On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump gave his annual State of the Union address to Congress and the American people. Of course, it met with mixed reviews, with many pundits saying it wasn’t a real State of the Union address as it was more like Trump’s campaign speeches last year.

Well, the pundits, as usual, were wrong. Trump’s speech and Congress’s reactions revealed exactly the current state of the Union. DIVIDED! Last time I checked, we still called ourselves the United States of America, with the key word being “United.”

I look at the major issues of our times and have come to the conclusion we can’t solve them because of the complete breakdown of the House of Representatives, often, and now, mistakenly called, the “People’s House” as it no longer belongs to us. It belongs to the two major parties, as disgusting as they are, and nowhere was it more evident than what I saw unfold at Tuesday’s State of the Union gathering.

I will start with the embarrassing immature display by the Democrats. Some chose not to attend. Others held up little round signs saying “liar” or “false.” Others walked out revealing the word “Resist” on the back of their shirts. And collectively they refused to stand and recognize nearly everything including a young boy with brain cancer who was honorarily inducted into the Secret Service.

Here is a list of things the Democrats, by their actions, must be against: Improving the health of our nation’s food supply; reducing taxes and spending; deporting illegal immigrant criminals; taking advantage of America’s vast energy resources; reducing the $37 trillion debt; ending the war in Ukraine; getting control of the southern border; honoring victims of illegal immigrate crime; and ridding the government of waste, fraud, and abuse.

I am left wondering what are the Democrat’s plans, other than to wage political warfare on Republicans.

Speaking of Republicans, they too are unwilling to engage with Democrats and get their input on how to solve problems. They are just as afflicted with the partisan disease as their counterparts.

The Republicans now control the House, and as such are in charge of oversight of all the major governmental departments and agencies. Are they using that power to stop Trump and Musk from indiscriminately firing thousands of federal employees instead of systematically using their oversight powers to look into each and every department by insisting on full audits to find this waste fraud and abuse? Nope.

Are the Republicans proposing a 2025 budget, which should have been submitted last October, that will address the nation’s debt crisis? Nope. Their budget, according to the Government Accountability Office, will add another $4.8 trillion to the existing $37 trillion debt that is expected to grow to over $56 trillion in nine years.

The Republicans are afraid to speak out against Trump’s overuse of executive orders in fear that Trump will try to get them defeated in the next election, and nothing — and I mean nothing — is more important to them than being reelected, which in itself is a major issue. Whatever happened to country over self, or self over party?

The Democrats are reeling in self-doubt as they try to figure out why they lost and are being accused of ignoring what the American people really want. The Republicans won, but they too are missing what the people shouted from their polling booths. The people want Washington to work together and solve the issues that are making their lives more difficult, and it is obvious as every two or four years we the people change the balance of power in Washington, and are left still looking for answers.

Well, folks, the answer cannot be found by constantly reelecting 97% of incumbents who are entrenched in partisan warfare. The two parties are just two wings of the same bird — a bird of prey, not a bird of peace. As I watched this three-ring circus unfold, I realized Washington can’t change Washington. We must change Washington.

Over the last 25 years, according to annual Gallup polls, the political ideology of Americans has remained virtually unchanged, with 43% of Americans identifying as Independent, 28% as Republicans, and 28% as Democrats.

Just think how much better off Congress would be if we had that same mix of Representatives in the nation’s capital.

Will the great partisan divide increase or decrease in the next four years? Let me know your thoughts at gregawtry@awtry.com.

Greg Awtry is the former publisher of the Scottsbluff (Neb.) Star-Herald and Nebraska’s York News-Times. He is now retired and living in Hubbard Lake. Greg can be contacted at gregawtry@awtry.com.