George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Jan. 8, 1790. The Founding Fathers had directed the president to do so, writing in Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution that “he shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
The State of the Union is, in a word, stately. In a ceremony full of pomp and circumstance, the House Sergeant at Arms stands just inside the Senate doors, faces the Speaker of the House, and loudly declares: “Mister Speaker, the President of the United States!”
The 535-plus members of Congress rise as the president strolls down an aisle, then the Speaker introduces the president to the representatives and senators, stating: “Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.”
But not Nancy Pelosi. On Tuesday night, the California Democrat and longtime sufferer of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) refused to say “honor” or “privilege” when introducing President Trump.
“Members of Congress, the president of the United States,” the petty and petulant Pelosi said.
It all went downhill from there.
Throughout Trump’s 90-minute address, a fidgety Pelosi acted like a little child forced to attend Sunday school. She sometimes mumbled to herself as she continuously shuffled through the pages of a transcript of the speech, putting it down, picking it up, her eyes darting everywhere. She looked around, smiled, grimaced, refused to clap (for war veterans and heroes and, at one point, even for trees). She seemed dazed and confused, out of it, as if she didn’t know where she was or why she was there.
Guys – can someone check on Pelosi?
– mumbling to herself
– face contortions
– eyes darting around
– confused head wobblesShe is not well. pic.twitter.com/FM55AdaX9P
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 5, 2020
The State of the Union was once a nonpartisan exercise, a simple address from America’s leader to all Americans. In that first SOTU, Washington said to the gathered lawmakers elected by the people of the new land: “The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed, and I shall derive great satisfaction from a cooperation with you in the pleasing though arduous task of insuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a free, efficient, and equal government.”
In 1947, after the end of World War II, President Truman told America in his State of the Union: “The spirit of the American people can set the course of world history. If we maintain and strengthen our cherished ideals, and if we share our great bounty with war-stricken people over the world, then the faith of our citizens in freedom and democracy will be spread over the whole earth and free men everywhere will share our devotion to those ideals.”
Presidents and lawmakers once shared in an expression of those lofty ideals. The annual address informed Americans about the state of the nation, and presidents used the occasion to detail their plans for making America even better. There was little place for partisan politics, it was simply a coming together of all branches of government to express the singularity of their mission.
All of which makes the behavior of Pelosi and her fellow Democrats on Tuesday all the more disgusting. Democrats refused to applaud Trump’s special guests — simply because they were his guests. They snubbed 4th grader Janiyah Davis of Philadelphia, who just wants to go to a better school; they sat on their hands when Trump praised Tony Rankins, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and drug addiction before righting his life; they refused to applaud Robin and Schneider and her daughter, Ellie, who was born at just 21 weeks and six days and beat the odds.
JODY JONES — Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
And they didn’t stand in solidarity with Jody Jones from Farmersville, California, whose brother, Rocky Jones, was shot and killed by an illegal alien who had been arrested for violent crimes and had twice been deported.
And then, at the end of Trump’s address, Pelosi stood — and ripped up a copy of the president’s speech.
By now, everything has been said about that disgusting act. But Jody Jones was asked about it on Fox Business on Tuesday morning, and his words matter more than most.
“It felt like she ripped our hearts out,” Jones said. “Everybody there, all the guests, we couldn’t believe it. Look, I don’t care how you feel about somebody. That was probably the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Because when she did that it tore us up.”
“It tore us up.”
Yes, Jody, it tore us all up. Shame on Nancy Pelosi.
Related: WATCH: Pence Shreds Pelosi For Ripping Up Trump’s SOTU Speech, Makes Prediction