Nancy Pelosi must really be annoyed with all those memes that mocked her after she gave a rebuttal to Trump’s wall speech
[Scroll down for UPDATE.]
She doesn’t want a repetition, apparently, because she’s now saying “No” to Trump giving a State of the Union address before Congress.
Pelosi must think this move of hers will play well with the public:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has cancelled the president’s state of the union address until the government is re-opened. After rejecting invitations earlier in the week from the White House to negotiate on funding for border security, Pelosi sent a letter to the president implying he would not be welcome to address the American people.
In her letter sent on Wednesday, Pelosi cited security concerns as the reason for the delay. She lamented that Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security “have not been funded for 26 days now – with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs.”
Fascinating, actually. Although we can’t be sure she’ll follow through on the cancellation, her threat—and the stated reason for it—has an ironic twist. Security? Isn’t that what funding the wall is about? The Democratic line says otherwise, of course, but I think a lot of people, and not just those on the right, would agree that the wall is about security.
What’s more, her statement about the Secret Service is apparently a lie. But it must be one she thinks sounds good and won’t be fact-checked by the partisan fact-checkers in the MSM:
But the Secret Service called bull crap on Pelosi’s claim, not only are they ready to defend the President during the SOTU, but no Democrat asked them before Nancy Pelosi sent her letter.
Secret Service is fully ready to offer full protection during the #SOTU, a sr. law enforcement official tells @petewilliamsnbc.
"It's a no-fail mission," the official says.
Though USSS personnel are not being paid, the intelligence & protection functions are fully staffed. (1/2)— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) January 16, 2019
The official also noted that no one from Democratic congressional leadership reached out to the Secret Service to ask if the agency was able to secure the State of the Union address.
Another senior DHS official told Fox News that “there are no security concerns with the State of the Union.”
So Pelosi never even asked them. When you’re putting out propaganda, you don’t need to check.
The title I gave this post was an attempt at humor, but it has an element of seriousness, too. I think that Pelosi was indeed stung by the mockery she and Schumer received after the president’s short wall speech, and the fact that he was allowed to look “presidential” and sound coherent. She doesn’t want the optics of him addressing a joint session of Congress and telling the country how well it’s been doing. She also wants to continue pinning the “shutdown” on him and the GOP, and making the situation seem as bad as possible. She sees the shutdown’s continuation as very good for the Democrats, and wants to perpetuate and highlight it as much as possible, as well as pressuring Trump and the right to fold.
I have no idea whether there will be a State of the Union address before Congress this year. But if there is, I would guess that the Democrats will stage some sort of show, perhaps walking out en masse. Something they think will embarrass the president, anyway.
UPDATE 3:45 PM
Two can play, and in this game of political chess, Trump makes a move:
Thursday, Trump wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi informing her that her upcoming trip abroad was postponed.
The letter reads:
“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate. I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown. Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”
Neo:
In the next-to-last paragraph, you wrote “telling the country how well its been doing.”
That sentence includes your favorite typo. Maybe, by now, the error deserves its own entry on your list of categories. (I mean that list to the right. The one that starts with “A mind …” and ends with “War and Peace”.)
Democrats and other cults (including most of the MSM) have emotions and thought patterns they need to process to further their spiritual evolution. So they project a reality with minimal checking on its veracity that allows those defects to be processed. All of us have had phases like that. Putting up with and responding with equanimity to their messes is our karma from our own past muddles, which no doubt were many.
Onward, all of us together (like it or not).
I heard a comment on the subject of the SOTU speech. If Nancy refuses to invite Trump to the Capitol, he should broadcast from the border, with those Angel Moms in attendance. And no opportunity for a rebuttal?
Surellin:
I’m assuming that Trump will give the speech somewhere, with or without another audience. He’s showman enough to figure out what might work.
Cornflour:
Thanks, will fix.
It’s not just MY favorite typo, it’s just about everyone’s favorite typo. I am especially vulnerable to it when I’m in a hurry, which is certainly today (although it’s also most days, I guess).
See also this.
And so the coup continues.
I’d like to think there’s more to the memes than we see on the surface. Remember all the lemon-sucking-face comments she had to endure from last year’s SOTU?
(I need a t-shirt with that face on it. To accompany the t-shirt showing Jan Brewer shaking her finger at our previous chief executive.)
DJT hasn’t said what he’ll do yet (AFAIK), and there’s a reason for that. I await the official response, and am willing to bet we may not know it until the last day.
