Good job!
I think they should all attend. Otherwise it will look like they have turned the government over to Trump. But during his address they should all stand with their backs to him. If they can’t stand they should turn their chairs around facing away from him while he speaks. That will be a nice visual for cameras everywhere.
Practically? Nothing.
There’s no requirement to give a speech in the first place, and for the first century or so, the State of the Union was given solely as a document sent to Congress. The important bits still are, with the speech becoming something that is de facto expected.
Democrats not showing up robs them of their chance to call him out vocally and to avoid the farce of the country watching every attendee, tears in their eyes, rapturously applauding that orange buffoon. Even if only symbolically, it is important to make it clear his support is not nearly unanimous, which would be what the American public would see if they did not show up.
Shortly after the rescission of telework for everyone in my agency, we got an email from the union pointing out that our agency had abided by the unique return-to-work timeline required by our union (the AFGE). This was seen by the union as a positive, since it was evidence that the agency regarded our CBA as a valid, legally-binding contract. Supposedly, it provides leverage in that the union can use in its argument that the telework clause needs to be honored as well. We’ll see…
My CBA does not have any RTO timeline. We simply have the right to telework. PERIOD. In fact, we have not yet been informed as to the specifics of when/how we are to RTO (which was supposed to be this Friday.)
So for us, a clear section of our CBA was simply abrogated. Far from the worst thing facing the American public these days, but just one impacting me the most directly and immediately.
BTW - the head of our Agency circulated their response to the “5-things” request, “thanking” Chump for the opportunity. And listing among their accomplishments firing probationaries and others. 
Quite a difference from our previous Agency heads. Not the kinda words that inspire you to follow someone into battle…
“I FIRED SOMEONE AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT!”
The Democratic party should start selling imitations of the cards and t-shirts for laughs. The shirts would be the sort of thing that a normal person could easily wear ironically.
Honestly a lot of this stuff (the cackhanded approach to ‘efficiency’, T shirts, badges, etc) just makes me think of The Simpsons. Not in a specific way, but because it’s like satire come to life. ‘Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos’ and ‘the mob has spoken’ and so on. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so scary.
In my dreams, all the Democratic members chant “bullshit” throughout his speech.
Yeah - it SHOULD be laughable. But these guys are advancing it - either because they believe it, or because they feel it will persuade simpler minds to believe it. I’m not sure which is scarier - that Musk et al are stupid or craven…
Yeh this is why I just get the Simpsons vibes an awful lot. The willingness of a huge amount of people to go along with the madness, and the blatant exploitation of this groupthink (or whatever you want to call it, not sure that’s quite the right term).
Monorail!! Monorail!! Monoraillllllllllllllllll!!
Apologies. Sometimes the BBC’s pronunciation is a bit “arm” sounding yet I see the name enough in print to know better. Ive lived in Gloucester, Gloucestershire and worked a bit in Worcester, Worcestershire and have them down like a native.
Also this week, French President Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is visiting Tramp and the BBC thinks he’s a charmer. (ETA: The BBC woman on some talk-show did say he’s a “charmer” and to my somewhat deaf ears - esp. the left - “facing” the TV when I’m not watching, it didn’t sound like it rhymed with Starmer)
welcome our cryptocurrency overlords?
Stranger
Trump, trying to castigate the Governor of Maine tells her:
I’m, we are the Federal Law
I thought it was some Emperor, like Napolean who said “I am the law” (in French yet that exact phrase) or Caesar (in some old Latin).
Unless you can count Jesus, who said “I am the Law of Moses” in some language, google mainly credits Judge Dredd, for whom it appears a phrase he says lots.
Hope this won’t screw up my youtube link: She replies “See you in court” and I’d love to know if anyone has ever said that to a President before.
Long before those other examples, Ralph Richardson as The Boss says it to Raymond Massey in the H G Wells movie Things to Come
“La loi, c’est moi.”
Actually you’re probably thinking of “L’État, c’est moi”, attributed to Louis XIV. “La loi, c’est moi” is just a French translation of Judge Dredd’s catchphrase.
Trump would think that means something about eating cake.
(from chatGPT as I’m lazy):
- After Trump issued an executive order restricting travel from several Muslim-majority countries, multiple lawsuits were filed against the administration.
- Bob Ferguson, Washington’s Attorney General, challenged the ban in court.
- In a press conference, Ferguson boldly declared,
“We are a nation of laws, not even the president can violate the Constitution. See you in court.” - The case resulted in multiple legal battles, with federal judges blocking parts of the ban.
Trump’s Own Use of “See You in Court”
Interestingly, Trump himself tweeted the phrase in February 2017 after a federal court halted the travel ban:
“SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”
(and my CAPS LOCK IS NOT STUCK I REALLY AM SHOUTING)
So Ferguson, ballsy as it was, did not actually say it to the President in person. So Governor of Maine Janet T. Mills is the hero of the week for actually saying it to Trump.
Incidentaly, I’m not sure if his statement “and by the way, I did pretty well there” is accurate:
Percentage 52.40% 45.46%
Not crushed, but nowhere close.
Hell, they’d proudly offer up their firstborn like it was a sacrifice to Molech or something. “Shut up, honey. It’s an honor.”
I use that picture whenever there’s a school shooting.
“Let them eat hamberders.”