scoring points on Trump than doing their job, for which they are extremely well paid.

Edited February 7, 2019 by thaibeachlovers

[mikebike]

24 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Like him or hate him, Trump is a divisive character. The politicians will do as politicians always do- waste taxpayers money by playing partisan politics and not dealing with important issues. Seems the US congress is more interested in scoring points on Trump than doing their job, for which they are extremely well paid.

Seems the US congress is interested in dealing with the big issues currently on the table.

 

No useless wall.

 

Investigate corruption in the current administration.

 

Wrestle power from the party who loves billionaires getting richer and screwing the average peeps.

 

Move the Overton window by introducing popular policy designed to help regular, working, people.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Move the Overton window by introducing popular policy designed to help regular, working, people.

Since when did any politicians anywhere help regular working people?

[riclag]

The President nailed it!   I liked when Buzz Aldrin saluted him!

 

I don't know why these women dress up in  white! Was  it to seek attention!

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/428716-liz-cheney-dem-women-didnt-applaud-for-us-or-freedom-but-clapped-for  themselves 

Edited February 7, 2019 by riclag

[mikebike]

18 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Since when did any politicians anywhere help regular working people?

You forgot to ask, "name one country where high marginal tax rates ever worked?"

 

????????????????????

 

Learning history is a good thing. Do you recall FDR?

[Longcut]

20 minutes ago, riclag said:

The President nailed it!   I liked when Buzz Aldrin saluted him!

 

I don't know why these women dress up in  white! Was  it to seek attention!

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/428716-liz-cheney-dem-women-didnt-applaud-for-us-or-freedom-but-clapped-for  themselves 

Democrats, the party of the KKK. The only thing missing was their white hoods.

[crees]

I believe the white wear was a symbol of the KKK. At one time in American history the Democrats were the slave owners … and had something to do with the civil war. Please feel free to straighten out my history 

[Slip]

25 minutes ago, riclag said:

The President nailed it!   I liked when Buzz Aldrin saluted him!

 

I don't know why these women dress up in  white! Was  it to seek attention!

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/428716-liz-cheney-dem-women-didnt-applaud-for-us-or-freedom-but-clapped-for  themselves 

Nailed it? 

 

and in answer to your question:

 

Quote

...Democratic women lawmakers from the House of Representatives, many of them dressed elegantly in white to celebrate 100 years of women having the right to vote...

 

[Tug]

Donald you reap what you sow

[mikebike]

7 minutes ago, crees said:

I believe the white wear was a symbol of the KKK. At one time in American history the Democrats were the slave owners … and had something to do with the civil war. Please feel free to straighten out my history 

Ok.

 

White worn for 100 YR anniversary of success of the suffrage movement and women receiving the vote.

 

There was a dem/gop flip in ideology in the 1860s/70s.

[geriatrickid]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Since when did any politicians anywhere help regular working people?

Roosevelt: New Deal

Eisenhower:  Continued New Deal Agencies, expanded social security, support for science education that laid the foundation for the USA's hitech/biotech excellence.

Kennedy: Civil Rights Act, loosened monetary policy which made home ownership affordable.

Johnson; Voting Rights Act, support of the Space Program which created   well paying jobs for tens of thousands of Americans and bolstered the USA's strength in the hitech & transportation sector.

Nixon; Clean Air Act which benefited those who lived in heavy polluting factory  towns and cities,  created OSHA which protected workers from unsafe workplaces.

 

All of the above signature legislation required the input, assistance and agreement of the US Congress.

I am leaving off the more recent  politicians because people will just nitpick. However, the point here is that the USA despite political fights still manages to get things done and to enact legislation that benefits everyone.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

3 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

Roosevelt: New Deal

Eisenhower:  Continued New Deal Agencies, expanded social security, support for science education that laid the foundation for the USA's hitech/biotech excellence.

Kennedy: Civil Rights Act, loosened monetary policy which made home ownership affordable.

Johnson; Voting Rights Act, support of the Space Program which created   well paying jobs for tens of thousands of Americans and bolstered the USA's strength in the hitech & transportation sector.

Nixon; Clean Air Act which benefited those who lived in heavy polluting factory  towns and cities,  created OSHA which protected workers from unsafe workplaces.

 

All of the above signature legislation required the input, assistance and agreement of the US Congress.

I am leaving off the more recent  politicians because people will just nitpick. However, the point here is that the USA despite political fights still manages to get things done and to enact legislation that benefits everyone.

 

 

Great post and thank you for taking the time to compile it.

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, geriatrickid said:

Roosevelt: New Deal

Eisenhower:  Continued New Deal Agencies, expanded social security, support for science education that laid the foundation for the USA's hitech/biotech excellence.

Kennedy: Civil Rights Act, loosened monetary policy which made home ownership affordable.

Johnson; Voting Rights Act, support of the Space Program which created   well paying jobs for tens of thousands of Americans and bolstered the USA's strength in the hitech & transportation sector.

Nixon; Clean Air Act which benefited those who lived in heavy polluting factory  towns and cities,  created OSHA which protected workers from unsafe workplaces.

