State of the divided union

... The Democrats don’t value the DACA illegal aliens who benefited from Obama’s equally illegal amnesty because, as they claim, they’re really Americans. They only care about them to the extent that they aren’t. And even they’re useful only as a wedge issue for open borders and unlimited migration....

Illegal aliens will produce diminishing returns. It’s the open border that feeds the Dem pipeline. The Dems will take amnesty if they can get it, but they’ll never trade it for an end to their political pipeline....

A wall doesn’t just cut off the pathway of illegal aliens into this country; it cuts off the pathway of the Democrats to their new majority. And then their political Ponzi scheme falls apart, as such schemes usually do, when the momentum feeding it fails.

That’s why a border wall is a threat to the political survival of the Democrats. And it’s why they will do everything they can to stop it.

There are two stories of America. One is the American story and the other the un-American story.

On one side there are pilgrims settling a new land and on the other colonists ethnically cleansing the native population. One side sees war heroes and the other sees killers. One sees brave police officers and the other genocidal bigots in uniform. One sees America. And the other hates it.

At the State of the Union, we saw those two halves divide up the House Chamber. We saw American elected officials stand for the flag, for the anthem, for veterans, for Jerusalem and for In God We Trust. And we saw the un-American officials selected by corrupt urban machine politics stay seated.

The leaders of America and un-America were there in one room while America’s story was told.

We saw heroes rise in the House Chamber and we saw the Congressional Black Caucus members in kente cloth scowling through the good news about African-American unemployment. Rep. Pelosi grimaced and Senator Schumer glared through President Trump’s appeal for bipartisanship....

President Trump’s speech wasn’t divisive. But it did divide. It divided those in the House Chamber who love this country from those who don’t. It divided those who honor our troops, our anthem and our flag from those who take a knee. It divided those who want to make America great again from the left.

The State of the Union vision of exposed the divisions between America and un-America.....

We were reminded what we are capable of. And we were reminded of how much the left hates that.

President Trump’s State of the Union address was more than a great speech. It was our story. It was a reminder of who we are and what makes us great. It was the living soul of America soaring once again....

The left thinks that the ultimate power lies in government. That is why they’re scrambling to take over. It’s why the 2020 primaries are already looking like a clown car of senile senators and affirmative action wonder boys and girls. It’s why their judges are trying to block everything that President Trump does....

Tonight’s State of the Union speech was a triumph for President Trump. The speech was excellent, and Trump knew it cold and delivered it effectively.

The president began with a recitation of his administration’s achievements that was truly impressive. Trump emphasized, appropriately, the remarkable gains our economy has made in just one year....

The president’s reception by most in the House chamber was rapturous, which must have been an eye-opener for some who watched. For the Democrats, the optics were very bad. They ostentatiously refused to stand or even applaud, even in response to the least controversial passages in Trump’s speech. One of the most striking visuals was of the Democrats’ Black Caucus refusing to stand for, or even applaud, the lowest African-American unemployment rate in history.

If I were an African-American viewing the proceedings, I would wonder: whose side are they on?

Equally dismal was when almost all the Democrats refused to stand in response to Trump’s statement that we should all rise for the National Anthem. Here, and repeatedly through the evening, the Democrats were playing to a very small audience. Their audience probably got even smaller when they were seen fiddling with their cell phones.

Immigration was naturally a significant topic. Trump began, shrewdly, by emphasizing security and the vicious MS-13 gang, which largely hushed the illegal immigrants who had been invited into the chamber by Democrats....

... The lengthy discussion of positive effects from the tax cut probably sounded political to Democrats, but when you’re giving a speech about how the country is doing, it’s entirely appropriate to talk about how a policy you implemented is playing out in real life. That’s called substance. It’s something many in Washington - and many who write about Washington - are not familiar with.

There’s a lot of focus this morning on Trump’s immigration emphasis, with people saying he took a “hard line” and that few minds will be changed as a result. But what he actually did was offer a solution to the never-ending controversy, which is more than generous to illegal childhood arrivals while taking solid steps to make sure we’re not looking at another generation with the same problem decades from now.

The looks on Democrats’ faces were priceless, especially in the moments when Trump called on both parties to put aside differences and engage in bipartisan cooperation. Chuck Schumer looked constipated as he tried to figure out whether he should applaud or give Trump a death glare. Nancy Pelosi looked like she’d been replaced by a mannequin. Trump was being perfectly conciliatory, yet they couldn’t acknowledge it because seething hatred of Donald Trump has basically become the brand of the Democratic Party....

I don’t think State of the Union addresses matter much, and I don’t think last night was much of an exception, with this caveat: What the public hears about Trump is that he’s a monster whose unfit for office. What they saw of him last night makes that claim look pretty ridiculous. So does his actual governing record. At some point, if this keeps up, the public is going to conclude that it’s Trump’s overheated critics who are actually deranged.

... The left today hates our military. They hate the notion of national security. Like Obama, they cannot abide the unfair advantage, as they see it, of American might, American success, and American freedom which they are always trying to impede, to restrict, to regulate and tax. The left has been doing its best to turn the United States into Venezuela for two generations. Progressivism is socialism. Venezuela is how it ends....

But this much is clear: the Democratic Party is today the party of illegal immigrants. That is their core constituency, that is who they represent over and above Americans.

It was truly shocking for all to see how disrespectful were the Democrats in attendance. Do they think their bad manners will endear them to the American people, most of whom have been taught basic manners and probably agree with nearly every word Trump spoke tonight? Do they think that refusing to stand for the heroes and victims Trump profiled will win over new voters....

High taxes, redistribution of wealth, open borders, the erasure of gender, the primacy of skin color, the dumbing-down of education across the board: these are the policies the Democrats promote. This is why they are desperate for illegal immigration, amnesty for millions, and chain migration. They cannot remain in power if they do not massively increase the dependent class they themselves created by design....

One year into the unlikely presidency of Donald J. Trump and how the political landscape has changed. This Scottish immigrant’s son turned billionaire Manhattan builder, reality-television star, staple of the New York City tabloid press, and bête-noire of his former friends on the institutional Left, who view him, as the Republicans once viewed Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as a “traitor to his class.” To judge from the surly, sorrowful expressions on the Democrats’ faces on Tuesday night during the State of the Union, you might have thought the president had just shot their dog and was taunting them about it on national television.

During most of his pro-America applause lines, including Trump’s announcement of record low black unemployment, the Democrats sat on their hands. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) ostentatiously paraded out of the House chamber near the end of the speech, while Trump was praising the sacrifices of America’s war dead. Afterward, the American Civil Liberties Union complained the president had used the word “American” too many times for its taste.

Could their churlish animosity be any clearer?...