Tomorrow is the President’s State of the Union Address. I have no preview of what he will say. It may be rewritten an hour before presentation because the state of our affairs is changing by the hour.
My question every year at this time: will the speech reflect the same reality that God sees when He considers our state of affairs, the condition of our collective “heart,” and the relative unresponsiveness of our souls?
I have a lot of long-term hope for our nation because I’ve seen the historical evidence of nations rebuilding the ruins of their early foundations, and rediscovering righteousness, peace, and prosperity. I’ve seen the records of their rebuilding Christian civilization on top of ruins.
I’m watching a number of small communities in the US rebuild countercultural families, their churches, their marriages, and their radical independence from the government. These communities are rediscovering the meaning of hope and the favor of God.
But, overall, what is the state of America? Have we descended into the gutters of those previous generations which the Bible described as “a stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.”
Would “dull-hearted” be a good adjective for most of the American population? What percentage are dependent on “entitlements” the government cannot afford to give? How bankrupt is the nation, anyway? What percentage of citizens squander their time being entertained by serial fornication, or virtual fornication on Netflix or onlyfans? What percentage live by personal debt, and avoid the responsibilities of stable communities? What percentage wallow deliberately in bankruptcy, rely on the abortion pill for the sake of personal convenience, and scorn the blessing of children?
Will Donald Trump point these things out as a wakeup call? Or will he go straight to the alarming and chaotic realities of the hour…and present these as victories of an Administration which is “on top of this?”
Will an unwinnable war with Iran be started this week? Or can Trump find an offramp and call it off? Will he admit to Russia he had nothing to do with the drone attack deep into Russia a few days ago? Or will an angered Russia join with China and Iran to humble America with the promised retaliation?
Will Trump admit tomorrow that our military resources are in no way ready to confront any military, like Russia’s or China’s, which has hypersonic missiles? We currently have no defense. We also have no immediate way to repair the broken sewage system on The USS Gerald Ford, which is currently flooded with biological contamination on its way to the Persian Gulf. The toilets are broken. How are the weapon systems?
Will the President mention the international results if Iran shuts the strait of Hormuz?
Will the President mention the brewing civil war which is breaking out in Mexico and how it may harm American interests and American industry? Like, for example, the output of the majority of silver mines which are now controlled by the cartels?
What can and will the president say about America’s political class and managerial class and their connections with Epstein? And when we may have true transparency? And when he may fire the failed, dishonest leadership in the maladroit Justice Department?
Will the President explain why he just violated another tariff related law, S. 122, by slapping on more global tariffs? Will there be emergency lawsuits against his administration?
Mark Wauck reports that “Foreign investment is fleeing. Debt is exploding. AI is a bubble. Trump and Bessent are scrambling for a fix, but having made enemies of Mammon, who will be inclined to help America out in its time of need? As if to make matters worse, Rubio was sent to Munich to tell the world that the US plans to re-colonize the world, without compunction. And Trump doubled down on that when he was whining about the SCOTUS, stating that the law allows him to “destroy” nations.”
Few presidents have had so many world-threatening crises all at once. New ones are crashing into Mr. Trump’s administration almost hourly. But if he governed well, responsibly and lawfully, he could get the nation behind him and bring in a chapter of peaceable unity and stability. But what he needs most is the favor of God on his endeavors.
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
Psalm 116:15
Rod Dreher asks, "I don’t understand why the government doesn’t deploy the army and shoot rioters until they stop. Philippe Lemoine, a Frenchman, says it’s not that simple."
Excerpt:
"We have let things rot for so long that, at this point, relying primarily on force to restore order would require a degree of violence far greater than what people realize and what is politically feasible.
It's possible to contain a riot using only moderate force when the number of police officers is high relative to the number of rioters, but when riots are so widespread and involve so many people because you have allowed this kind of things to happen for so long, that's just not possible and you have to use extreme violence to make up for the lack of manpower.
I know people on the Internet will say that it doesn't matter and that we should just do it, but the reality is that most of the people in charge are not prepared to use that kind of force and neither would most ordinary people if they saw ...
Even Marine Le Pen’s recent statements track this line: personal Islamic practice is compatible with the Republic; replacing French law with Sharia is not. French Muslims who are simply citizens practicing their "religious faith" “have no reason to worry” about a Le Pen election victory.
But can one be a practicing Muslim without demanding and practicing Sharia?