The state of our union is sorry

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

My son Cameron and I can hardly wait for President Biden’s upcoming State of the Union address.

“What do you think he’s going to say on March 1, Dad?” he asked me earlier this week during our phone call.

“That the State of the Union is …. very sad? Screwed? You finish the sentence.”

“Seriously,” Cameron said. “The State of the Union is supposed to be upbeat – positive – or at least hopeful, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “His speechwriters must be working overtime. The list of big things he’s messed up in a single year is long and getting longer.”

“So what’s he going to brag about to the country?” Cameron asked.

“Well,” I said, “he did a terrible job with Afghanistan, so he can’t bring that up.”

“The economy is also a no-no.

“Inflation is running at 7 percent, interest rates are headed up and millions of workers have still not gone back to work, thanks to the government’s generous and never-ending pandemic help.”

“He sure can’t mention crime,” Cameron said.

“It’s spiking in every big city and his justice department is more interested in eliminating cash bail than catching criminals and putting them in jail.”

“And forget the war on COVID,” I said.

"It's been a disaster.

"Biden’s still wearing a mask 24/7, but even blue state governors have finally had enough of the mandates and are getting rid of them.”

“He can’t bring up energy, either,” Cameron said. “Gas prices are high everywhere. We’re paying five bucks a gallon.”

“Yeah,” I said. "Remember way, way back in time – 2020, I think it was, before Biden took over and started wrecking our fossil fuel industry? I could fill up my truck without taking out an equity loan.”

“We were energy independent then -- and the world’s number one producer of oil and natural gas,” Cameron said.

“Then Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline, gave Russia the OK for its Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany and told us that to save the planet we all have to start driving $60,000 electric cars.”

“Biden won’t be bragging on how he’s winning the war on drugs, either.”

“Nope,” I said. “He’s done nothing about the drug overdose epidemic that’s killing a hundred thousand people a year.”

“And the AMA says it’s only getting worse - thanks mainly to all the illegal fentanyl that comes across our Southern border and is made in China.”

“Speaking of borders,” Cameron said, “what’s this big deal about Ukraine’s?

“Biden’s sending troops and missiles to Europe to show Putin how tough he is. He’s helping Ukraine defend its borders, but he won’t help Texas?”

“Yep,” I said, “he’s working overtime trying to stop the invasion of Ukraine. But since the day he took office we’ve had a huge invasion on our southern border – and it’s his fault.”

“I was just looking at an article on the Border Report web site,” Cameron said. "The headline was ‘Migrant encounters top 2 million in calendar year 2021, on pace for repeat in 2022.’ ”

“I don’t think he’ll be talking to the country about the state of his immigration policy,” I said.

“If Putin doesn’t send his troops across the Ukrainian border,” Cameron said, “maybe Biden will be able to brag that he used his great foreign policy expertise and the threat of sanctions to stop the Russians from invading Ukraine.

“By the way, Dad, what’s the latest on the war in Ukraine? Are we losing it yet?”

“After this discussion, Cameron, I think it's safe to say that the Biden administration is not winning any wars anywhere.

“Not the war on inflation. Not the war on illegal immigration. Not the war on drugs.

“Given the sorry state of our Union under Biden, I don’t expect the war in Ukraine – if it comes – to be any different.”

Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, is an author, speaker and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation. Send comments to reagan@caglecartoons.com and follow @reaganworld on Twitter.