The government shutdown is, in almost every respect, horrible and stupid, but on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi provided hope that at least one good thing could come out of this mess: the cancellation of this year’s State of the Union.
Pelosi released a letter to President Donald Trump saying that, because of the shutdown, it was probably a good idea that the annual event, which is currently scheduled for January 29, be either postponed or delivered to Congress in writing. (That’s what presidents did for many decades until they decided it was better to inflict the thing on us in a big speech.)
Though Pelosi’s language makes her letter seem like a request, her deputy Steny Hoyer told NBC News that it really amounted to Trump being “disinvited” from giving the speech.
Whatever happens, it’s an unquestionably good idea for the State of the Union—a useless nightmare of an event that currently serves no purpose other than to give Trump a platform to spout racist nonsense—to not happen. Postponement is not enough. Have Trump send some stupid letter and be done with it. And maybe he can do the same thing next year too! And the year after.