I get a kick out of Pelosi repeatedly rebuffing those clamoring for impeachment, like a bunch of kids pestering her for candy in the supermart. “No, you can have an apple when we get home!”
Giving Trump an opportunity to become creative with the SOTU sounds like something he can work with … as noted.
At least in Congress, someone can bellow out, “LIAR!” … to a standing ovation, this time. Maxine Waters gets a chant going?
It gives Nancy a chance to look like she’s giving Trump a little slappy-face … after her peeps cried all the way home, without candy.
Trump just struck back. Cancelling a planned boondoggle trip by Dems overseas, starting today. Just how bad are the optics for them that they are going on a trip during the shutdown. They are wailing about no pay for gov’t workers while they play overseas. Don’t call it a fact finding trip, because it isn’t .
I just put an update at the end of the post.
Trump strikes back. I couldn’t stop laughing, the man’s a genius.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/01/17/president-trump-cancels-speaker-pelosi-overseas-trip/#more-158991
Somewhere today I saw a comment pointing out that when your opponent is losing, you let him keep talking, and when you think he’s winning, you try to shut him up. Pelosi knows the propaganda value of that free air time for the SOTU speech.
I LOVE the trip cancellation.
Pelosi LIVES for those junkets.
They cost us plenty.
They are not trips for teetotalers.
From Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff @Drew_Hammill:
An update to Neo’s update:
Ace is reporting that a bus full of Congressional Democrats had already left the Capitol, headed for the airport (or Andrews AFB?) when it got notice the junket was canceled, and had to turn around and bring them back! There are pictures!
Ann… you idiot… it was a booze fest for her pals in Congress.
PERIOD.
They didn’t really care where they flew — they were already abuzz.
Nice try, though.
“Thursday, Trump wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi informing her that her upcoming trip abroad was postponed.”
Trump makes me proud of my government. I live in northern VA and a local radio station reported that the cameras were waiting when the bus returned the congress critters and they wouldn’t get off the bus so they wouldn’t be seen on camera.
This sounds right to me — @LindseyGrahamSC:
Ann:
I agree with Graham’s letter except that I think that sometimes one sophomoric response does deserve another. It points out what’s going on, and this particular response also points out the lack of Democratic attention to working out a compromise.
What’s more, I wouldn’t call any of this “sophomoric”—except in the very general sense that politics tends to be sophomoric in the sense of petty and vindictive, which is not really the definition of the word at all .
I see these moves as propagandistic chess moves in a very serious game.
I thought Trump’s wall speech was OK but not great. Seemed to smack of zero prep. The Schumer Pelosi response was a humorous and epic fail.
Isn’t the obvious solution to Pelosi’s disinvitation is for McConnell to invite Trump to the Senate? Yes, it is a much smaller venue but it could seem a bit more intimate and fire-side chat like. Put some chairs on the floor for the Justices and a couple big screens out in the foyer for the reps. that wish to come.
_____
The history of the President’s Annual Message to Congress, its original title, is moderately interesting.
It was a public event under Washington and Adams, but converted to a written letter or essay under Jefferson who thought the public display was too monarchical.
Woodrow Wilson converted it back to a public event, no doubt because he envied the monarchs (ha! sort of), and FDR renamed it the SOTU to elevate the grandeur even further. Hoover and Carter both failed to make the public address once each. I suppose Hoover was in the depth of his failure to stem the Great Depression, and Carter had lost his reelection bid. There have been plenty of failed reelection bids before and after Carter though.
Ann,
Are you that deluded?
As to imagine that Pelosi and the democRats care, even in the least… about our troops? News flash! They feel nothing but utter contempt for the military. They think to a man and woman that anyone stupid enough to put their life on the line for another is an idiot. And they hold the same POV toward the cops too.
It’s all political calculation on their part.
And you can be sure that the dems “ironclad commitment to the NATO alliance” consists of assurances that the US will continue to pay for their defense.
Surely you don’t still believe their lies?
Whereas Trump’s actions as President demonstrate that he does care about the troops. And even some republicans do too.
The shutdown has cost more than the wall with a much more substantially harmful effect on the economy than what building the wall would be. Building the wall is the just action that was supported by majority of Americans illustrated by Trump propelled to winning the president with building the wall as his signature agenda. 2016 was the referendum for whether the wall should be built and when Trump won, the matter should have been settled. The only valid argument the dems could give is that the wall is a waste of money since it is useless in stopping illegal immigrants (since the liberals don’t have the audacity to openly support illegal immigration), when the Dems’ strategy of shutting down the government to prevent Trump from wasting tax dollar to build a useless wall starts to cost more than the wall and increasingly more so each additional day the government is shut down the argument goes down the drain.
