As much as I try and stay away, I'm wired in such a way that I find politics interesting. It's ultimately folly and a 'chasing after the wind', but be that as it may - its interesting. So, I watched President Trump's speech yesterday (3/4) to the joint session of Congress and I couldn't help but think about the word 'decorum'.
From Merriam-Webster
Decorum: "propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance" - "the conventions of polite behavior" Synonyms: decency, dignity, gentility
I've watched many such speeches over the years, delivered from both sides of the political aisle, and in many ways they are predictable spectacles. Republicans stand and clap for Republicans, Democrats stand and clap for Democrats, the opposite side sits, I get all that, and to a degree, I understand that. What I saw last night, however, was a lack of decorum -- and it's a direction our political elite have been sliding in for awhile.
During Trump's procession into the address, there was a Democrat congresswoman standing there holding a paper sign that read, "this is not normal". Not a few seconds later, the sign was snapped from her hands and thrown into the crowd. Throughout the speech, the democrats were holding up auction-style signs that read, "false" or "Elon Steals" or "Save Medicaid". At one point, Al Green, the congressman from Texas was kicked out of the hall for standing there and yelling, interrupting Trump's speech. At one point in the speech, Trump acknowledged a young man who had beaten cancer and who had aspirations of becoming a police officer, who Trump then surprised by making an honorary secret service member and the democrats continued to sit there. Who is so consumed with hatred that they can't set aside their political feelings in that moment to acknowledge a child that has beaten cancer?
On the Republican side, you had characters like the classless Marjorie Taylor Greene showing up in a MAGA hat. There were also repeated sophomoric chants of 'USA' throughout. Trump, despite being mostly restrained in his remarks, also let loose a few barbs that seemingly had no other spirit than that of the mean kind.
