Mask-Dropping and How the State of the Union Science Changed

Last night was Joe Biden's first State of the Union address since being sworn in as president late last January. As annual fare goes in terms of the strict number of minutes, I was surprised to hear it came in on the short side. It did not feel like a short speech. It felt intolerably long. To borrow a line from the only piece of Adam Sandler's 1995 film 'Billy Madison' I have ever seen, "Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul." It's a sad thing to say about a great country you call home, and which you have high hopes for - not least of all because this is where my family and friends reside. But one positive thing can be said about the first year of the Biden presidency. His weakness and our vulnerability now putting us on the precipice of World War III notwithstanding, Biden has taken the masks off the Democrats in a way no amount of pleading and convincing by conservatives was able to.