Holy cow! Washington watchers haven’t seen such a bloody spectacle since Michael Corleone declared war on the Five Families (Barzini, Greene, Tattaglia, Stracci and Cuneo). Sticking with the Mafia theme, caution is advised for Signora Pelosi, because Donald has sent the presidency to the mattresses.
The Trump-Pelosi feud began when Hillary Clinton conceded defeat. After all, politicians crave power, and Washington isn’t big enough for two unethical clucks like Donald and Nancy. Remember, she was exposed by a leaked email, in which she advised congressional Democrats to “listen, but don’t give concrete proposals” to Black Lives Matter. He was the genius who hired Michael Cohen as his personal lawyer.
Who can forget their post-midterm meeting in the Oval Office? The body language between Trump, Pelosi and Chuck Schumer was beyond awkward. If in doubt about their egos, the combover, facelift and hair-plugs were telling. When Trump promoted his beautiful wall, the two Democrats vomited on live television. And – that was their best day.
I think Trump’s base mostly likes the shutdown, but Pelosi’s base is feeling the effects and holding its collective breath. If you are handicapping this at home, take Trump and the over. He is the world’s most powerful man, while Pelosi’s speakership was a damned near thing. In other words, even if Trump bends on the shutdown, this feud is not over.
The political gamesmanship began with Pelosi’s public one-up of Trump. Using her power as House speaker, she cancelled his State of the Union address (ostensibly to save money until Trump opened the government). This was meant to remind the President of her power.
Not to be outdone, Trump dope-slapped Pelosi in front of her congressional cronies. Waiting until the “Pelosi party” had boarded the bus to Joint Base Andrews, Trump alerted Pelosi that he had cancelled her use of an Air Force jet…because…well, because he’s the freaking commander in chief.
With egg on their housebound faces, Pelosi and her cronies accused Trump of endangering the speaker. By saying she should fly to Afghanistan commercially, he had “leaked” her whereabouts to the Afghans (that Pelosi once welcomed into her country without extreme vetting). This was a breech of national security: Trump was guilty of sharing top-secret information in public.
Apparently Trump was so politically wounded, he colluded with China to help get re-elected in 2020. China would buy $1 trillion in US-produced goods between now and the end of 2024, and Trump would end the tariffs. Union workers in the Blue Firewall states cheered and stock indices soared. And for good measure, he announced a February meeting with North Korea’s leader.
Stop the presses – – Buzzfeed was reporting Trump’s Watergate moment: the Mueller investigation had evidence the President had instructed his lawyer to lie to Congress about a Moscow building project. The impeachment chorus was deafening: Trump would soon be sleeping with the fishes. Yes, and Pelosi would be the Capo de Capo.
But wait a minute, the Mueller team publicly refuted the Buzzfeed story Friday evening, allowing Trump to live another day. Nothing like the fake news being outed to put a little pep in the Trump step. Plus, Trump outlined a compromise plan that would open the government, extend DACA and TPS protections, and provide $5.7 billion to extend the Southern Wall. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) likes the compromise and will introduce the plan in the senate this week. This puts the ball squarely in Ms. Pelosi’s court.
The speaker early-called Trump’s announcement: “a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable.” And if Republicans were too dense, she labeled it a “non-starter” offer. Looking at Trump’s sagging poll numbers, Pelosi is convinced she will have the last laugh…if Trump caves.
And somewhere the sun is shining on Central American peasants, as they trek toward the American Dream, and on black voters with jobs that pay more than just crumbs, but these are not the real issues inside the beltway. The two parties have taken to the mattresses – and an all-out political war spells gloom and doom for we the people.