Tonight is the annual State of the Union address, where the president appears before Congress to tout his accomplishments over the past year, promote his policy ideas, and outline his hopes for the coming year. Presidents usually try to paint a rosy picture of the state of our country in a speech that is usually long on promises and stump-speech rhetoric and short on details. The president’s party will cheer and howl when he makes an emphatic point, and the opposition will either jeer or remain silent when they disagree.

Both sides will also bring along supportive guests to prove that they really do have the pulse of the country. But tonight feels so different. Numerous Democratic members of Congress are heading up separate events and are not attending the president’s speech. This speaks to the deep divisions within our country and the great fear that comes with having an autocratic state leader. This president does not massage the truth. He eats it up, spits it out, and stomps on it. Why let the truth get in the way of a great lie?

The President’s State of the Dis-Union Address

For we are not in Union as citizens of this country. We have been divided by a narcissistic president, who cares only about his own power and wealth. How else to explain his rosy outlook about an economy that has been battered by high tariffs, tax cuts for the rich, and continued disinvestment?

A president who refuses, despite poll after poll rebuking his positions, to acknowledge that we are indeed not better off than we were a year ago. For example, our close allies in the European Union, recognizing our instability, have decided to bypass the U.S. and establish their own tariff agreements.

We also have a president who, every day, seeks to squash civil and human rights and terrorize citizens who legally reside in this country. Individuals who form the basis for significant economic growth in this country. and much of our cultural wealth. And as individuals have tried to stand up to this tyranny, they have been knocked down, their doors busted open, and murdered for the crime of standing up for democracy and their rights as citizens.

Many people are afraid to leave their homes to go to work, school, or shop for basic necessities. As a result, many businesses are operating with limited hours or are closed altogether, some permanently. This has hurt an already struggling economy.

Children are once again being separated from their parents. Folks are being illegally relocated to Texas and left stranded down there despite promises from the administration that transportation back home will be provided. And almost none of these people are being offered their legal right to counsel.

Foreign Policy, Environment, and More Disasters

Our president assured us that he would end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on his first day in office. It’s been well over a year, and he seems to have washed his hands of the situation. And every day, Russia continues to lob bombs and drones into Ukraine, hitting houses, schools, hospitals, and energy infrastructure, as the death toll rises. Meanwhile, the president and his buddy, Bibi Netanyahu, celebrate the ceasefire in Gaza. while Israeli soldiers kill Palestinians on a daily basis.

The policies of this administration are causing irreparable harm to our air and water. The president and his cronies have effectively dismantled automobile emission standards while approving more “clean coal” power plants. And the current administration is in the process of opening up pristine public land, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon, to fracking and other energy development.

Too Long a List and the Hope of the Nation

And I haven’t even touched on the disaster that is RFK Jr’s Health and Human Services Agency and the virtually non-existent Department of Education. And don’t get me started discussing venerable and important institutions like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and USAID that no longer exist. And while all of this was taking place, our president and his two insipid sons have made billions in the cryptocurrency markets using the president’s clout.

So no, I won’t be watching the president address the nation tonight. I have neither the stomach nor the soul to absorb his lies and disinformation. And what adds insult to injury is that the Republican Party cowers in the presence of him, and the Democrats have no unified voice or sense of urgency to change the situation. As always, the citizens of this country are left standing up for their freedoms and the rule of law, and, in the process, ensuring the defeat of this tyrant once and for all.