by Adrienne Bell
Former Democratic Candidate for Texas Congressional District 14
Perhaps you watched the State of the Union address last night. I didn’t. Actually, I can’t. As an educator and a former charter member of a Toastmasters Club (where we count how many times the speaker says “um” and they paid a quarter for each occurrence), I just can’t. Listening to Trump speak incomplete sentences, voicing incomplete thoughts, and not presenting a coherent message. I just can’t. I did turn the television on, muted his sound, watched reactions from the crowd, and readied for a real speaker to speak, Stacey Abrams.
So, I depended on you and what you had to say about the SOTU. Many depended on the fact checker to verify his statements, which is pretty sad when the speech was from the head of our country. Major issues which he discussed were counted as false, misleading, or exaggerated.
One of the biggest falsehoods (speaking as a Texan against the wall), was the justification to build that wall by using El Paso as one of the scapegoats. Now I am a proud Texan, and naming any of our cities or neighborhoods as our “Nation’s most dangerous cities”, makes us rise up. Sheriff Richard Wiles of El Paso, put out the statement that El Paso is one of the safest cities in the nation, and has been long been.
Other false statements were the growth of the economy as the hottest in the world (we are not), cutting regulations (we aren’t), creation of 5.3 million jobs (we haven’t). You get my point. What is the point in listening to the State of the Union when many statements are false, misleading, or exaggerated? It is not an true indicator of the state of America. It is why many do not trust government and shun the political atmosphere.
A statement made by Stacey Abrams in her rebuttal – “Because America wins by fighting for our shared values against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That is who we are, and when we do so, never wavering, the state of our union will always be strong.”
To create a stronger America, we must unite our fight in a commitment for social, criminal, and economic justice for all Americans. Stacey Abrams got it right.