Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.
Hello there, People of the Future! Greetings from the past. I’m writing you from another time, another place, back here mid-afternoon on Jan. 30. Y’all are seeing this on Feb. 1 or sometime thereafter, and you’re privy to things that have yet to reach me back here on sad, remote Tuesday Afternoon Island—namely, you have seen—or at least read brief excerpts or thumbed past social media descriptions—Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
Were hackles raised? Were shoes thrown? Boos unfurled at great length? Did Elena Kagan mumble “not true” under her breath? Did Donald Trump continue to impress us with his incredible limbo abilities—able, as he is, to shimmy beneath the bar no matter how low it might sink?
Overall, I’m not a fan of the reality TV silliness of the televised State of the Union address, what with all the ringers in the audience, and the smiling faces drawn on all the bad news. (Check out our editorial on page 5.) However, it’s hard not to fixate on what the guy might say or do. There’s so much storming around him—the Russian investigation, and the incredible fact that he’s refusing to impose sanctions against Russia despite both houses of Congress voting in favor of the sanctions with veto-proof majorities. There’s also the recent reports that EPA chief Scott Pruitt said in 2016 that Trump would be “abusive to the Constitution,” which is of course totally accurate, but not what you’d expect to hear from a member of his cabinet, but these are unpredictable times.
That’s why I feel so much distance between us, dear Thursday dwellers.
All I know is that Trump has been selling off airtime so that donors can see their names during the speech. The bar has been lowered again. I’m half expecting him to deliver the speech adorned in corporate logos, all decked out like a NASCAR driver.