 

All of the above signature legislation required the input, assistance and agreement of the US Congress.

I am leaving off the more recent  politicians because people will just nitpick. However, the point here is that the USA despite political fights still manages to get things done and to enact legislation that benefits everyone.

 

 

I don't think people will nitpick more recent signature legislation because there hasn't been any. The Great Society ended with Nixon. Some might say Obamacare but all it did was pick some winners and lots of losers.

[AgMech Cowboy]

3 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Trump will not receive Democratic support...ever.  Both sides will weigh every issue as a political victory or defeat as the run-up to the 2020 elections have already begun...

 

Meanwhile, important  much need reform and legislation will suffer in limbo.

Well said. 

[bristolboy]

2 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

I don't think people will nitpick more recent signature legislation because there hasn't been any. The Great Society ended with Nixon. Some might say Obamacare but all it did was pick some winners and lots of losers.

The uninsured rate fell dramatically. And the problems with it could easily have been fixed if the Republicans wanted to. Instead they chose to make it worse.

[BobBKK]

Yup they are all innocent virgins.

[AgMech Cowboy]

They should have been wearing scarlet red in remembrance of babies they'll be killing in NY and similar states that have approved the trimester abortion laws. Plus none of those women have enough virtue to wear white.

[BobBKK]

2 hours ago, mikebike said:

Ok.

 

White worn for 100 YR anniversary of success of the suffrage movement and women receiving the vote.

 

There was a dem/gop flip in ideology in the 1860s/70s.

Yes, yea, yea we all believe that. The problem is identity politics it's ruining everything.  Women, Gays, Blacks, Natives and 'Little bit natives'.  We are all humans.

[lannarebirth]

7 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

The uninsured rate fell dramatically. And the problems with it could easily have been fixed if the Republicans wanted to. Instead they chose to make it worse.

The problems with it are it didn't put the healthcare insurance companies out of business, it didn't allow for government negotiation for pharmaceuticals and it is funded by premiums rather than from the general budget, just to name a few. I don't think any of those things were ever proposed.

[neeray]

3 hours ago, mikebike said:

Or, from a different point of view, your second paragraph could read:

 

"Meanwhile, useless, divisive, Trump adjenda will suffer in limbo."

????????

Or we could recall that Obama was forced to govern for 8 years up against the confines of "The Party of No".

What goes around comes around ! Pity, but that's the way it is in U S politics.

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

All of the above signature legislation required the input, assistance and agreement of the US Congress.

You left out POTUS Ronald Reagan:

While Reagan opposed “compulsory health insurance through a government bureau for people who don’t need it or who have . . . even a few million dollars tucked away,” he championed the Kerr-Mills Act of 1960, a law introduced by two Democrats that gave federal money to states with which to provide medical care for the elderly in need. Reagan said that he was “in favor of this bill — and if the money isn’t enough, I think we should put up more.”

https://freopp.org/why-ronald-reagan-embraced-universal-coverage-1a024e3e74b3

Reagan explicitly supported the role of government in subsidizing care for every American who could not otherwise afford it. That's socialism.

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, mikebike said:

Seems the US congress is interested in dealing with the big issues currently on the table.

 

No useless wall.

 

Investigate corruption in the current administration.

 

Wrestle power from the party who loves billionaires getting richer and screwing the average peeps.

 

Move the Overton window by introducing popular policy designed to help regular, working, people.

 

Pity they failed so miserably to address similar previous issues.

 

 

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, mikebike said:

You forgot to ask, "name one country where high marginal tax rates ever worked?"

 

????????????????????

 

Learning history is a good thing. Do you recall FDR?

 

Perhaps you can name one socialist country that really works?

 

Even the Scandinavians who managed to to make mild socialism work by avoiding so much human greed have started to stutter thanks to their open borders and attempts at being welcoming to immigrants who detest their hosts and want to impose their own crap society.

 

Socialism, like communism, is a theory that when put into practice fails - due to those lovely human traits of greed, arrogance, vanity, stupidity, envy and hypocrisy.

 

Capitalism may not be perfect, may favor the wealthy, but has been more successful and hasn't had to resort to the enslavement and forced indoctrination so often seen in leftist countries.

[rascalman]

Self serving no goods, not helping all the people. I hate them all. 

[Jingthing]

The only thing people will remember about this SOTU for more than five minutes -- the shade clap to end all shade claps. Thank you Nancy! One for the ages. Surely it will be featured for all time in histories of the rise and fall of America's first (and hopefully last) fake populist white nationalist demagogue president

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-exquisite-rudeness-of-nancy-pelosis-clap-at-the-state-of-the-union/2019/02/06/49ddeb08-298f-11e9-b2fc-721718903bfc_story.html

The exquisite shade of Nancy Pelosi’s applause at the State of the Union

 

 

Edited February 7, 2019 by Jingthing

[guest879]

the democrats tried to stop women from getting the vote in 1919 and they turn up celebrating it. idiotic.

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, guest879 said:

the democrats tried to stop women from getting the vote in 1919 and they turn up celebrating it. idiotic.

You do realize parties can change radically over the course of decades and centuries, right?