Can you bear a few more thoughts on President Donald Trump’s much-discussed State of the Union address last week?

Our nation’s views are divided, naturally, between citizens who loved it and those who hated it or at least took issue with parts of it.

Count me among the latter. But if I can find something nice to say about Trump, I generally take the opportunity:

Many wondered how Trump would greet and treat the Supreme Court justices in attendance after the Court voted down Trump’s assumption of power to impose tariffs on the pretext of a national emergency.

Four days earlier Trump called the justices who voted against him “fools and lapdogs.” He questioned their patriotism, competence and loyalty to the Constitution. He suggested nefarious “foreign influence.” He said their families should be ashamed. Clearly his ire was focused on justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, his own nominees to the Court, who had, in his mind, been disloyal to him.

But at the SOTU, Trump shook hands cordially with the four justices in attendance, including John Roberts and Barrett. In his speech he called the tariff decision “unfortunate,” which is mild criticism, coming from Trump.

So good for Barrett and Roberts for showing up, and good for Trump for displaying the reasonably respectful behavior that we hope to see among fellow citizens who disagree.

Moving on: Way too much was made of whether Democrats were standing and applauding or remaining passively in their seats at various points during the speech.

Ask yourself: If someone launched snide, condescending taunts at me, calling me “crazy,” “liars,” “cheaters” and “crime-loving” and had attempted to humiliate me on national TV, would I feel like standing and applauding? Of course not.

Besides, Democrats, some or most or all, did stand and applaud on many occasions. Many stood up against insider trading in Congress and in favor of providing retirement benefits for citizens whose employers do not. They stood up for the elderly war heroes, victorious hockey players and the various victims Trump put on parade.

But Democrats did not stand and applaud in support of this damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t proposition: “If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

The only purpose of this tendentious ploy was to embarrass, to divide and to provide Trump and the Republicans an opportunity to smirk. The gleeful applause and taunting jeers of the Republicans lasted a full minute.

Here’s a different way of thinking about this question of who stands and who sits:

During his speech, Trump made many statements that were misleading, exaggerated or false. This isn’t partisan calumny. The speech has been thoroughly fact checked.

The biggest and most dangerous lie is Trump’s assertion that cheating is “rampant” in our elections. He says this often, without evidence and in defiance of considerable evidence to the contrary.

What if, among the fawning throng of Republicans, two or three, responding to their consciences, were to decline to stand and applaud this lie? Would they be noticed? Would they come to Trump’s attention? Would they be castigated and primaried?

We all know the answers to these questions.

While Republicans clapped and jeered for a full minute and Democrats, unwilling to respond to a proposition too complex to address by sitting or standing, sat silent in their seats, I experienced a sense of déjà vu. Where had I seen this before?

Then I remembered. If you type “Kim Jong Un” into YouTube, among the clips that come up is a short one of Kim after he has been “re-elected” as North Korea’s Supreme Leader. The applause for Kim is emphatic and sustained, and entirely coerced. No room for dissent here. And if you think the comparison is a stretch, ask yourself if you’re exercising sufficient imagination.

One more thing: Remember that right now, everything—the SOTU, ICE, the so-called Save America Act, our undeclared war on Iran—is about the midterms. Brace yourself, America.

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