State of our union is still divided

You can actually pinpoint the exact moment in time that the annual State of the Union address given by the President of the United States turned into the circus it is today. If you want to point a finger, look no further than Rep. Joe Wilson.
It was Sept. 9, 2009, during then-President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address that Wilson shouted “You lie!” at President Obama when he said his health care plan would not cover undocumented immigrants. Wilson later apologized for what was then considered an outrageous breach of decorum. Now? Par for the course.
Pretty much ever since then, the State of the Union address is part speech part political theater, with members of both parties playing the role of agitator. If Nancy Pelosi isn’t making a big show of ripping up the address when it’s over, someone is screaming from the gallery.
Look at me! Look at me!
Marjorie Taylor Green, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Al Green and others we have either forgotten or just want to forget. They have hijacked what is supposed to be a formal occasion and made sure they are in the spotlight. Forget decorum. That’s out the window. Tlaib wore a pin to the most recent State of the Union that said F*** ICE on it. What class. What dignity.
There is also the political theater of refusing to stand or clap for absolutely anything the president says if you’re not a part of his party. I do not care how much you dislike President Trump—not standing or clapping for the mother of murdered refugee Iryna Zarutska or when President Trump asked them to stand if they believe the first role of government is to protect American citizens is a bad look. Yes, he was trying to goad Democrats, who didn’t want to give him what he wanted. But it was a bad, bad look, and it will be used against Democrats in future elections. Mark our words.
Yes, it is written in the Constitution that the president must give the state of the union to Congress each year. That doesn’t mean it has to be a televised dog and pony show. It certainly doesn’t have to be one hour, 47 minutes of showing how much Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything. If President Trump had stood up and said he found a cure for cancer, Democrats would have complained oncologists were out of work. And lest we think this is one-sided, Republicans would do the same thing if the president were a Democrat.
In 1790, George Washington’s State of the Union address was 1,089 words. Oh for those days. Thomas Jefferson refused to give oral State of the Union addresses, believing the in-person speech was too similar to a British monarch’s speech from the throne. Instead, Jefferson would send his address in writing, which was read by a clerk. That way of doing the address continued for 100 years, until Woodrow Wilson decided to do his as a speech in 1913. Thanks a lot, Woodrow.
We are all for going back to the written word. No pun intended. These days the State of the Union accomplishes nothing other than showing the true state of our union—hopelessly divided.