Magnificat!
And what a magnificent United States President!
The Magnificat (Latin and English) is one of the eight most ancient Catholic chants also known as the Canticle of Mary. The name is the opening word of the Vulgate text from Luke chapter 1, verses 45-55.
“Magnificat anima mea, Dominum” (My soul doth magnify the Lord). But in the case of the State of the Union address, the Latin would read, “Magnificat anima mea, Populus.” (My soul doth celebrate the people.)
The evening, the atmosphere created within the Congressional chamber by the President of the United States was one of celebration.
We The People… these words are the brick and mortar upon what our nation is built and that which sustains our Democracy. And democracy flourishes best when elected officials heed the voice of the constituents they have taken oath to serve.
In his one hour-twenty minute speech the President detailed the metrics of success of his administration in cogent terms and he also allowed us a glance of his vision for the future. The speech did start out in a bit of a clunky manner because Mr. Trump jumped from speaking of a natural disaster to mentioning the Las Vegas Strip shooting (October 1, 2017), and then back to natural disasters. It seems an order of operations was lacking in formating this line of thought. But from a wobbly start, the speech took off.
Throughout the speech, the President would issue a mandate to the members of the Congressional Body. Early on, he called for an end to partisan politics and a movement toward unity. “These are the people we were elected to serve.” Magnificat! Toward the conclusion, he stated, “My duty and the sacred duty of the members of this chamber is to protect the rights of Americans…” He followed through with an obvious truth: “Americans are dreamers too!” Magnificat!
There was an interesting choice of words in that the President repeatedly used the word “pledge” as opposed to the word “promise”. We have suffered under a disproportionate number of promise-breakers – politicians who give lip service to the will of the people – yet then choose to appropriate their own voting power into the pockets of special interest groups. A promise is an assurance that an individual will do a particular thing. But a pledge? It is a solemn promise or undertaking and it has the strength of a vow, a measure of honor associated with completion.
There was one point where President Trump modified the word, and it is when he spoke of an ironclad pledge. “My iron clad pledge to make Americans first!” Throughout the 90 minute speech we observed a President who is ironclad. A man who does not mince words. A man who uses words like “cruel tax”, “unmatched power” and “enemies” with the ease of someone drinking a cup of coffee and talking about something as mundane as the weather outside.
Perhaps the biggest and unexpected surprise of the evening was the announcement that Guantanamo Bay will remain open as a remote penal colony. President Trump designated terrorists as “unlawful enemy combatants”. Immediately prior to entering the chamber he signed an Executive Order directing Secretary of Defense General Mattis to re-examine our military detention policy and to keep Guantanamo Bay open for business. He asked Congress to give all necessary power to detain terrorists wherever we chase them down. These occult operations are already occurring across the globe and if borders do not exist for hostis generis humani neither can they exist for us in the pursuit of our target. By affirmation again that terrorists are unlawful enemy combatants, some basic rights afforded lawful citizens are stripped from the terrorists in the same manner their operations have stripped the clothes off the very backs of their victims.
The United Nations? When a candidate for president, Mr. Trump pledged that he would deal with the corrupt business practices of member nations. Those deals are still being negotiated and in pithy manner our President stated that U.S. funds will be directed toward our friends and not to our enemies. This seems practical enough. Which one of us, would give our money to an enemy? It just makes little sense.
Regarding our poly-visionary, business-oriented President, a few metrics:
* New jobs: 2.4 million since he took office, with 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing
* Unemployment: Unemployment claims are at a 45-year low with African-American and Hispanic-American unemployment levels at lowest levels ever recorded.
* Rising wages after years of wage stagnation.
*Small business confidence is soaring.
*Biggest tax cuts and reform in American history with over three million Americans benefiting from healthy bonuses offered by their employers.
“This is our new American moment. To every citizen watching tonight, this is your time.”
We have an ironclad President. This is a magnificent time to be an American.
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