President Biden’s first 100 Days have been an absolute dream. Yes, there’s obviously still a lot that needs to be done, and tons of stuff left to fix. But Joe Biden got tens of millions of Americans vaccinated, he got a comprehensive economic stimulus bill through Congress, he reclaimed the country from unhinged Nazis, and he’s methodically undoing the damage of the Trump years. I love him.
Last night, President Biden gave an address to a joint session of Congress to mark his first 100 days, in what was actually a delayed State of the Union (since he didn’t have one in January/Feb). I’ll admit that I went to bed, because I’m tired and old! And I trust Handsome Joe. I know he’s not going to get up there and make an ass out of himself or an ass out of the country. Here are the key moments:
Yes!! I choked up just looking at the photos of Madame Vice President Harris and Madame Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They are so badass!! Pres. Biden is so proud that he gets to work so closely with a lady VP and a lady Speaker. People were obsessing over Kamala Harris’s whole look too – I didn’t want to make that the focus of the post, but here we go: the VP’s suit is from Prabal Gurung’s New York atelier and it was described by Gurung as “off-white.” It looked peachy or pale pink, depending on the light. It was a great choice for her first SOTU as VP. I haven’t seen an ID for Speaker Pelosi’s suit, but Nancy is always beautifully turned out, honestly. She has terrific “power grandma style.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States, had a special dress made for her husband’s first SOTU. She asked Gabriela Hearst (another immigrant designer, like Prabal Gurung) to make a navy dress with hand-embroidered flowers. The flowers were from all 50 states. *sob*
Anyway, I love all of this. After his speech, Biden hung out for quite a bit, glad-handing Congressmen and senators.
CBS News poll among speech watchers:
85% approve of Biden's speech, just 15% disapprove.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 29, 2021
How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/dzTGTnjBab
— Patricia Zengerle (@ReutersZengerle) April 29, 2021
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
If you haven’t seen the short clip of the Second Gentleman waving and blowing kisses to the Vice President from his seat, I highly recommend it.
Seconded. I love how proud he is of her!
Ugh that clip got to me. A man that comfortable showing emotions and proud of her in that big moment. Haven’t had that myself
Right wing Twitter is totally befuddled today. Matt Schlapp doesn’t know whether to isht or wind his watch so he decided on…attacking Jennifer Aniston! I’m dying.
I really was not crazy about Biden, but well guess what? The Democratic base, black voters, were right. This is all just so great.
“Not crazy about Biden”…wishing for the last 4 years back? Yes, Black Democratic voters especially Black women are always right. We are the ones who save this country from the “not so sure” and the virulent racists. :/ Every goddamn time. We don’t have the luxury of being not so crazy about a candidate…
I barely survived the trump years mentally, so back off. Nowhere did I say I wished for him back, and I voted for Biden gladly. He was not in my top three picks in the primary, and I don’t need to apologize to you or anyone for that.
I’m right there with you, Darla. Biden wasn’t in my top three either. But I gladly voted for Biden when it was time. I don’t know that I would have been as happy if Kamala wasn’t VP, but I still would have done it, obviously.
Exactly Anna! We are tasked with saving this country every. single. time!
I began the Democratic primaries supporting Biden during the debates. I believed he was the person to get us back into the White House, and then I felt it was not going to happen. Then a stunning thing happened: the South Carolina Democratic primaries. My heart soared that night. I was jumping up and down screaming for joy. Thanks to Rep. Clyburn’s support, and the amazing black women and their organizations in SC who had tirelessly worked on the ground in support of Biden driving out the vote, and the black voters of SC, Biden was not only back in play, he was leading. I had gone from despair to a manic high because I realized, going into Super Tuesday what momentum Biden now had. We had back our shot at the White House and toppling Trump. And Senator Harris was my VP pick for him.
The night they came out on stage in Delaware to give their speeches had me sobbing. Harris’s speech filled me with pride. It was a beautiful night. The cars honking. The fireworks. A diverse crowd at the speech, and such diversity on stage with all of the families joining Biden and Harris. I felt I lived in Amercia again.
