Every day from now until November 3, the big question for Donald Trump is this: Did he do anything today to prevent the galactic midterm shellacking that seems to be hurtling toward his GOP thanks to his deeply unpopular administration?

Yesterday, the answer was “no.” Despite its record length, nothing in Trump’s excruciatingly bloated and aimless State of the Union address will do a thing to stanch the bleeding of his popular support. His best attempt to manufacture a big moment came when he ordered Democrats in the chamber, whom he had been hectoring and scolding throughout the speech, to “stand up and show your support” if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” When Democrats declined to participate in the song-and-dance, MAGA observers thundered that they’d revealed themselves to be double agents all along: “The entire Democrat Party disqualified itself from government service in this one exchange,” Stephen Miller rage-tweeted.

And if they think pushing that button is what’s going to carry them the midterms—hey, gang, knock yourselves out. Happy Wednesday.

Revealing Omissions

by William Kristol

I’m not convinced that Nietzsche was correct when he said that “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” I’m not even sure that less dramatic suffering is good for the soul. I’ve certainly never seen the appeal of masochism.

So I didn’t watch Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last night.

And when I woke up this morning and discovered that I’d missed a speech that lasted one hour and 48 minutes—the longest State of the Union ever—I felt good about my decision. But of course I do have the duty to share some kind of organized thoughts with you all—a duty to which the president is apparently not subject. So fortified with my mug of Major Dickason’s coffee, as the sun rose over the melting snows of Northern Virginia, I read what Trump said last night.

My reaction to Trump’s speech mirrored Samuel Johnson’s famous (but probably unfair?) judgment of Milton’s Paradise Lost: “None ever wished it longer than it is. Its perusal is a duty rather than a pleasure.”

But I did my duty. I perused Trump’s State of the Union from beginning to end.

And