{"id":461830,"date":"2021-04-29T15:05:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=461830"},"modified":"2021-04-29T15:05:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:05:50","slug":"its-time-to-abolish-state-of-the-union-speeches-once-and-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-abolish-state-of-the-union-speeches-once-and-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time To Abolish \u2018State Of The Union\u2019 Speeches Once And For All"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-time-to-abolish-state-of-the-union-speeches-once-and-for-all%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=461830&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4109.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>We should ban \u201cState of the Union\u201d addresses \u2014 including pseudo \u201cState of the Union\u201d addresses \u2014 to Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They are a complete waste of time, and offer nothing of any value to the American people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Firstly, they are mind-numbingly long. Biden\u2019s first address to Congress on Wednesday night lasted one hour and four minutes. Former President Donald Trump\u2019s addresses were one hour (2017), one hour and twenty minutes (2018), one hour and twenty-two minutes (2019), and one hour and eighteen minutes (2020). Former President Barack Obama\u2019s addresses were a little shorter, ranging from fifty-one minutes (2009) to one hour and nine minutes (2010).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Former President George W. Bush\u2019s addresses were all under an hour, and some were even under fifty minutes. Former President Bill Clinton lasted one hour and twenty-eight minutes during his 2000 \u201cState of the Union\u201d address, and one hour and twenty-four minutes in 1995.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As we scroll back through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/presidential-documents-archive-guidebook\/annual-messages-congress-the-state-the-union-0\">list<\/a>, the average length noticeably shrinks, with Richard Nixon\u2019s 1972 address lasting just over twenty-eight minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Much of the reason for the increased speaking time is the bloviated nature of the content, with addresses of recent years increasingly dedicated to an exhaustive list of \u201caccomplishments.\u201d What makes matters worse is that nearly every \u201caccomplishment\u201d triggers rambunctious applause from the president\u2019s party, while their ideological opponents remain seated, scowling with theatrical rage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, the fundamental problem with such addresses is that they offer nothing of value that couldn\u2019t be provided in a lengthy Twitter thread. After all, Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the \u201cState of the Union\u201d address in person in 1801, regarding it as too monarchical. Until 1913, the address was handwritten, sent to Congress, and read by a clerk. It was Woodrow Wilson, one of the worst presidents in American history, who reintroduced it. In fact, Jimmy Carter was the last president to give a written message instead of a spoken address, in 1981.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What makes matters worse \u2014 beyond the propagandizing and self-congratulatory nature of the speech itself \u2014 is the cynical games that are played by both sides every year. Who did and didn\u2019t clap is suddenly breaking news. The color of clothing, and the political message portrayed as a consequence, dominates conversation. Outrageous \u2014 and often false \u2014 statements are either applauded as brave proclamations or indicative of totalitarianism, depending on political affiliation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Here\u2019s an idea: let\u2019s embrace Jefferson\u2019s theory and go back to written \u201cState of the Union\u201d addresses, and we can all take back a few hours of our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It appears that many Americans agree, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/thumbs-down-news-stations-videos-of-biden-address-fare-poorly-online\">given that<\/a> \u201c<\/span><span>President Joe Biden\u2019s first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night fared relatively poorly online,\u201d with reactions to the speech on social media appearing to be overwhelmingly negative. Not only that, Biden\u2019s viewership was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2021\/04\/joe-biden-speech-ratings-congress-donald-trump-abc-fox-news-1234746540\/\"><span>lower<\/span><\/a><span> than that of Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Let\u2019s follow a general rule. If hour-long political speeches add nothing to the political conversation, then let\u2019s banish them from our screens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>To tell the truth, this might affect more than just the \u201cState of the Union,\u201d but we have to start somewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span>@ighaworth<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We should ban \u201cState of the Union\u201d addresses \u2014 including pseudo \u201cState of the Union\u201d addresses \u2014 to Congress.They are a complete waste of time, and offer nothing of any &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277020,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4109.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"It\u2019s Time To Abolish \u2018State Of The Union\u2019 Speeches Once And For All","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-461830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4109.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"It\u2019s Time To Abolish \u2018State Of The Union\u2019 Speeches Once And For All","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}