That we won was a high I will never forget. What a heart attack night that was. I was so up and down emotionally until it became clear they had enough electorate votes. What a night!
We have had true leadership in the White House from day one. It gives me peace of mind. President Biden has far exceeded my expectations. Just think if Trump won a second term. He would have been 100,000 times worse than the first term because he had no re-election hanging over his head and would think he had a clear mandate from the voters to do as he wished. I shudder thinking about that.
Yes, Yes, A thousand times yes to all you wrote! I’ll never forget S. Carolina and Rep. Clyburn ! I went from despair to pride and hope and the debt our country owes to those organized black women is incalculable. No longer do I begin each day depressed and frightened over the latest insane actions and words from the White House. No longer do I cringe when I see the First Lady representing our country. Competence reigns and I sleep with peace of mind!
I had wanted Warren early on, because I wanted some massive action on many fronts, but would always support the Democrat nominee. I thought Biden would be just business as usual – not much progress but a huge relief and steadiness after 4 years of sliding off a cliff. Once South Carolina happened, he was the one to beat trump, but I still had low expectations for actual progress.
I have never been SO HAPPY to underestimate someone.
Right with you on all counts@ lucy2!
I supported Harris until she dropped out and then decided that if Biden got the nomination he was likely to pick Harris as VP so that made me feel better. Biden at the very beginning was pretty low on my list but he’s turned out to be the PERFECT person for the job after the incompetent unhinged nightmare of Trump and then covid.
Joe Biden wasn’t my first or even second pick for the job. But holy hell, he is so the right person for the time. And his speech was incredible.
Sometimes man makes history and sometimes history makes the man.
Loving Jill’s dress
Me, too, and even more now that I know the flower symbolism! She really likes that theme and did the same thing with that beautiful white dress and coat she wore the evening of the inauguration. I love it.
I feel like this was one of her inauguration dresses? Or maybe a backup? Didn’t she have a flower thing on at the Lincoln Memorial??
Yes. This one is a different version of the Inauguration dress. Both included flowers of all 50 states + Washington, D.C. + every U.S. territory.
You know if it was Melanoma, should would have only included flowers from the red states. Screw those blue states and their dumb flowers. It’s so nice to have people in the White House that don’t behave that way. As someone living in a community (Portland) that Trump particularly liked to spit upon, I’m glad that isn’t happening now.
“Screw those blue states and their dumb flowers.” 😂😂😂
He was amazing! I couldn’t watch the whole thing bc I needed to get up early this morning but it seems surreal that we went from scraping the bottom of a barrel to such a dignified, humble, kind-hearted and strong person leading our country. Amazing!!!! Loved everything I saw- the two power women behind him, Jill and Doug… just everything!
What I love about POTUS and FLOTUS is that they really seem to want to be where they are. It is not forced. This is Biden’s dream come true. And the passion shows. I am thankful for a calmer 2021 and a more normal 2021. Last year was crazy and it seemed like everything was going bonkers. From COVID to what the former POTUS would tweet and say.
It’s a dream come true for him and I do hope he gets to fully realize that dream. So far, he has had to spend his first 100 days cleaning up one leftover disaster after another. Thanks to the lack of a transition, they had no real idea how badly decimated our federal agencies are. Most of them are staffed at skeleton levels and are barely functional. That hinders his ability to do anything. To build back our country better, he has to build back our federal government, not an easy task. My prayers are that they can set things right again as quickly as possible so that we can function as a nation again and then, we can work on making all those great dreams of his a reality for all Americans.
What I like is that they want to be there for the right reasons – they want to make things better for the country and the world. Public service is just that, but too many politicians (mostly Rs but I’m sure some Ds too) do it as stepping stones to wealth and connections, power grabs, etc.
Exactly, it’s about serving the country.
I honestly think that in the future history will judge Biden as one of America’s greatest presidents, like FDR great.
Thanks for the information on Dr First Lady’s beautiful dress. I wondered if the flowers represented the states; she did that with her gorgeous white inauguration night coat too. It’s a lovely gesture.
