President Donald Trump's attempt at a State of the Union victory lap Tuesday night deserved the silent reception it received from congressional Democrats along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's brash closing gesture of disapproval. No amount of excessively enthusiastic cheering from Republicans can hide the fact that Trump will forever stand impeached for his blatant abuse of office. Wednesday's Senate vote to let him stay in office neither erases his crimes nor repairs the damage he inflicted.
For good reason, Pelosi labeled the speech a "manifesto of mistruths." Consider Trump's assertion that "the state of our union is stronger than ever before." National unity has been badly shaken by an unfit leader bereft of ethical grounding and utterly incapable of admitting his own serious mistakes.
Trump asserted that America is "highly respected again." By whom? At the last G-7 summit, other world leaders were caught on camera mocking Trump. In Britain, he is followed wherever he goes by a giant balloon caricature of the president wearing diapers. Trump's newly announced Middle East peace plan was correctly dismissed around the world as a joke.
