State of the Nation Address: The (boring) opening shot in the race for the White House Israel today

President Biden's second annual State of the Nation address, delivered early in the morning before both houses of Congress, was marked by a paradox that has accompanied his presidency since its inception.

On the one hand, the president detailed his achievements, especially in the economic field (with an emphasis on the drop in the number of unemployed, whose rate today reaches only 3.4%, and on the passage of groundbreaking laws in the fields of infrastructure and green energy).

On the other hand, even though he tried to convey vitality and radiate confident leadership, it was impossible to ignore his stumbling in reading the written text, which reflected more than anything the fatigue of the material.

Indeed, if the intention of the White House was to turn the festive event into an ideal springboard for the soon expected announcement of Biden's decision to run for president once more in the 2024 elections (at the age of 82), then his success was quite limited.

For, just as public opinion polls - especially the most recent ones - do not fully reflect his successes in the economic sphere and give him rather low marks (the rate of public satisfaction with the President's overall performance today is only 43%), so too did Biden fail in his efforts to reconcile the many internal contradictions , in which his speech was replete.

Furthermore, it lacked a central vision and any formative and formative statement.

Republican lawmakers from Texas react to the speech, photo: AFP

Thus, for example, Biden opened his long speech (which lasted 73 minutes) with a call for the Likud ranks and an inter-party union, which would allow him to "complete his mission" both on the economic level and on the international level.

However, he soon switched from conciliatory statements to a frontal attack against the Republican Party, warning of its intentions to harm the health insurance programs for the elderly and the National Insurance.

This, despite the fact that the likelihood of countermeasures of this type is low today, and despite the fact that quite a few Republicans in the Senate supported his key legislative initiatives in the areas of infrastructure development and green energy.

Biden before lawmakers from both houses.

Will not reconcile the contradictions, photo: GettyImages

And indeed, it is not surprising that this polemical tone was followed by loud interjections from the Republican wing on Capitol Hill - something that turned the festive event into an arena of struggle devoid of grandeur and splendor.

The same things are also said in relation to the international arena.

Also on this level, the annual address to the nation carried a political character rather than a political and state one.

Among other things, Biden boasted about the success of the strategy, which led to the failure (at least so far) of the Russian attack against Ukraine.

However, he ignored the fact that the massive military aid packages transferred to Kiev were the result of a broad national consensus.

On top of that, he also denied the fact that this support has been gradually eroding in recent times, when among the Republican Party there are growing voices to tighten the belt and reduce the scope of these aid packages.

The Chinese spy balloon moments after being intercepted.

Part of the public perceived Biden as a hessian, photo: Reuters

That's how the White House resident boasted about his successful management, in his opinion, of the "Chinese spy balloon" crisis.

This, without bothering to point out that this strategy of waiting idly for five whole days before dropping the balloon became the focus of widespread public criticism for what was perceived as the president's hesitation and slowness of response.

Leit Mann Deflig also said that the affair of the classified documents, which were recently found in his old office in Washington and in his home in Delaware, and which also contributed to his weakening in public opinion polls, was not mentioned at all in his words.

True, this saga is largely different from the case of his predecessor in office, Donald Trump.

While the former president waged an all-out battle against government authorities to keep in his possession some of the 325 documents he stored in his estate, the current president fully cooperated with the investigation after the discovery of dozens of old documents that remained in his possession and even initiated their return.

However, the unfolding affair was seen in public opinion as an expression of negligent conduct and a lack of transparency in front of the "voting people".

The reason: the documents were discovered on the eve of the midterm elections for Congress in November, but the White House avoided any public announcement on the matter until the end of the voting process.

In short, it was a gray and tedious speech, which except for trite clichés did not bring any new news to the American people.

In this respect, it is a miss, as the Republican opponent today seems more divided than ever, with no less than three challengers now threatening Trump's leading position and leadership.

In light of this, a vigorous, dynamic and fresher democratic leadership is apparently required, which will be able to take full advantage of the deepening rift within the Republican camp.

Instead, the American public was treated to an individualized and lackadaisical accountability from the mouth of President Iga, who has been in the political arena for exactly four decades.

LeBron James scores - and sets a new record.

The moment that really moved America early in the morning, photo: AP

And the Middle East?

He will have to wait until the next presidential address on the state of the nation - or until Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington.

Undoubtedly, early in the morning it was the historic record of the king of basketball LeBron James (who broke Kareem Abdul Jabbar's legendary shooting record) that moved the American nation much more than the president's exhausting speech, which did not even have any timeouts.

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