It was a big week in American politics, with Donald Trump giving his first official State Of The Union speech of his second term to Congress, but we felt even this was overshadowed by Trump seemingly slouching towards a new war with Iran. America going to war used to be a very big deal to the public, but on Trump's watch it seems to be just another item within the firehose of distractions he continually creates.

That sounds cynical, but it's not even the most cynical take on things. Hardcore cynics point out that Trump seems to launch his military attacks whenever the Epstein files begin to get some traction in the news again. We're not sure if we totally buy into that thinking, but it is worth considering, seeing how Trump does almost everything for the stupidest of reasons.

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The Democratic response to Donald Trump's marathon State Of The Union speech was fractured, but not quite as fractured as last year. Perhaps that is faint praise, but we are speaking about Democrats here....

Was that too snarky? Sorry, let me start over.... Democrats faced with the problem of how to counter Trump's speech Tuesday night came up with several ideas for the best way to do so. Should they just not attend? Should they protest in the chamber itself, either visually (with signs and buttons), audibly (by shouting at Trump), or by silently standing up and walking out at some point? Should they hold an alternative event (or two) to counterprogram what was going on inside the Capitol? Should they just hold a snowball fight on the National Mall? Well, they decided "all of the above!" (except for that last one -- there was no snowball fight, I just had to throw that in there for amusement).

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I was inspired to write that headline as I was reading a review of Donald Trump's State Of The Union speech in the New York Times. A group of their political commentators were asked about various aspects of the speech, and under the subject heading of: "What Else Mattered," Binyamin Appelbaum responded:

When Roman emperors ran out of ideas, they promised bread and circuses. Trump's speech was full of circuses, including a lengthy celebration of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team. But he's no Roman emperor: He made a point of reminding the American people that his administration is providing a lot less food to the poor (having "lifted" 2.4 million people off food stamps).

[Just to give credit where it is due....]

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Tomorrow night, Donald Trump will address Congress and the nation. Not to mention the Supreme Court members who show up as well -- which should prove to be one of the most interesting segments of his speech (just for entertainment value alone). Of course, there is little doubt about what Trump is going to say tomorrow night overall -- that the state of the Union is not just good but downright wonderful! The best ever! Everything is great! The glorious Golden Age of Trump has arrived! Be joyous and celebrate, one and all!

Sadly, that's not even overstating what Trump will likely say. If anything, it might actually understate it. Today, Trump gave us all a little teaser, which was exactly what you'd expect from him:

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Donald Trump just got the biggest smackdown of his second term from the Supreme Court today, as they ruled -- 6 to 3, even! -- that Trump does not have the authority he assumed he had to slap any tariff he felt like, on any country he felt like, for any reason he felt like.

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California voters will go to the polls to vote in a primary election in a few months, to choose the candidates for governor who will move on to the general election. But as a new poll shows, the result might be pretty shocking and may even give rise to a movement to change the way the state's primaries are conducted. Because as things stand right now, there is a very real chance that come November, the overwhelmingly-Democratic state might only have two Republican candidates on the ballot to choose from. Which, as I said, would be pretty shocking.

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In less than a week, Donald Trump will give his first official State Of The Union address to a joint gathering of Congress. His address to Congress last year wasn't an official State Of The Union, but it showed how Democrats were still unsure about how to react to him being president once again. I am reminded of the old Will Rogers quip: "I am not a member of any organized political party -- I am a Democrat," in fact. Democrats had no cohesive way of showing their disapproval of Trump, so instead they tried the "throw the spaghetti at the wall" strategy of having everyone do whatever they felt like doing. Some Democrats had little paddle-like signs they held up (with multiple different disapproving messages, showing a lack of cohesion), some Democrats refused to attend, some Democrats got up and walked out during the speech, and one stood up and started screaming back at Trump. The whole thing was a disorganized mess, message-discipline-wise. Democrats looked unorganized and weak.

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I am going to begin this remembrance with my own personal story, minimal though it is. In 1988, I attended a political speech given by Reverend Jesse Jackson. He was running for president at the time, in his second national campaign for the Democratic nomination. Unfortunately, the arena he had booked was filled to overflowing by the time I showed up, so we heard the speech on speakers placed outside the venue. So while I didn't actually see Jackson speak, at least I got to hear his oratory.

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The history of organized national presidential/political polling may have begun way back in President Andrew Jackson's time. That's pretty amazing when you think about it, considering the glacial pace of long-range communications in that horse-and-buggy era (the 1820s and 1830s). There were no telephone polls because there were no telephones. Even the telegraph network in this country was still in the future. Railroads hadn't conquered the continent yet. Most news went as fast as either a horse could run or a boat could float. In fact, the major waterways of the era were the equivalent of the Interstate highway system -- they were the funnels through which most travellers (and most news) flowed. And this was the dawn of a golden age of boat travel, because of the rise of steam-powered riverboats.

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Perhaps it was because the week ends on Friday the 13th, but whatever the real reason was, Donald Trump didn't have a great week this week. Which, of course, is good news for everyone else! There was actually a lot of good news in the political world this week -- so much that we're not even going to bother with the other news that wasn't so good.

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