Thread by @jbendery

The state of our union right now is... Bono kicking it with Paul Pelosi.

Few things in life you can count on, but one of them is Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) holding onto her spot on the aisle for the State of the Union.

She’s had this seat on lockdown for decades.

Biden to McCarthy: "Mr. Speaker I don't want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you."

Biden: "Two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken."

Kevin McCarthy... does not stand up to clap.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, with her purple hair and funky glasses sitting on her head, continues to live her best life.

"And we pay for these investments in our future by finally making the wealthiest and the biggest corporations begin to pay their fair share."

Lots of cheers for that one... except there's Lauren Boebert, looking like she's not sure how she got there.

"Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset."

Lots of boos. And then, Marjorie Taylor Green shouting from the back: "Liar!"

"We're not going to be move into being threatened to default on the debt if we don't respond," Biden says, referring to GOP demands for cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

Camera pans to Mike Lee looking OUTraged for SOME reason.

For all their faux outrage tonight on this topic, it is very easy to find stories showing that some Republicans are calling for cuts to Medicare and Social Security. huffpost.com/entry/social-s…

Biden on Tyre Nichols' murder by police: "Let’s commit ourselves to make the words of Tyre’s mother come true: something good must come from this."

Camera pans to Tyre Nichols' in the balcony. 💔

"Ban assault weapons once and for all!"

Loud cheers from Democrats.

And then there's... Lauren Boebert.

"Let’s also pass the bipartisan Equality Act to ensure LGBTQ Americans -- especially transgender young people -- can live with safety and dignity."

Lots of applause from Democrats as the camera pans to Kyrsten Sinema.

"Tonight, we are once again joined by Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States," Biden says.

"Ambassador, America is united in our support for your country. Will you stand so we can all take a look at you."

Biden: "Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year."

A male member of Congress off camera, presumably GOP: "It's your fault!"

JFC. Even McCarthy looks pissed.

"A few months ago, unhinged by the Big Lie, an assailant unleashed political violence in the home of the then-Speaker of this House of Reps. Using the very same language that insurrectionists who stalked these halls chanted on Jan. 6th," Biden says.

"My friend, Paul Pelosi."

Camera pans to Nancy Pelosi as the chamber applauds the resilience of her husband.

"We must give hate and extremism in any form no safe harbor," Biden says. "Democracy must not be a partisan issue. It must be an American issue."

Lots of applause. McCarthy claps but... does not stand up.

Biden speech over, he's now making the rounds of handshakes with lawmakers in the crowd.

"Hey big Jon!" he says to Jon Tester.

"Aren't those stars heavy?" Biden says to some high-ranking military officials. 😂

"Sorry. Sorry you guys had to sit there. I apologize." -- Biden to the Supreme Court justices.

😂😂

I can't believe the mics and cameras are still on Biden. He's telling stories and jokes with former Supreme Court justices right now.

With Biden mic'd up and on camera post-speech, it's been remarkable to watch how many members are asking him for help with things as they greet him.

Here is Rep. Al Green asking him for something.

Biden: "You need 54 of those vehicles....We got 15, they won't fund them."

Hard to see, but here is Biden making sure to check in with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Rep. Sharice Davids and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández. Lots of laughs.

Biden spent a good minute talking with Rep. Melanie Stansbury and meeting someone she called "the newest member of my team."

This is all such classic Biden. Last guy to leave the party.

I dunno who this guy is, but he's telling Biden something about iron workers, "transformational" infrastructure and a $1 billion budget.

Biden's response: "By the way, just don't tell the guy from West Virginia that." Presumably Manchin? 😂

Biden moves on to this Dem, whose name I'm blanking on: "I wanna know where he gets his suits."

Then to Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who seemed a bit emotional as she thanked him for something in his speech she's been waiting for "for 41 years." They hugged after this.

"I'm gonna run across America with this speech," Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee tells Biden. "I think if we lean in ... on police reform we can get this done in the first three months."

Biden: "I think so too. I'm praying for that."

Lee kinda left, but then said "just kidding" and came back for a selfie.

Biden actually made Lee take a couple selfies after apparently not liking their first one.

"No no. Hit it again," he said, messing with her phone. "She's trying to make me feel good, she erased it."

😂

"This is a picture of my 5-month-old son," says a freshman Dem (I think?), who has been waiting with other freshmen at the back of the chamber for hellos and selfies with Biden.

"God love you," Biden says. "Oh man!"

Freshman Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii) invites Biden to come to her state.

"Are you kiddin me?" Biden says. "For 8 years, every time I sat down with Barack ... he started off every conversation, 'You know what the temperature is in Hawaii right now? It's 79.'"

"Hey guys, how you doin!" Biden says to this Asian American congresswoman who I can't ID, but who holds up her phone with her two sons on FaceTime.

"Take care of mom and be patient with dad, okay?"

"It's true. People get angry, they feel like they're being used!" Biden tells this freshman member, who I also can't ID.

She offered to help anytime on this issue, whatever it is, and he asked a staffer to get her direct line.

I couldn't hear what Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said here, but it was something personal to Biden in his speech.

"It's my son," Biden said.

"I know," said Takano. "I know what you're talking about."

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) introduces himself to Biden.

Biden: "Tell your dad to go easy on me, will ya?"

His dad is Leon Panetta, former CIA director. 😂

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) says she stuck around the House chamber tonight "out of respect."

Dingell: "You know it's the anniversary of John's death."

Biden: "It was Beau's birthday 2 days ago."

Dingell, choking up: "I know. It's how we always...."

"But they're up there watching," Dingell says, visibly upset.

"Yep. I have to-- I believe it," Biden says.

"I do too," says Dingell. 💔

I am exhausted just watching Biden interact with all these people. The jokes, the stories, the moments of shared grief, the requests for help on various projects.

How is he not bawling or passing out on a chair.

And yet, Biden is still going, pepping back up to greet still more members of Congress.

He meets Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who introduces himself as a Democrat from Kentucky.

Biden responds with a weird drawl: "Kentucky! How's that, boy?" 😂

McGarvey says his four-year-old wanted to know if she could come to the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Biden: "Sure she can come, with or without you!"

I can't tell who this is (maybe Seth Moulton?) but Biden seems genuinely happy to see him.

Biden pulls him close to say, "You can do this. By the way, 85% of [?] has already been passed. We just gotta get it done now. And let people know. They don't know."

"Want to catch up with you again on the California water," Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) says to Biden.

"We let half a million acres go dry in agriculture last year and I don't know where the food is going to come from."

Biden tells LaMalfa he understands and doesn't know where the food is going to come from either.

"You know I've been out there four times," Biden says.

LaMalfa: "Yeah. I appreciate that."

Couldn't hear the rest of LaMalfa's exchange with Biden, but Biden said "alright" at the end to something LaMalfa said should happen re: the water situation.

LaMalfa shook his hand as Biden, at last, left the chamber.

FYI I just deleted a tweet on this thread saying Biden's post-SOTU period of socializing lasted more than an hour.

It went on for 20 mins, not over an hour. I don't know what went wrong with the timeline on the live feed I had been using, but I can see now it was 20 mins.

Suffice it to say, the best part of Joe Biden's State of the Union address happened right after it was over.
huffpost.com/entry/joe-bide…