Madame VP & Madame Speaker in their awesome peachy gold and bluish silver making history. Both wore pants (I see that as a tribute to Hillary) and that freaks out some conservatives. I could never wear that color the VP is wearing, it washes me out, but I can wear the colors the Speaker chose and I want that gorgeous jacket and those beads
I should have read all the way to the end before commenting on the inauguration dress above. I really love that she is using that symbolism, it is lovely (and so are the dresses).
I look forward to her ensembles. They are well thought out and she usually has a special meaning behind them. So thoughtful.
Same with Pelosi, there often is meaning behind her color choices. She has gone with white very often in the past to symbolize suffrage and being the first. Both their outfits were pale and just a shade removed from being white last night. The woman of the House also tend to send messages through their clothing colors – one day a week, they wear red for heart disease. I wondered whether there was intended symbolism last night, most of the other women were wearing almost solid jewel tones.
I don’t think this is considered a state of the union, it’s “just” a joint address to Congress. It has the same effect obviously but his first state of the union will be in 2022. Remember Trump’s first joint address to Congress, all the pundits and such were like “this is the moment he became president” and then the next day he was back to rage-tweeting about whoever fox told him to tweet about.
I am so enjoying Biden’s presidency. First, its so much calmer and less stressful. I’m not worried about him starting a war on twitter. Second, I love having a president that chose to surround himself with strong women who challenge him. And third – I think he’s doing a good job of cleaning up the mess of the last 4 years AND moving us forward.
The Constitution says the President shall, “from time to time,” give Congress the “State of the Union.” It used to be done in written format and there are no “rules” about what’s a State of the Union. If the Biden Administration didn’t call it that, it was up to them (and probably a nod to tradition and the fact that not all the Congress could be in session due to pandemic) but they absolutely could call it a SOU.
It was amazing. Seeing Nancy & Kamala actually brought tears to my eyes. It’s overdue but so lovely to see. His speech was wonderful & it is so refreshing to see dignity returned to the highest office in the land & a decent man in the Oval. Also how nice is it to actually have a Justice Department again. Rudy raided & those horrible men who hunted down Amaud Aubrey charged w/hate crimes!! Do Trump next!!
Just for clarity, it was not a State of the Union address, it was a speech to a joint session of Congress.
But, SOTU or not, it was a great speech and it was powerful that he gave it with 2 women sitting behind him. Biden went from *maybe* making it in to my 10 choices to be the democratic nominee back when there were so many candidates that the debates had to be split into 2 nights, to now he’s really convinced me that he’s the right person for the job in this moment.
I cried watching his speech. It was about hope, which is something this country hasn’t seen for four years.
I loved it that Kamala and Nancy were sitting behind him and supporting him. Two strong women who believe in the country as much as he does, showing those backwards trump loving gop’ers what’s what. Women in power bothers them to no end and it was delicious watching them squirm behind their masks not being able to say a thing.
Great speech, great job attacking Covid, great to hear a president refer to We instead of I Over and over again…. great first 100 days
I’m 36 and in my lifetime I have never heard a president address so many important truths. Trickle down does not work. White supremacy is terrorism and it IS a problem. Trans lives matter. I am surprised by how moved I was to hear it because we all should collectively know these things. As a fairly radical democratic socialist I feel relief. And more than that hope. I’m so glad it was a historic night on many fronts because this speech is one I’ll be happy to remember years from now.
I just read an article saying “madame” is a generic French name for a woman. But “Madam” is a boss lady. Usually the owner of a brothel, but still. I love that it means boss lady!
I went to bed early too! And I knew I wasn’t going to wake up to news that would make me embarrassed to be a citizen of the U.S. That, in and of itself, was a pleasant feeling, but I hardcore love the Bidens.
I was not sure about Biden being the right Democratic pick initially, but I can wholeheartedly say I was wrong. He’s amazing. He has such a clear view of his objectives. He listens to his vice president and advisors. He manages to both make people feel heard and move his agenda forward. He’s not pandering to anyone to get reelected. He’s clearly and purposefully trying to right the ship. He was the right person for this moment, no question.