State Of The Union: 2024

I watched the State Of The Union address by president Joe Biden Thursday, because I was curious. However, I didn’t stay through the whole thing. Because I wanted to watch the Denver Nuggets play the Boston Celtics in what was being billed as an NBA Finals preview. Wow! The game was not a disappointment. The Nuggets won 115-109 leading from the jump. The consensus now is that my team, the Nuggets, are the best in the league and are favorites to the win the title again.

Coughing Biden Barks at Americans

is what I saw at the nation’s capital. Before I saw a great basketball game. I’m glad I changed the channel. Nevertheless, let’s talk about the speech and the president.

What was with all the coughing? According to Louise Hay’s book, Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness (1982), coughs are:

“A desire to bark at the world. ‘See me! Listen to me!'”

Biden coughs (barks)

Which makes perfect sense to me. What President Biden has been saying is being mostly ignored by most Americans. We are not buying what he’s selling – that the economy is great, booming. There’s no inflation. That it’s not his fault there’s a crisis at our southern border. Furthermore, that the war in Ukraine is an existential threat to world peace. And additionally, that he’s got solutions for the war in Gaza.

What he is – is angry. But that’s nothing new for him. Let’s get into it.

Biden’s Anger

has been his essence for a long time. It’s his dominant characteristic. Trump noticed it right away, posting this:

Trump’s post in real time

In my book Election 2016: The Great Divide, the Great Debate (2018) I wrote:

page 198, “The Conventions: August 2, 2016”

Which, again, makes perfect sense. Barking Biden has been running for POTUS since 1988 – and losing. No one listens to him. Or takes him seriously. Because he lies, and isn’t very smart. Notwithstanding his success at getting elected to the US Congress, Senate, and chosen for vice president. Now that doesn’t make sense.

Lying to Live

seems to be a pervasive human strategy. Because we humans aren’t very good at detecting lies.

Furthermore, we have evolved to come up with all kinds of psychological mechanisms to delude ourselves that we’re not. Especially to ourselves. (Also known as Ego Defense Mechanisms.)

What I saw at the State Of The Union 2024, was a man so addled by his life that he couldn’t not be angry. Furious even. Because of all the rejection and humiliation he has endured for much of his life. And his supporters? Let’s get into that.

When Prophecy Fails

was a classic psychological study in 1956, falling under the rubric of cognitive dissonance and the need to maintain self-esteem. Basically, the need to maintain self esteem trumps our thinking. It’s part of the self preservation complex. Or Evolution, i.e. progress. Self preservation is the engine that drives life. And our belief systems – be they religious or secular.

What happens when you are are confronted with the reality that you are wrong, or not good enough? That is the essence of cognitive dissonance.

War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning

The author with the author (2004) Oregon, USA

was a book (2002) written by Chris Hedges. The book goes a long way toward explaining why war doesn’t go away. Additionally, why Barking Biden and other elites often fall under its spell. War works.

War is what happens when The Art Of The Deal fails.

In Conclusion

what do you think? Are the Denver Nuggets a good bet? To win again, repeat as NBA champions?

4 thoughts on “State Of The Union: 2024

  1. I see where President Biden tried to clean up his SOTU address with a sit-down with Jonathan Capehart of MSNBC. Mr. Capehart is also referenced in my novel, twice. He was crying, on national TV (p.269) after Trump won in 2016. And so it goes … . We, all of us, are in deep doodoo if this keeps up.

  2. Once again, your analysis is spot on. I thought Biden was a man on a mission, trying to prove, not to Congress, but to America that he was more than the doddering old fool 3/4 of the country believes him to be. Instead of being “friendly Joe”, he turned out to be alcoholic screaming grandad whom nobody listens to and would wrap him in a blanket and set him by a TV set. Every time this guy speaks he seems to miss his mark. I know Dems want him to at least sound “alive”, but let’s face it, if America votes for him again over Trump, America is certainly showing the world we have entered the slippery slope that has befallen many world powers of the past like Rome, Greece, and England.

  3. Thanks, Cactus. I agree – we’re headed for a fall unless … .
    ~2024 is all about Trump because almost all agree Biden is like an “alcoholic screaming grandad whom nobody listens to”. However, what is unique about ’24 is that 30% of voters think The End will come if Trump is elected; and 30% think The End will come if he’s not. Cue The Doors …

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