Nothing but Lies

I Went to Bed

February 27, 2026

I went to sleep early Tuesday night and spent the hours between midnight and four in the kind of dreams that don’t let go—Lanying shaking me awake twice, Cat pressed against my chest like she knew. I’d never imagined we would come to this.

I watched half the State of the Union. Then I went to bed. Not out of exhaustion. Out of recognition. I’ve seen this act before. When a man stands at a podium and says nothing true for 108 minutes—the longest State of the Union in the history of the United States—sleep is the more honest response.

Five of the nine Supreme Court justices stayed home. The Joint Chiefs of Staff sat in their dress uniforms and clapped when PrumpTutin entered the chamber. The tradition is that they don’t. Military regulations prohibit it. When the military starts applauding the leader, you are no longer watching a democracy. You are watching the rehearsal for something else.

He awarded a posthumous Purple Heart to the family of Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. Twenty years old. Shot two blocks from the White House. She was one of thousands of National Guard troops deployed to American cities in what courts ruled were illegal deployments. Crime was already falling in every city where troops were sent. Washington was at a 30-year low. PrumpTutin put soldiers in American streets to solve a crisis that didn’t exist, and Sarah Beckstrom paid with her life. Then he used her death for applause.

Now the lies. Not spin. Lies. He said he inherited a stagnant economy. GDP grew 2.8% in Biden’s last year, 2.2% in PrumpTutin’s first. Biden’s economy created 1.2 million jobs in its final year. PrumpTutin’s: 584,000.

He claimed $18 trillion in investment commitments. His own White House says $9.7 trillion. Nearly double the lie.

He said foreign countries pay the tariffs. They don’t. American importers do. He said beef prices are “coming down significantly.” Ground beef hit $6.75 per pound last month—up 22%.

Then the food stamps. “We have lifted 2.4 million Americans off of food stamps,” he said. Republicans rose and cheered. His One Big Beautiful Bill slashed $187 billion from food assistance over ten years—the largest cut in the history of the United States. Nobody was “lifted” off food stamps. 2.4 million people had food taken from their mouths so billionaires could keep their tax cuts. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed it: people earning less than $24,000 a year lose $1,200 annually. Those earning $700,000 gain $13,600. The wealthiest 10% receive 63% of the benefits. The bottom 60% receive 4%. That’s not lifting people up. That’s taking their lunch and calling it a diet. PrumpTutin got a standing ovation for starving them.

I’m eighty years old. I’ve watched presidents lie before. Johnson lied about Vietnam. Nixon lied about everything. But they at least had the decency to lie with some craft. PrumpTutin lies the way a child lies, with the chocolate still on his face, daring you to call him on it. And half the country looks at the chocolate and says they don’t see it.

I went to bed because I’d heard enough. Not enough of the speech. Enough of the era. Enough of watching a nation sit politely while a man burns its house down and calls it remodeling. Enough of generals clapping. Enough of cheering for starving people.

The speech wasn’t a State of the Union. It was a hostage video. And we’re the hostages.