Every day from now until November 3, the big question for Donald Trump is this: Did he do anything today to prevent the galactic midterm shellacking that seems to be hurtling toward his GOP thanks to his deeply unpopular administration?

Yesterday, the answer was “no.” Despite its record length, nothing in Trump’s excruciatingly bloated and aimless State of the Union address will do a thing to stanch the bleeding of his popular support. His best attempt to manufacture a big moment came when he ordered Democrats in the chamber, whom he had been hectoring and scolding throughout the speech, to “stand up and show your support” if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” When Democrats declined to participate in the song-and-dance, MAGA observers thundered that they’d revealed themselves to be double agents all along: “The entire Democrat Party disqualified itself from government service in this one exchange,” Stephen Miller rage-tweeted.

And if they think pushing that button is what’s going to carry them the midterms—hey, gang, knock yourselves out. Happy Wednesday.

Revealing Omissions

by William Kristol

I’m not convinced that Nietzsche was correct when he said that “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” I’m not even sure that less dramatic suffering is good for the soul. I’ve certainly never seen the appeal of masochism.

So I didn’t watch Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last night.

And when I woke up this morning and discovered that I’d missed a speech that lasted one hour and 48 minutes—the longest State of the Union ever—I felt good about my decision. But of course I do have the duty to share some kind of organized thoughts with you all—a duty to which the president is apparently not subject. So fortified with my mug of Major Dickason’s coffee, as the sun rose over the melting snows of Northern Virginia, I read what Trump said last night.

My reaction to Trump’s speech mirrored Samuel Johnson’s famous (but probably unfair?) judgment of Milton’s Paradise Lost: “None ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure.”

But I did my duty. I perused Trump’s State of the Union from beginning to end.

And I can report that I didn’t learn much from doing so. The speech will, I’m quite sure, soon be forgotten. The address won’t change people’s judgments about Trump’s presidency so far. And it won’t affect its course going forward.

So I won’t burden you with much in the way of analysis. Actually, I won’t burden you with any analysis. (You’re welcome!)

I’ll just make one observation: Sometimes what’s interesting is what isn’t said. And in an address that Trump framed by noting that this year is the 250th anniversary of our independence, one could be struck by the absence of several iconic American ideas.

Here are a few terms that President Trump never uttered last night:

Equality.

Rights.

The rule of law.

The Constitution. (Trump mentioned the Declaration of Independence only once, in passing, despite this being its 250th anniversary.)

Republic (though Trump referred to Republicans six times).

Democracy (though Trump attacked Democrats nine times).

Immigrants (“immigration” was used three times, in each case negatively. And when Trump claimed—falsely—that he supports legal immigration, he referred to people “coming in,” but didn’t call those people “immigrants.”)

Other terms central to the meaning of the United States were used very sparingly.

Opportunity appeared only once (“And here is one more opportunity to show common sense in government”), but never in its broad thematic meaning.

Justice was used twice, but both times in the sense of punishment (ensuring justice for a wrongdoer), rather than as a purpose of government or a feature of our society.

Speaking of justice, I should also remark that Donald Trump predictably took no notice of the Epstein survivors present in the gallery. Nor did he mention the Epstein files his Justice Department has not released.

And for all the many tales of violence and bloodshed Trump seemed to enjoy relating in the speech, he never mentioned these admirable individuals killed by agents of the federal government sent to Minnesota by Donald Trump: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Our president has no interest in elevating what is distinctive and admirable about America. Nor does he have any interest in addressing instances of gross injustice in America. For now, those are our tasks, and our duty. It is, after all, our Union, not Donald Trump’s.