#1,069: Boycott the SOTU Address

As President of the United States, D.J.T., a.k.a. the Fondling Father, is a man of many firsts:

Richest person ever elected POTUS;
Oldest person ever to take the oath of office (he was inaugurated for his second, nonconsecutive term on January 20, 2025 at the age of 78 years, 220 days, breaking the previous record held by President Joseph R. Biden);
Married and divorced more than any president (3 marriages, 2 divorces);
Coined more money while serving in office than any other POTUS. (It is estimated that he and his family made $3.4 billion after his first year back in office);
Has named more things after himself than any other POTUS. (Trump-class U.S.S. Defiant; The Trump Gold Card; The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts; Trump Institute for Peace). Hell’s bells, it took Congress nearly a half century (47 years to be precise) to name the Headquarters of the U.S. Department of State after Harry S. Truman back in September 2000, and “Give ‘Em Hell Harry” had by that time been out of office since 1953, and deceased since back in December 1972;
Has delivered the longest (1:39:32) address to a joint session of Congress by any POTUS in U.S. history. (n.b. This longest-of-all presidential speeches, which he delivered on March 4, 2025 [and coming in at a whopping 9,831 words] was not, literally, a SOTU address. Starting in 1981, presidents have been invited to address a joint session of Congress early in the first year of their presidency. These have occurred in 1981 [Reagan] 1989 [G.H.W. Bush], 1993, [Bill Clinton] 2001 [G.W. Bush], 2009 [Barack Obama], 2017, [ D.J.T.] 2021 [Joe Biden], and 2025 [D.J.T).

It’s this last tidbit - Felon47’s penchant for droning on and on whenever there’s a vast crowd and a room full of television cameras before, behind to the right and the left of him - that’s been causing me uncertainty and unease. The question over the past several weeks has been “Were I a member of Congress, would I attend or would I boycott the address? On the one hand, American history is replete with SOTUs in which the chamber was filled with members of both parties, whether or not they agreed with the man speaking at the dais. For decades they were there out of respect to the office of President - plus the Constitution and the 3 branches of government - even if not for the man himself. But every time I considered our Beloved Pouter Pigeon’s utter and obvious disesteem for these aforementioned building blocks of democracy, I find myself less and less sanguine with attending . . . were I a member of the House or Senate.

Then too, there are rarely any surprises when this man speaks. Wherever and whenever he speaks, there are far more lies than truths to be heard; too many unscripted asides in which he imitates a fatuous fableist; too much time given over to venting his spleen, tearing people down, (calling them names better suited to a nasty 3rd grader than the leader of the free world); and taking credit for things that never truly occurred. Even a solid, well-grounded respect for both democracy and the office of POTUS (which I, personally, have in abundance, as I’m rather certain you do as well) makes me want to boycott. I have enough gastroenterological issues; 2 hours of listening to him just might put me in back on the operating table for yet another strictureplasty.

As we near the 24-hour mark until February 24, I have made up my mind; were I a senator, I would boycott the speech, opting instead to join into the counterprogramming event on the National Mall that Democratic Senators Markey (D-Mass.), Merkley (D.-Ore), Van Hollen (D.-MD) and Schiff (D,-CA) (among many others) have dubbed the “People’s State of the Union.”

In past years, people watching the SOTU on television have seen members of Congress - both Republican and Democrat - interrupt speeches by both IT and Biden by calling out “LIAR!” or holding up paddles bearing messages like “Save Medicaid,” “Musk Steals,” and simply “FALSE.” Some critics panned the gestures as performative; others defended them as a necessary show of resistance. The disruptions reached their apex (or nadir, depending on where you sit) last year when Texas Rep. Al Green was ejected from the chamber (and later censured) after disrupting IT’s speech with a cane-waving tirade.

Among those who will be in attendance at the “People's SOTU” are:

Calif. Rep. Eric Swalwell;
New York Rep. Dan Goldman;
Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman
Minnesota Mayer Jacob Frey;
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson;
Actor Robert DeNiro;
Actor Mark Ruffalo.

There have been discussions within the Democratic Caucus as to what might, beyond the counterprogram, be the best way to proceed. Some would be satisfied to have less than half their colleagues be in attendance for the address . . . thus showing an obvious dearth of members in the House chamber. Some have urged that they attend, and then, when the perfunctory announcement “Mr. SPEAKER: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!” is made, they stand up and leave the building en masse. Of course, the optics of such a mass exodus could wind up kicking the Dems. in the tuchus . . . but sometimes that’s just the price one pays for engaging in acts of political courage. No doubt, any such walkout would show on his face, wreaking havoc with The Fondling Father’s famously orange punim . . . reportedly provided by his daily application of Bronx Colors Boosting Hydrating Orange Pancake Concealer. Then too, any ego injury suffered by POTUS might not even be shown; it so happens that the political party in control of the House of Representatives (MAGA) controls the cameras, with staff under the direction of the Speaker of the House managing the feed.

Shortly after the SOTU concludes, recently-elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response. Spanberger, a former undercover CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year, resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican. She won that race by a double-digit margin. It isn’t an easy task; like all SOTU responders, she’s reading off a teleprompter that was mostly engineered prior to the president’s address being given. Fortunately, with this POTUS, one can predict what he would say even before his teleprompter was locked and loaded. Speaking about what Governor Spanberger’s task would be, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated “She stands in stark contrast to [POTUS]. She will lay out a clear path forward: lower everyday costs, protect healthcare, and defend the freedoms that define who we are as a nation.” It will be up to Governor Spanberger to present not just a rebuttal; she has been sent out with orders to present - as best she can - the earliest brushstrokes of the Democrat’s platform for 2026 and 2028 . . . something that can undo MAGA’s monstrous Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.”

The professional politicians of Capitol Hill are about to face their Shakespearean moment: To boycott or not to boycott; that is the question.” For those of us who are not elected officials we also have a choice. I for one will be boycotting the actual live speech; there won’t be any surprises. The person giving the address has not a millimeter of morality about him, let alone scruples, honesty or love of country. While I revere the office of the president, I totally denounce and execrate the man who so thoroughly abuses it with his every passing breath. And so yes, I will definitely be boycotting his address tomorrow night.

What I will be doing is keeping my television on PBS and radio on NPR for their live broadcasts and then watching MSNOW for their well-wrought fact checking, and stellar (though admittedly progressive) post-address analysis.

Whatever you choose to do is, of course, up to you. But do remember, when all is said and done, WE THE PEOPLE have the final say . . .