A duplicitous president and a room full of duplicitous sycophants sought to drive millions of Americans into despair at the State of the Union Tuesday night. But they were quickly revived by a powerful voice of truth, reason and compassion that followed.
It seemed almost otherworldly that a woman with long blond hair, not a retiring or shy damsel, but a fiercely strident, albeit perfectly measured, leader would lead us back from the brink of an awful depression that Trump’s two-hour cascade of lies in front of cheering lower beasts of his same ilk was designed to foment.
“It’s time we got out of here,” I heard one TV viewer of Trump’s obscene performance utter, meaning out of the U.S. Such a reaction is what Trump and his minions sought to elicit. That, and, of course, praise and yelps from his dying popular base, stripped of almost everyone but, as was noted, the jewelry-bespeckled uber wealthy in the omelet bar line at Mar-A-Lago.
But for millions too dumbfounded by what they heard at the SOTU to change the channel, soon enough after Trump finished, on came Virginia’s newly-elected governor Abigail Spanberger, and she changed the mood almost instantly.
From a law enforcement family with her own active employment in the CIA to show, Spanberger’s political fast track from upsetting a pro-Republican congressional district in central Virginia to leading a massive takeover of the Virginia government last November, puts her in the front of the line among leaders ready and capable to taking the nation back from Trump.
Here are just some of the things she said in her flawless rebuttal to Trump’s lying ramble:
“The United States was founded on the idea that ordinary people could reject the unacceptable excesses of poor leadership, band together to demand better of their government, and create a nation that would be an example for the world.
“And this year, as we celebrate 250 years since America declared our independence from tyranny, I can think of no better place to speak to you as we reflect on the current state of our union.
“Tonight, as we watched our nation’s lawmakers gather for a joint session of Congress, we did not hear the truth from our President.
“So, let’s speak plainly and honestly, and let me ask you three questions: Is the President working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the President working to keep Americans safe — both at home and abroad? Is the President working for YOU?
“Here’s the truth: over the last year, through DOGE, mass firings, and the appointment of deeply unserious people to our nation’s most serious positions, our President has endangered the long and storied history of the United States of America being a force for good.
“I first ran for office in 2018 alongside dozens of other Democrats who did the seemingly impossible, flipping 41 seats in Congress. In my case, I was the first Democrat elected in 50 years, swinging our district 17 points.
“Those who are stepping up now to run will win in November because Americans know you can demand more, and that we are working to lower costs, we are working to keep our communities and country safe, and we are working for you!
“In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned us about the possibility of ‘cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men’ rising to power.
“But he also encouraged us — all Americans — to unite in ‘a common cause’ to move this nation forward.
“That is our charge once more. And that is what we are seeing across the country.
‘It is deeply American and patriotic to do so, and it is how we ensure that the State of our Union remains strong, not just this year but for the next 250 years as well.’
“Because ‘We the people’ have the power to make change, the power to stand up for what is right, and the power to demand more of our nation.”
