ADDRESS TO CONGRESS // Donald Trump did not back away from his policies, but he did cast his views in a more presidential and moderate tone in his address to the nation. “We are one people, with one destiny. We all bleed the same blood. We all salute the same flag. And we are all made by the same God,” said President Trump. The Washington Post actually has a fair summary of the President’s speech. http://cvote.it/2m61TxZ
REACTION // ABC’s Jon Karl: “This is Trump at his most presidential.” http://cvote.it/2m6mRfV
REACTION // A snap CNN poll showed that 7 in 10 speech-watchers say Trump boosted their optimism. http://cvote.it/2m668JR
EDUCATION // Trump made a big push for education choice in his speech. He called education “the civil rights issue of our time.” And he urged Congress to pass a bill funding school choice opportunities for disadvantaged students. The White House said Trump will visit a Catholic school in Orlando on Friday to continue his push for school choice. http://cvote.it/2m5SPJg
ANTI-SEMITISM // President Trump started his address to Congress by denouncing the bomb threats made to Jewish centers (over 100!). But an interesting development: Law enforcement officials believe many of the threatening calls to Jewish centers originated overseas. http://cvote.it/2m5Rfak
TAXES // While he didn’t offer too many specifics, President Trump made a push in his speech for middle-class tax relief. http://cvote.it/2m64VlR
TRUMP’S SPEECH // Liberal commentator Van Jones said his fellow liberals better watch out for this new-and-improved Donald Trump. “For people who have been hoping that maybe he would remain a divisive cartoon, which he often finds a way to do, they should be a little bit worried tonight. Because that thing you just saw him do, if he finds a way to do that over and over again, he’s going to be there for eight years,” he said. http://cvote.it/2m6af8S
WEDNESDAY WORD // Address to the Joint Session of Congress – During a president’s first year, the president is invited to deliver an ‘address’ to a joint session of Congress. According to tradition, any newly-elected president is considered too new to the job to give a speech on the ‘state of the union’ so that title is not used during a president’s first year.
ABORTION // George W. Bush’s daughter, Barbara Bush, is headlining a huge fundraiser today in Fort Worth, Texas, for abortion giant Planned Parenthood. Students for Life of America said that pro-life students in Texas will be protesting the event. http://cvote.it/2lnFJTO
CULTURE OF DEATH // How assisted suicide discriminates against the poor and disabled. http://cvote.it/2lnFLes
CATHOLIC // The ashes of Ash Wednesday are directly connected to the human desire to return to inner integrity. http://cvote.it/2m634gX
SAINT // Saint David of Wales – http://cvote.it/dailysaint
DAILY MASS // “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” (Ps 51:3) – http://cvote.it/Daily-Readings
HUMOR //