The trillion dollar question is does a wall work? the country remains divided until we have the answer. the only way it could be settled is to have the wall built and the numbers start coming in tell us whether it is effective in stopping border jumpers and traffickers. Either the wall works and all the problems that come with our borders not protected alleviated or the wall doesn’t work and we could move on to findother solutions while Trump getting a pie in his face that would increase Dems’ chances of winning the presidency 10 folds. 5 billions is a worthy price to pay if it could settle the most contentious conflict between the two sides once and for all, not to mention the stalling by dems costs more, exponentially more each passing day, with no ceiling.
I’m sure Ms. Pelosi’s trip to Afghanistan was just as important as the one she made to Syria in 2007.
Nothing on her agenda that can’t be done by phone or internet, except maybe those pesky classified intel meetings, now that Hillary’s server is shut down.
PS billing a junket as “expressing thanks to the military” into whose backs you have repeatedly shoved knives is really a little much.
Commenters at LI are on the case, and Jim Acosta is crying.
Trump must be doing something right.
LI:
“When will they learn not to troll a troll?”
“If it is not safe for Trump to address the Congress, than it is obviously not safe for Nancy to leave the country.”
“If Trump drank, this would be his “Hold my beer” moment.”
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/01/17/cnns-acosta-childish-trump-canceled-pelosis-international-trip-during-shutdown/
Acosta complains that the President is acting childish, but really, the proper response to “you can’t come play at my house” IS “then you can’t play with my toys.”
Tit meets tat.
Geoffrey Britain,
The total number of military veterans now serving in Congress is 96, and 30 of them are Democrats. Do you imagine they “feel nothing but utter contempt for the military”? And that they think “anyone stupid enough to put their life on the line for another is an idiot”?
Ann:
just because those 30 don’t doesn’t mean the rest of them do. You think Maxine Waters cares?
All I know is the Senate Democrats didn’t care about Kavanaugh’s life getting ruined by fake Rape Accusations. When you don’t feel nothing seeing an innocent man getting his life destroyed right in front of you I don’t think they care about anything else but to obtain power.
Dave,
Geoffrey Britain was accusing all Democrats of that contempt for the military.
Ya know, this still-raveling misadventure is developing the distinct earmark of an – planned – ‘object lesson’.
I am prepared to learn that blocking the Congress-SOTU wasn’t Pelosi’s bright-idea, but that a pack of aroused Reps demanding to do something, even if wrong, had to be appeased with this Trump-gimme.
Now she will clarify a few basic concepts for them.
Leave sleeping dogs lay.
Look before you leap.
From the pan, it’s the fire.
Pelosi is itching for a shot at negotiating with the author of the book. She might even accept a setback for the Democrats, to get it.
Ann:
democrats are group think people, they sure unanimously wanted to destroy Kavanaugh didn’t they? you have to hold contempt for the military to be democrat today, why? because Trump loves them. their only principle at this moment is to hate everything Trump loves and love everything Trump hates even if it contradicts everything one used to believe, didn’t Chuck schumer used to be anti illegal immigrants as well? it doesn’t matter if they were in the military, toeing the party line takes takes precedence over everything else.
Fabulous! The clowns are actually funny for once.
This is all political theater. As to trips to war zones, it makes more sense for the Commander in Chief to make such a trip, since it’s his direct responsibility, than it does for legislators to go. The Speaker of the House can easily ask military officials to brief her, and probably they already do.
Kate,
The planned itinerary had Pelosi’s military plane stopping in Belgium so the pilots could take a nap. Like they couldn’t find a couple more pilots and stay in the air? It’s political theater and a booze laced travel boondoggle. Party on Nance! Maybe they were going to party with the EU bureaucrats that are trying to stick it to the U.K.?
The Belgium layover is laughable. Our flights to South Africa had two crews for the purpose of avoiding an indirect route. Maybe they were going there for diamonds or perhaps chocolate.
Chocolate, definitely.
Ann is trolling us. Nice job, Ann.
