It would be difficult to overstate the cringe factor in Albany on Tuesday when Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her 2025 State of the State address.
Hochul, still struggling to find a majority of voter approval (48% as of 4Q 2024) following the messy implementation of congestion pricing in Manhattan (a cowardly "solution" to subway and bus fare evasion) spoke to assembled party loyalists from the brutalist Empire State Plaza.
REAL? When I saw New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address I was convinced it was an AI joke. No, this is real.
— @amuse (@amuse) January 17, 2025
h/t @Osint613 pic.twitter.com/R3KVEDNTB8
What better way to express the dysfunction that is the Excelsior State than to pay an elderly song-and-dance troupe to shimmy under the lights to tired hits like "Suit and Tie" by Justin Timberlake, and the too-on-the-nose "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe?
That Gov is poison, indeed.
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As reported by the City Journal:
To generate an atmosphere of celebration, the speech was preceded by a 47-minute program that included live performances by a high school marching band, a black Baptist gospel choir, a middle-aged interracial dance troupe best known for appearances at New York Liberty WNBA games, and a Tony-award-winning Broadway singer. The program also featured a poetry recital by a young woman identified as Buffalo’s laureate, along with separate invocations by a rabbi, a minister, and a Muslim imam; presentation of the colors by a state police honor guard; and the pledge of allegiance led by a local Eagle Scout. Two slickly produced (and, by all appearances, taxpayer-funded) videos also played on giant screens flanking the stage—both less than subtly promoting the governor’s policy agenda and her personal story. The first, involving a series of archetypal New Yorkers selected for their geographic, racial, and ethnic diversity, ended with a Long Island rabbi saying, “Thank you, Governor Hochul.”
Watch here, if you dare:
To Hochul's 2026 challengers: take notes. This embarrassing boondoggle should be good for thousands in campaign donations for your war chests.
