The State of the Union Is Absolute Chaos

With tonight’s State of the Union address, President Biden will not only address our nation, but the entire world. It will be an important night for President Biden as his poll numbers continue to plummet, inflation is on the rise, and the economy is taking a hit after the COVID-19 pandemic. And, while the U.S. deals with these issues, currently a war is reaching a tipping point in Europe as well.

Another prominent topic for tonight’s address to the nation will be election integrity – especially after the Biden Administration has sued states like Georgia that passed legislation to reinstate the integrity of their elections. ACLJ Senior Counsel Andy Ekonomou discussed what election integrity really means: 

Election integrity to me and to us at the ACLJ means preserving an election consistent with what the law and the Constitution requires. The Voting Rights Act does not wholly displace the broad discretion of states to regulate through non-discriminatory time, place, and manner rules on how elections are conducted. So, the states provide that it is the state legislatures, not federal judges, not state judges, not state governors, not state officials, not the Secretary of the State, but the legislature that bears the primary responsibility for setting election rules.

The ACLJ is in a unique position to be able to fight at the district level, the federal level, and the international level. We have already filed an amicus brief representing 57 Members of Congress in support of the constitutional authority of the states to protect the integrity of their elections.

In our international work, we have been telling you about the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict. In the latest news, the European Union (EU) has just accepted Ukraine as a member state of the EU. 

ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy and former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell explained what this news means:

I think what the news is – is that the European Parliament is saying hey, let’s consider adding Ukraine. Now, one thing of note is that the European Parliament also had said to Germany don’t build Nord Stream 2. It wasn’t a very good idea. One thing that Americans need to understand, and I think the American media does a really terrible job there, is that Europe is not what Berlin or Paris says or thinks. It is really much broader. We in America and the American media are trapped into this idea that we just think that the EU and Europe in general is controlled by what Germany and France think and there is a healthy debate going . . . on within the EU. Remember the EU now has shrunk. . . . Now they are looking at the borders being re-written in Europe. And that scares a lot of European members, . . . and that is what you’re seeing right now. They are speaking up, saying wait a minute, we are the ones who live close to Russia, let’s be united – the European parliament, the EU, Europe in general. There are some countries that are members of what we would call Europe, but they aren’t in a membership of the EU or the European Parliament. So, this is real life what is happening, and many countries are nervous as to the offensive nature of the Russians.

Ric added what he thinks would happen if a no-fly zone was ordered by the U.S. or NATO:

It is not boots on the ground, but it is certainly going to be led by Americans if that’s what you want. I would say we should be very cautious, I would not support a no-fly zone. . . .  The reality is that this is a complicated issue, but we should be able to stand with Ukraine over Russia. But what does that mean? It means for Americans that we should’ve spent the last year really supporting the Ukrainians by allowing the Ukrainian government to buy weapons from the United States. This is something that we are seeing play out, that the Ukrainian people are fighting hard for their own freedom. That’s exactly what we want . . . to happen in a conflict is that you don’t want America to come in and just fight when the citizens of a country don’t. We want to see on the front lines people that are fighting for their own freedom. This is their cause, and we can support them, and we can sell them arms, but I don’t see a path where the Americans should be doing a no-fly zone and really risking American women and men right now. That is not where we want to go.

At the ACLJ, we are engaged in all of these issues both at home and around the world, thanks to the support of our ACLJ members. We will continue to monitor this situation and provide you with updates as they come.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of the Russian/Ukraine conflict and the upcoming State of the Union address.  

Watch the full broadcast below.

Support the work of the ACLJ, and your gift will be DOUBLED through our Matching Challenge, as we continue to bring you expert analysis on the issues that matter most.