by
Update: The president won't accept Rep. Lee Chatfield's invitation to address America from Lansing, the legislator tweets.
Here's a Tuesday test. Read these sentences below from Detroit News opinion editor Nolan Finley without a smirk, sneer, eyebrow arch or guffaw.
He writes about Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield's come-to-Lansing suggestion for President Trump's State of the Union address:
Chatfield, like Trump a Republican, is not playing partisan games. His invitation is serious and properly motivated. He’s not looking to embarrass [Nancy] Pelosi or give Trump a stage for a pep rally.
If you kept a straight face, you did better than us.
Rep. Chatfield grabs attention makes his "properly motivated" overture after U.S. House Spoeaker Pelosi tells Trump he's unwelcome in her chamber unless the partial federal shutdown ends by next Tuesday's scheduled date for the yearly address.
Finley admires the idea of "moving it to a place where people and politicians are at least trying to find common ground," and acknowledges that the president hasn't been a common ground kind of guy:
Much would depend on Trump grasping the significance of what's happening here and delivering an address that calls on unity and consensus.
If he opts for an angry stemwinder that plays to his base, he may as well stay in D.C.
Chatfield, a 30-year-old from Cheboygan, said Monday on Fox News that he sent the White House a formal invitation at its request. The offer is "under consideration and I will hear back shortly," the Michiganian says he was told.
North Carolina also made a y'all come to Raleigh overture.
