Joe Biden gave tribute to the possibility that government can work. He laid out one after another policy that makes sense, and often as not, saves money. He talked about real policy successes. Ol' Joe promised to fight against past policy disasters.

Joe laid out one after another policy that voters overwhelmingly support. Behind him, Speaker Johnson squirmed, often shaking his head. Republicans sat sourly, bitterly, usually in silence - notwithstanding the occasional outburst from the emotionally unwell Margie Taylor-Greene.

Decent voters could see that Republicans collectively want government to fail, want popular policies to fail.

Contrarian, extraordinaire