Former CIA Director John Brennan is an unabashed member of The Resistance. He and the rest of the Trump-hating left are bitterly clinging to the hope that a miracle will occur in the impeachment trial. Nothing short of a vote in the Senate to affirm that the president is guilty of the charges before them will suffice. Then, of course, President Trump must be removed from office.
Reality is slowly setting in for men like Brennan. President Trump will not be voted guilty in the Senate and he will not be removed from office. He will serve out the rest of his term. Brennan has found a way to vent about Trump through a sweet gig as a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. During an appearance on Chuck Todd’s MSNBC show on Monday, Brennan went so far as to say that President Trump should just cancel the State of the Union address this year.
It probably shouldn’t surprise us that Brennan made such a statement. He’s an authoritarian and denying the opportunity of an opposing view to be heard is what authoritarians do. Just look at the problems conservative speakers on college campuses have. Brennan’s contention is that since the timing of the address by the president and the impeachment trial may collide, the State of the Union address should be canceled. The date scheduled for the president to deliver the address is February 4 – next Tuesday. Brennan has no more clear idea of when the impeachment trial will be wrapping up than any of the rest of us but he wanted to get out there and release his vitriol, just in case.
Brennan is worried about the intersection of two events and, well, it’s just embarrassing to America on the world stage, you know. And, just like that, show host Chuck Todd chimed in with agreement. Brennan said, “I just cannot imagine. It’s not just embarrassing, but also I think it’s very destructive to the image of the United States worldwide to have this going on and have Mr. Trump up there.” Todd’s response was, “‘State of our union is strong,’ who the hell is going to say that?”
Are you kidding me? It’s bad enough to have a former government employee go off on President Trump and calling him out for something that hasn’t even happened yet – making the SOTU speech all about him and not the country – but for Chuck Todd to ask who the hell is going to say that the state of our union is strong is beyond the pale. If either are truly worried about America’s image across the globe, they have only to check themselves. The former CIA Director trashing the leader of the free world on television – a show that was airing during a break from the impeachment trial, by the way – is the worst look to be projected.
I realize that Chuck Todd and his ilk live in a special kind of bubble. What he and his pals don’t understand, though, is that at least half of the country doesn’t agree with such hyperbole and doesn’t appreciate hearing it. There are millions of people in America who can say the state of our union is strong without hesitation. Cable news show hosts think of our nation’s union in only partisan thoughts – the political divisiveness that polarizes those in Washington, D.C. and other hubs of the political class isn’t how most of America lives. We go about our lives and don’t become paralyzed by those around us who may hold different political opinions.
It must distress Brennan and Todd that the campaign rally held in New Jersey this week produced such a huge turnout of folks wanting to get in. Thousands of people lined up for hours in cold weather hoping to get a seat inside. The economy continues to boom, unemployment is still at record lows, employment of minorities and young people is at record highs, regulations are being stripped from crushing small businesses and big employers alike, for a few examples of what is going right for voters. If Brennan is so concerned about the world’s opinion of President Trump and America, he can look at NATO and see the kudos Trump receives for holding other nations accountable for their fair share of dues. He is holding Mexico and other countries accountable for surges in illegal immigration on the southern border. Trump signed the largest trade agreement with bipartisan support yesterday when he signed the USMCA. And, there is a new middle east peace agreement. Americans are feeling a high level of satisfaction. According to Gallup, the satisfaction level is also higher than its historical average.
Satisfaction “with the way things are going” in the United States has reached a 15-year high, about four times better than the low points registered under President Barack Obama.
In its latest survey, Gallup said that 41% are satisfied with the direction of the nation. The last time it hit that level was in 2005, during the administration of President George W. Bush.
Under Obama, it hit about 10% in his first and third year, but it rose to the mid-30s in his last year.
“The higher level of satisfaction measured in the Jan. 2-15 Gallup poll comes at a time when Americans’ evaluations of the U.S. economy are the best they have been in nearly two decades, perhaps because of continued low unemployment and record stock values,” said the analysis, which was accompanied with a photo of happy younger people.
As long as the economy holds and the Trump administration carries on with a positive agenda for Americans, hacks like Brennan and Todd are going to be really disappointed on Election Day in November. There is no reason to cancel the State of the Union address. Brennan must have forgotten that President Clinton delivered the address during his impeachment trial. The country survived just fine.
