The most absurd part of Trump's surreal and sleazy state of the union speech was his denunciation of socialism, "we will never be a socialist nation." First of all, we already are: Medicare (which was originally denounced by the medical community as "socialized medicine"), public schools. public libraries, social security, the post office, etc. The major things we don't have that more "socialist" nations in Europe have are single-payer health care, free college education and childcare for working families. The fear of socialism, of course, is less immediate now for Trump than the fear of immigrants, a subject on which Trump continues to dissemble, including stating that a wall in El Paso has stopped illegal immigration when the evidence shows otherwise.
Among other things that Trump did not mention was the separation of families at the border (though he did denounce abortion) and two things important to the working classes; the shutdown of the government that deprived many workers of their paychecks, and unions, which were instrumental in raising wages until recently, when they have constantly been under attack by Trump and his allies. Otherwise the sotu was a typical Trump dog-and-pony show, including lauding WW II veterans and the Republican attendants popping up like "whack-a-moles" to applaud every absurd Trump assertion.
Stacey Adams's response to Trump was refreshing, pointing out that Trump mentioned nothing about the government shutdown, education, gun control, the burden Trump's trade wars have placed on American farmers, tearing families apart at the border, climate change, the affordable care act (which Trump claimed during his campaign to replace with something "better and cheaper" but has never made the slightest attempt to do), voter suppression and a respect for diversity.
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