{"id":27800,"date":"2018-01-31T23:55:45","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T23:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=27800"},"modified":"2018-01-31T23:55:45","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T23:55:45","slug":"state-union-political-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=27800","title":{"rendered":"State of the Union: a most political event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I am inclined to tell my friends who are fans of Donald J. Trump to settle down. Chill out. Take a breather. Don’t get so upset that congressional Democrats<\/em> didn’t stand and cheer along with their Republican<\/em> “friends.”<\/p>\n

Trust me on this: Given that I live in the heart of Trump Country, my list of friends and acquaintances is full of Trumpkins. I don’t begrudge them for their political loyalty. I also hope they don’t begrudge me for mine.<\/p>\n

One friend — and he’s an actual “friend” — has been ranting on social media about how the Democrats sat on their hands during Trump’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night. He is just insulted<\/em> that they would disrespect the president in such a disgraceful manner. How dare<\/em> they do such a thing!<\/p>\n

My friend has been around long enough to know how this game is played. Republican presidents usually get the proverbial stiff-arm from Democrats in the House of Representatives hall. Here’s the deal, though: Democratic presidents get the same treatment from Republicans when it’s their opportunity to deliver State of the Union speeches.<\/p>\n

It goes with the territory, folks.<\/p>\n

I don’t like it, either. I would rather the “loyal opposition” would show respect for the presidency, even if they dislike the individual who is occupying the office in the moment.<\/p>\n

I need not remind my friend, moreover, about how Republicans treated President Barack H. Obama when he delivered his speeches to Congress. However, if he is reading this blog post, I’ll remind him of how GOP U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” during one of Obama’s speeches before a joint congressional session.<\/p>\n

By my reckoning, that outburst was far more disrespectful<\/em> than anything we saw this week.<\/p>\n