# Who's watching trump's Address to Congress tonight (3-4-25)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 4, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123 "2025-03-04T20:04:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/82 "2025-03-05T16:22:36Z")
Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico held an approximately 8” X 6” card that read “this is not normal.” Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas ripped the sign from Stansbury’s hands. Minutes later Gooden cheered along with his GOP colleagues when Trump proclaimed “We brought back free speech.” ---
**Author:** ![JoePockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@JoePockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoePockets)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/83 "2025-03-05T16:30:35Z")
Watching the president speak of groceries and Eggs. I have to wonder if any of the Trumps last two generations ever visited and shopped in a grocery store ? I doubt Elon or any of his cabinet members have much experience on this task either! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/84 "2025-03-05T16:49:23Z")
Speaking of freedom, the House Freedom Caucus had announced that it will introduce a resolution to censure Rep. Al Green for heckling Trump (contesting Trump claim to a “mandate.”) Since Rep. Green didn’t destroy property, assault a police officer nor defecate on anyone’s desk, prospects for a pardon are dim. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/85 "2025-03-05T16:50:20Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas ripped the sign from Stansbury’s hands. > > Minutes later Gooden cheered along with his GOP colleagues when Trump proclaimed “We brought back free speech.” The bizarro-world, “War is Peace” paradoxical thinking that was so apparent in his first term has increased a hundred-fold this time around. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/86 "2025-03-05T16:56:11Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > Trump and his handlers want to fire everyone and either leave the jobs empty or replace the workers with cronies. Probationary workers are simply the easiest to fire, so they are the lowest hanging fruit in the process. Probationary workers don’t get the benefit of advance notice and they generally can’t appeal their termination to the Merit Systems Protection Board (although if they were fired for political reasons, they can). I’ve read some articles and watched some videos of fired federal employees who mentioned they were on probation because they were recently promoted. That means, they did their jobs well, got promoted, and then got fired. These aren’t all new hires that are being let go ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/87 "2025-03-05T17:08:15Z")
Also, folks that just moved from one Fed job to another. I read of a VA nurse that had been in the hospital for 20 years but was on probation due to a job shift. Let go. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/88 "2025-03-05T17:17:43Z")
So I watched many of these speeches during the first Trump administration, and the Biden years, but I just couldn’t do it this time. I knew it was just going to be an even mix of bragging about stupid and evil shit he’s done, lies justifying all that, and more lies about Biden and the rest of the world. Looks like I called it, based on the reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/89 "2025-03-05T18:01:12Z")
Also, regarding the House Freedom Caucus seeking to censure Mr. Green, I’m attaching a pic of one of its members during Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech: [![](https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/presto/2022/03/02/USAT/ebc08a96-2a89-4612-b64a-a023787283b2-AP_State_of_the_Union.jpg?crop=2370,3160,x448,y0) ](https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/presto/2022/03/02/USAT/ebc08a96-2a89-4612-b64a-a023787283b2-AP_State_of_the_Union.jpg?crop=2370,3160,x448,y0) ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/90 "2025-03-05T18:29:18Z")
Right. Even the new hires were people that the agencies worked hard to attract. I heard one story of a probationary employee at USAID who in the span of a few hours was put on administrative leave (i.e., paid leave), given a notice of a Reduction in Force (RIF, i.e, laid off with 60 days’ notice), and then terminated effective immediately. A belts and suspenders approach to getting rid of someone. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/91 "2025-03-05T18:45:12Z")
I was just trying to figure out why the fired workers were told it was for poor performance. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/92 "2025-03-05T18:50:44Z")
Because that is a legally defensible reason to get rid of a probationary employee that obscures the legally indefensible reason: they object for political reasons to the work the person did. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/93 "2025-03-05T18:51:07Z")
You have to show the full picture of the Howler Monkey Caucus: [![](https://www.wabe.org/app/uploads/2022/03/AP22061117824276-scaled.jpg-1440x810-1646342669.jpg) ](https://www.wabe.org/app/uploads/2022/03/AP22061117824276-scaled.jpg-1440x810-1646342669.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/94 "2025-03-05T18:55:11Z")
We watched the first few minutes on CBC right after watching Mark Critch do Trump on 22 Minutes. Mrs Bookkeeper was gobsmacked, not having listened to Trump before, and was amazed that the real thing was even worse than Critch’s caricature performance. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/95 "2025-03-05T19:11:02Z")
How is it that your wife has been blessed by the Almighty Deity Himself to have never heard Trump speak before last night? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/96 "2025-03-05T19:54:47Z")
We’re Canadian, so it was easy for her to ignore him, plus I could pass on the really juicy tidbits each day during our supper conversations. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/97 "2025-03-05T20:45:57Z")
Politifact posted this- > **[Live fact-checks of Trump’s speech to Congress](https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/mar/04/live-trump-fact-check-speech-joint-congress/)** > > Follow live fact checks of President Donald Trump's speech to Congress today, which is technically not a State of the Union address. One of the problems with Musk and his Waste Finding with trump cutting the funds off- the US Constitution. Yes, there are many small weird sounding niche items in the budget. But the Budget was written by a Republican House of Representatives, and per the Constitution the House is the only body authorized to do the budget. Sure the Senate has its say and so doe the president (by signing it- or not), but the Office of the President can not pick and choose which authorized budget items are “bad”. And I disagree with the Dems making a protest during the speech. Yes, the asshole Magas did it, that should mean- _we don’t do it._ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/98 "2025-03-05T20:48:56Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Mrs Bookkeeper was gobsmacked, not having listened to Trump before, and was amazed that the real thing was even worse than Critch’s caricature performance. I’ve unfortunately been exposed to him quite a bit, but was surprised at how much _more_ quick-witted and knowledgeable the parodists of SNL were of nearly every Republican they portrayed in their parody of the Zelenskyy meeting. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/99 "2025-03-05T20:55:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > One of the problems with Musk and his Waste Finding with trump cutting the funds off- the US Constitution. Yes, there are many small weird sounding niche items in the budget. But the Budget was written by a Republican House of Representatives, and per the Constitution the House is the only body authorized to do the budget. Sure the Senate has its say and so doe the president (by signing it- or not), but the Office of the President can not pick and choose which authorized budget items are “bad”. AIUI, the Constitution, the law, and the SCotUS decision on the _line item veto_ all make it clear that the President can not, let alone Musk, do this. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/100 "2025-03-05T20:59:40Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > We’re Canadian How are the real estate prices where you are? 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123/101 "2025-03-05T22:23:15Z")
I look enviously at White Rock, BC whenever we go to Blaine. My wife wouldn’t mind moving to Italy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-watching-trumps-address-to-congress-tonight-3-4-25/1015123.md?page=6)