Ann,
Lets see what their voting records indicate…
http://politicsthatwork.com/voting-record/senators.php
http://politicsthatwork.com/voting-record/representatives.php
Dem Sen. Ed Markey: 22.5% of the time supports military spending
Dem Sen. Jack Reed: 29.5% of the time supports military spending
Dem Sen. Gary Peters: 35% of the time supports military spending
Dem Sen. Richard Blumenthal: 40.9% of the time supports military spending
Dem Sen. Thomas Carper: 40.9% of the time supports military spending
Dem Sen. Tammy Duckworth: 54.3% of the time supports military spending
——————————————————————————————
Dem Rep. Bobby Rush: 2.8% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Peter DeFazio: 10.3% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Jose Serrano: 10.9% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Ted Liew: 21.7% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Mike Thompson 27.5% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Bill Pascrell: 30.4% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. G. Butterfield: 30.4% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Ruben Gallego: 30.4% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Robert Scott: 30.4% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: 37% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Seth Moulton: 43.5% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. 45.7% of the time supports military spending
Dem Rep. Collin Peterson: 45.7% of the time supports military spending
————————————————————————————————-
Dem Rep: Salud Carbajal: no rec on military spending but did favor Obama’s Iran ‘deal’ and 100% party line voter except 57% supports financial reg.
Dem Rep. Jimmy Panetta: favors strict gun control and supports Obama’s Iran ‘deal’.
———————————————————————————————–
Dem Rep. Anthony Brown: just elected, on record opposing ‘hawkish’ F.P.
Dem Rep Jared Golden: just elected, favors Pres having no say in when US Troops deployed.
Dem Rep. Conor Lamb: just elected, nothing military related in his listed priorities
Dem Rep. Gil Cisneros: just elected, favors ” diplomatic solutions to threats to our national security”…
Dem Rep. Mikie Sherrill: just elected, favors further gun control, “the most important tool in our national security toolbox is diplomacy”…
Dem Rep. Elaine Luria: just elected, in canceling Pelosi’s trip, “Trump insults troops” (indicates a willingness to use the military to score political points)
Dem Rep. Jason Crow: just elected, favors gun control and lenient sentencing, promotes the idea that blacks in prison are due to white racism
Dem Rep. Max Rose: just elected, strongly favors gun control
Dem Rep. Chrissy Houlahan: just elected, compared Trump to “Terrorist” in Border Wall negotiations
So ONE democrat, Sen. Tammy Duckworth: @ 54.3% votes to support the military slightly more than half the time…
Talk is cheap, it’s actions that count and those votes say it all. I rest my case.
I read elsewhere speculation that Pelosi was upset at the lack of a reply from Trump. I suppose everyone expected a Twitter storm from him.
Ahh…strategery!
Trump’s a counter puncher. Nancy will ignore that at her peril.
Would like to see Trump deliver the SOTU in a relatively small venue near D.C. Invite all Congress members who wish to attend, Angel Families, Border Patrol agents, ICE agents, any other people he wishes to highlight, and his cabinet. Make the speech very presidential and highlight that, while we’re doing well economically, we have much work to do in securing our border, reforming our immigration laws, and continuing to negotiate for reciprocal trade with all countries. He should lay out his offer to end the government shutdown, and point out that he has heard no counter offers from the Democrats while calling for people to call their representatives urging an end to the freeze in negotiations. It would make history. And maybe set a new precedent. Well it’s a thought.
Trump 2020 just got a massive boost from Madame Speaker.
Acosta complaining that someone else is acting childishly?
Pure gold!
Ann,
What would you have the president do?
Do you want him to be able to govern effectively? Or do you want his opposition to govern?
A more reasonable question, given how one-note your responses are, how by rote they are, is can you pass The Turing Test?
Your comments and links offer little evidence that you are not a Troll Bot.
Regardless of venue, if Trump gives the SOTU speech and democrats refuse to attend… what basis is there for thinking that any (other than FOX) of the major news orgs will cover it? Why would any of the Left’s propaganda arms do that?
Jake Tapper complained that Trump exposed Pelosi’s secret trip to a war zone, presumably Afghanistan, endangering her security.
There’s no security problem if she doesn’t go!
If Trump were to give the address in the Senate chamber, they could dispense with all the invitees used as props by the president and the senators and representatives, use the gallery to seat as many House members as care to attend, and be in a secure location. A presidential address to Congress would be covered by the networks, I believe.
I just see this morning that the Go-Fund -me account set up for the wall now has $20.5 million in its coffers. Average donation is just under $60.
The wall just might start without government funding.
