A Surviving Facts Blog
I didn’t watch Trump’s State of the Union address-I tend not to watch these performances, though I did read the transcript and articles fact-checking his claims.
The article on FactCheck.org, began with this: “In his first address to a joint session of Congress in his second term, President Donald Trump distorted the facts on fraud, immigration, aid to Ukraine, the economy, autism and more.” That’s a pretty damning summary, though we should hardly be surprised. Trump’s relationship with facts has always been tenuous at best, despite his savvy at twisting words to validate his distortions. Remember “alternate facts”? Yeah, that came out of Trump’s first presidency as well as a deep mistrust of science.
In this speech, Trump blamed Biden for the “catastrophe” he inherited, a bold statement since inflation had declined significantly, the job market was strong and the stock market was booming. Since Trump and Musk have begun to systematically rip the government apart, these measures have turned for the worst. The stock market continues to tumble amid layoffs and tariffs, prices are climbing with Bird Flu and retaliatory tariffs, and government layoffs are flooding the job market with too few jobs available. It’s a flagstation and recessionary environment.
What I am going to do is grump. I am tired of the contorted period in which we live. Trump claims one thing. The press analyzes and provides conflicting data. The Dems seem completely absent, though I hear they are working behind the scenes.
And, of course, it’s all the Dems fault. It’s Biden, Obama, Clinton- the whole lot of them have extraordinary powers to influence these measures now that the Republicans rule the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. They are both wizards and incompetent- isn’t this an oxymoron?
I’m not going to march through Trump’s entire ridiculous speech to point out the outrageous inaccuracies. You can go to FactCheck.org or other real news sites for that information (NPR, Washington Post, AP News, Politifact). P.S.: These are not liberal news sources. When source after source aligns as to accuracy or inaccuracy, the result is alignment, not conspiracy.
But I don’t care about political positions or parties. I’m a registered Independent. I care about people. I care about fairness. I care about dignity.
And that seems to be where our current rift is.
Here’s my experience.
CLAIM: The “people” in government have an easy ride. MY EXPERIENCE: Many of my longstanding friends, connections and acquaintances have lost their jobs. My LinkedIn followers list is crowded with government employees looking for work. I’ve known many of these people for decades. They had a mission, a clear purpose and were delivering on it. In other words; they were not lazy or defrauding the government. They believed in the roles they served and the American public they supported.
CLAIM: Social Security, per Elon himself on the Joe Rogan show, is the greatest Ponzi scheme ever invented. MY EXPERIENCE: I’ve paid the maximum amount into Social Security, year after year. If I had paid into my own investment account, I would have, through compound interest, multiplied my investment many times. Social security is supposed to be ringfenced from political spending. However, the fund has been dipped into many times (primarily by the Republicans, but they will deny that). This is why MY INVESTMENT has not resulted in growth. If that money has been truly protected, compound interest would have played in our favor. Social Security isn’t a Ponzi scheme. It’s a slush fund for political spending. Shame on Musk for misrepresenting this.
CLAIM: Trump was going to end the Ukraine war, reduce prices, cut inflation- all on day one. MY EXPERIENCE: the war is ongoing, prices are increasing, which happens to be the very definition of inflation. In New Jersey, I’m paying almost $9 for 18 eggs. I’m paying more for all groceries and for gas. How about you?
CLAIM: Trump was going to make America great again. MY EXPERIENCE: We no longer have longstanding European allies. We are alone. Trump wants to take Greenland and the Panama Canal. They aren’t for sale. Seems to me, we’ve isolated ourselves in the same way we did before WWII.
I really don’t know what’s going to happen as we move forward. Objectively, by the numbers alone, we aren’t in a good place right now. Who’s going to convince me otherwise?
I would love to hear from you, even if, especially if, you disagree. Perhaps we can bring back the American tradition of debate.
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