The State of the Union duel between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) seems to have reached its end, as Trump tweeted that he would acquiesce to her position and wait to deliver the speech until the government reopens.
As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
….alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
Pelosi’s latest political calculus came in the form of a letter she sent to Trump, in which she said that she would not authorize his speech in the House chamber while the shutdown continues.
Trump reacted in real time during a pool spray, saying he was “not surprised.”
So we know 2 things:
First, someone other than POTUS wrote this because this POTUS can’t read, can’t spell and doesn’t even know leave aside have command over big fancy words like prerogative.
Second, anyone who knows New York City Real Estate Tabloid Wars will recall how Trump learned decades ago to run very very fast away from battles where he’s bound to get his butt kicked to the Moon. The faster you run away, the sooner you can get to some reporter and bend his ear with your next move or insult.
This isn’t any REAL capitulation or victory. This is Trump conceding with as few words and fuss as possible, running away, and igniting his incendiaries at some other place and time.
So the little cock loses the game of chicken.
As it should be.
This played out as it should have. Since taking office Trump has treated the Congress as his whipping boy and shut out the Democrats as much as possible.
Despite ginned-up outrage over President Obama’s late-term “pen and phone” strategy – which he finally resorted to only after unprecedented obstruction from Republicans – Trump from the very beginning of his term – and despite enjoying majorities in both branches in Congress – has sidestepped Congress and relied on issuing executive orders on a number of issues, and Republicans were mute and unwilling to assert their constitutional prerogative.
And on consequential issues, such as repealing the ACA and the $1 trillion tax cut legislation, the Republicans skipped holding public hearings, huddled among themselves to the exclusion of Democrats, and “jammed it down our throats,” just like they falsely accused Democrats of doing with the ACA – even though that dragged on through a year of televised public hearings and the inclusion of more than 150 Republican-sponsored amendments.
And now recent reports state that the Trump administration has been working on efforts to administratively rescind birthright citizenship and to transform Medicaid into a block grant program – again, without the involvement and participation of Congress.
Trump must be made to realize that this Congress will not be a passive and compliant handmaiden to an overreaching imperial presidency.
Not.This.Time.
Blotch … Blotch … !