State of the Union? A speech habitually too long

No, I did not watch the State of the Union address last night. It has been several years since I watched one of these extravaganzas. I think it was during one of President Clinton's SOTU speeches that I vowed I would never watch another one. The man never ran out of things to say, and he never read Shakespeare's advice that "brevity is the soul of wit." After an hour, it's time to rest your vocal chords and let your television audience go to bed.

My decision to ignore the live coverage of last night's speech had almost nothing to do with President Trump. Presidents come and presidents go, but State of the Union speeches go on forever (it seems) and rarely ever are consequential.

Having read various accounts of Trump's speech, I have a pretty good idea of what he said without staying up past my bedtime or sitting impatiently through applause lines, pauses and showmanship the annual address has become.

I feel sufficiently informed about what Trump said that I can confidently say that the president outdid himself. He did so by carefully sticking to the script on the Teleprompter and avoiding his habitual personal attacks, belligerence and insults to individuals or groups. Hooray for that. He has the capacity to appear presidential, which he has done before, but always before he has squandered his improved status by going on Twitter tirades that bring out his worst instincts.

I don't think President Trump has turned over a new leaf with this speech, but if he were able to parlay this mostly reasonable speech about policy and priorities, he might actually salvage his presidency and his party's chances in the 2018 congressional and state elections. Don't bet on it. Men in their 70s don't change their basic personalities and tactics.

It is Trump's caustic language, his profanity, his racial and ethnic insults and his endorsement of sexual misbehavior that most trouble voters. His policy endeavors, including taxes, deregulation and immigration, have substantial support among the electorate. Maybe not a majority, but substantial. But even many who agree with Trump on policy are disgusted by his profanity, his insults, his score-settling and his lack of sympathy for others.

Unless he can change these flaws — his basic makeup — his presidency and his party's future will be in jeopardy.