There was a time when, if a president delivered a speech that was so packed with lies that it was instantly, and conclusively, contradicted into oblivion by fact-checkers that the speech might be seen as a failure.

There have been moments in our history when, if a president was seen to be so self-serving and committed to trying to deceive the American people that most major television networks saw his speech as meaningless propaganda and did not carry it, that the speech might be seen as a failure.

Throughout political history, if a presidential speech was not just seen as un-credible but that the lies within it were seen as old, recycled nonsense, and that the whole speech was therefore made mind-numbingly boring to the public the speech would almost certainly be seen as a failure.

If the president’s energy levels delivering the speech were low and he appeared to be melting in front of those few people who actually watched it on TV—also a failure.

If the speech also contained obvious and ridiculous and indefensible misstatements about a misbegotten fiasco of a war the president started and now can’t figure out how to end—also a failure.

If the speech not only failed to make the points the president sought to make but that evidence presented reminded people that the president’s own election was actively supported by a foreign enemy, Russia…or shall I say, Russia, Russia, Russia…also a failure.

But if you were to conclude from the above that the televised address that the president........

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