Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent Opinion contributor to CNN and the Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own.

(CNN) President Donald Trump gave one of the longest State of the Union addresses in US history, and the teleprompter scrolled through themes and tropes that ring familiar to those who watch these speeches.

We heard the touching stories of bravery and patriotism; we heard Trump boast of his successes -- keeping the bragging to a more decorous level than his usual -- and make some calls for national unity, not usually heard from the current White House.

But the most eloquent aspect of the speech was the words Trump did not utter.

Has it ever happened that a President of the United States, in arguably the most important speech he will deliver in the year -- the one where he lays out his priorities, his principles -- has failed to mention, even once, the word "democracy"?

Nothing is more fundamental to the essence of this country than the concept of democracy. Surely, Trump and his speech writers did not deliberately omit it. But the oversight confirms the fears many of us share that Trump finds democracy and its norms more of a hindrance than an inspiration.