Newsmakers will return to regular (local) programming shortly, but having raised the subject of the State of the Union, we first feel obligated to wrap things up on the matter.
So, having advised against watching the presidential address, what better way to close the circle than to offer up some blinding insights on the speech that were composed long before it was even delivered?
Five hours and 11 minutes before the SOTU, Washpostman political scribe Philip Bump filed a wonderful pastiche of parody hot takes from caricatured voices along the political spectrum, from #MAGA fan boys to hardcore #notmypresident Resisters.
As a public service, we here at The Washington Post have prewritten responses to President Trump’s not-yet-delivered State of the Union address. Not-yet-actually-made-public, in fact. This is a marvelous age in which trivialities like “what the president said” need not be taken into consideration when opining on what the president said.
Based on several hours reading through the real post-mortem detritus set forth by Beltway bloviators, it’s safe to say that Bump’s pre-game satire got it exactly right.
The piece is delightful, and worth a read in full.
Images: Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in 1940's "His Girl Friday," one of the greatest newspaper movies of all time; Philip Bump (Washington Post).