Dear Editor:

I stayed up past my normal bedtime to watch Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech. He fluffed a few lines as always. This likely has nothing to do with his age, as the MAGA camp likes to claim, but is a function of the childhood stutter he has succeeded in managing. An internet research on ‘Biden’s stutter’ will fill all but the pathologically hostile with admiration for what Biden has achieved.

Biden spoke with clarity and in detail for an hour and a half without once appearing to look at his written notes. This was a phenomenal performance for someone of any age. Other than for those who refuse to acknowledge the evidence in front of their eyes, it should put to rest any discussion of Biden’s mental sharpness or leadership capabilities.

Let’s focus on the issues. There are Biden policies, notably with continuing to supply the arms and ammunition for the Israeli assault on Gaza, with which I and pretty much everyone I know profoundly disagree. But on core domestic issues Biden has brought the U.S. economy through the aftermath of the Covid pandemic with the highest employment rates and lowest inflation rates of any industrialized country; he has made huge investments in infrastructure projects; he is working hard to reverse the decades-long flood of money from the middle classes to the billionaire class; he has begun to force big Pharma to negotiate drug prices; he and Kamala Harris have campaigned relentlessly to protect women from the sustained assault on the right to control their own bodies; he has initiated far-reaching actions to minimize the impacts of climate change; and above all, he has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the widespread MAGA assault being waged on the foundations of our democracy.

I especially liked watching Kamala Harris and Mike Johnson sitting behind Biden. Kamala was relaxed and evidently loving the show while Johnson was struggling uncomfortably to figure out what kind of expression he should fix on his face. It reflected the MAGA difficulty of dealing with a clearly articulated program that benefits the vast majority of Americans in contrast to the lack of policies and tear-down-the-house approach of today’s Republican Party.

Nigel Calder

Newcastle