Bret: I have no problem with it. French is the official language of France, Spanish of Spain, Danish of Denmark, Swedish of Sweden — and none of them are any less free and democratic for it. Democrats shouldn’t allow themselves to be baited by Trump into opposing it, which only serves his political purposes. In fact, Democrats should insist on making English the official language and then demand that Trump learn to speak and write it properly.
Gail: Hehe. OK, that won me over.
Bret: The other thought I’d offer Democrats is not to make pathetic spectacles of themselves. Which reminds me: What did you think of Trump’s speech to Congress last week?
Gail: Well, let’s start with Representative Al Green’s attempt to heckle the president. I’m really sorry that happened, mainly because it diverted attention from the incredibly long and boring performance by Trump.
Bret: I almost preferred his heckling, which at least was gutsy and principled, to the sight of Democrats holding up tiny placards of protest. It made them look like the kindergarten brigade fighting Godzilla.
Gail: Let’s talk about the Trumpian spending-taxing plan itself.
Bret: Hang on: one more point about the speech. Aside from its various untruths, its Fidel-like verbosity, its not-so-veiled threats against Panama and Denmark, its trademark combination of self-pity and self-congratulation, I thought it was … a very effective political speech. It had energy and confidence and the promise of action and change. Its occasional roughness spoke to regular Americans, especially when he dwelled on hot-button cultural issues, like there being only two sexes. And it had moments of real human connection — a boy who survived brain cancer getting his Secret Service badge — that deserved a standing ovation from everyone, not the sullen, stone-hearted and politically idiotic reaction from most of the Democrats in the chamber.
