The State of the Union is terrible for the nation

The president emerges into a room full of screaming, worshiping supporters (or are they disciples?). A walk through the House chamber, which typically might last a mere ten seconds, drags on for a painstaking ten minutes as the president is shrouded by fawning, groveling fans.

One eternity later, by the time he reaches the podium, THE SPEECH begins. And if you thought the walk to the podium was long, boy, are you in for a treat! For what feels like an inordinate spell of time, the whole of America is subjected to the rantings and railings of one man whose primary objective is not to tell the truth but to whitewash his past year’s (probably abysmal) track record. The spectacle is made all the more interesting if the speaker of the House, situated directly behind the president, happens to be of the opposing party; dramatically torn speeches and bilious expressions are known to follow.

“The state of the Union is STRONG!” the president will inevitably conclude, although no one seems to believe it. Then, he leaves, and for the rest of the week, the worshiping and groveling continues, with the media poring over every detail of the speech with outsized fascination.

That, in a nutshell, is the State of the Union, one night out of the year where we all lend an ear to a politician’s empty promises and lies.

To be clear, I am not describing President Joe Biden’s speech last night in particular. Rather, I am recounting what the speech almost always entails, whether delivered by a Republican or Democrat.

But neither did Biden do much to dispel the negative connotations that usually plague the address. After basking in the over-the-top praise of his devotees in Congress, the chief of state switched on his angry man voice and scowl and appraised the nation that never since the Civil War has democracy in America been so under threat. And who stands behind this unprecedented threat? The typical suspects. Our foreign adversaries, of course. But also — that’s right! You guessed it — everyday MAGA voters.

As the president put it, the “insurrectionists” who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, “placed a dagger to the throat of American democracy.” Hyperbolic much?

He continued: “The plots to steal the 2020 election pose the gravest threat to U.S. democracy since the Civil War.” Thus says the man who loves “democracy” so much he threatened millions of Americans with job loss if they refused to inject an experimental drug into their bodies. That’s real democracy, folks!

On and on the president droned, each minute highlighting the fundamental flaw within the State of the Union: not the president’s specific agenda but the fact that we put so much emphasis on federal politics.

Historically, the federal level is where we agree the least. Therefore, when we bestow king-like adulation on the men and women in the nation’s capital, we not only weaken the Founders’ intended system of Federalism, we also expose ourselves to increased levels of estrangement. Tragically, the true state of the Union is divided, and the State of the Union, no matter who gives it, will only make the problem worse.

But what would happen if we shrunk the federal government back into its constitutionally prescribed box? What would happen if we abolished its power to radically upend our lives? For as long as Americans fear their own government’s ability to vilify and ostracize whichever half of the country, at any given moment, is at odds with the ruling class, we will find ourselves incapable of becoming a united people again. But by redistributing power to the states, where it belongs, we may once again reclaim the power and potential of a constitutional, federalist system of government.

The State of the Union is our annual reminder that Washington will never do it for us. But thanks to Convention of States, a nationwide grassroots movement advocating to rein in the federal government, we can finally remind the president and Congress who’s really in charge in this country.