Re: SOTU, The Senate may invite the President. PDT will not pass up the opportunity to invite “guests” to attend, as has happened in all recent SOTU addresses. He will showcase many of the families who have suffered from the crimes committed by the decades-long illegal invasion.
The Democrats will be apoplectic.
MUST-WATCH TV
“Ann” does not mention what the Democrats have done to the military during Obama’s time as C in C.
This might give her a clue.
Or maybe this one will help.
DJT’s next move: Nominate AOC to be our next ambassador to Venezuela.
To all of you bleating away at me, the “troll”, what I questioned was Geoffrey Britain saying this about Democrats: “They feel nothing but utter contempt for the military. They think to a man and woman that anyone stupid enough to put their life on the line for another is an idiot.” That “to a man and woman” means he includes even those who have served in the military.
Ann:
I’ve never regarded you as a troll, for what it’s worth. But you do post things that lead to people accusing you of that, particularly if they don’t know your fairly lengthy history here.
I think GB’s statement was hyperbole, but there is a lot of truth to it, and serving in the military does not mean one doesn’t now hate it—or at least now vote with the Democratic pack in ways that work against it.
I certainly have known many people who have served in the military and who came to hate it or at least dislike it.
Thanks, Neo, for not thinking me a troll. I really appreciate your work here and being able to put in my two-cents now and then. Will have to work on not sounding confrontational, or something, I guess.
Ann, on this thread, you quoted a Pelosi guy saying Pelosi was going to support & thank the troops.
You didn’t comment on whether you thought she would really be doing that.
I think her plan was a vacation, and forcing military to listen to her say BS like “you’re doing a great job, but our President is failure”, or somesuch.
Your failure to say what you think about your link indicates you believe it.
It’s PR … BS.
The Dems have basically been voting against the military since they took over Congress in 1974, and voted to allow commies to “win the peace” with war in S. Vietnam, plus commie genocide.
Under Clinton the “peace dividend” was to emasculate the military.
Under Bush, the Dems constantly argued against more for the military.
Under Obama, the Dems ran away from Iraq, losing the peace (again), usually voted against the military, and let the VA hospitals become pits.
There are reasons to vote against Trump, and the Reps; and reasons to vote for Dems (most I disagree with). But few folk would claim “Dems support our military troops”. Not in platform policy, not in votes; usually not even in rhetoric expect PR – BS stunts which seem so transparently false.
Trump shutting down the flight? Good, childish move by Trump to counter the really petty, childish attack move by Pelosi to stop the SOTU.
I heard a rumor(?) that, after 30 days on furlough, Fed workers are subject to Reduction in Force. Maybe Trump can fire thousands of Fed workers? I hope but can hardly believe Trump would do that. There’s a Daily Caller piece of an admin official supporting lots of firing, tho.
Believe it or not, I sometimes submit comments consisting of excerpts or links, with no mention of my own opinion. Mostly it’s in order to pass on something to the other readers for them to investigate and find interesting, agreeable, or disagreeable without being influenced in any way by my opinion.
Sometimes I do this because I’m trying to pass on information that’s been misstated by another commenter without naming any names or being in any way confrontational.
Sometimes it’s because although I do agree with the general opinion, I think that people should be aware of and consider a contrary view. Sometimes the most important thing is who is promulgating the view, but more often it’s the argument or position itself.
I believe I’ve done this here, and I know that I do it sometimes on Samizdata.
And sometimes I just note some facts, without commentary on them. [ ” Old Nick created Spuyten Duyvil.” ]
This particular comment might be an example.
I heard a rumor(?) that, after 30 days on furlough, Fed workers are subject to Reduction in Force.
Rush Limbaugh talked about that this week but said if Trump signed the back pay bill, that would cancel the RIF option. I have no idea if any of this is true,.
The first version of the Air Pelosi story listed Egypt as the “war zone,” not Afghanistan.
According to new reports, it is Pelosi herself who is complaining that Trump leaked details of her commercial travel plans. The problem is, no one can find such leaks, much less that they came from the White House.
I understand that some airports are now replacing TSA employees with private hires paid by the airlines, as was the case before the Patriot Act, which unionized the TSA.
I used to have an office in a building near John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA. The TSA had their offices in that building. There was a little cafe that many working in the building used for lunch. Eventually, the TSA employees drove the others away as they smoked and took all the tables without buying anything. The cafe owner finally sold it. He told me they drove all his business away.