OpsLens

Pelosi and Trump Wage Political Chess Match

President Donald Trump’s recent proposal on illegal immigrants and sanctuary cities is but one of several situations where Trump has maneuvered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi into a trap. If this keeps up, and the good economy holds, the president is on solid track for reelection. If Trump wins, as in 2016, it will be in large part because the Dems gave it to him.

I mean, how can you not outright guffaw at the reaction of Pelosi to the potential influx of illegals into her turf? She hemmed, then hawed, then accused the president of playing political tricks, then mumbled off into confused rhetorical oblivion. The thing is, the president likely was never serious about the whole deal. Mostly for show, I bet, to focus the mind of the voters on the massive NIMBY hypocrisy of a majority of Dem views on the subject.

How do the Dems respond? They generally take the bait, seeming not able to help themselves. All Trump has to do is whisper a blatantly provocative plan and they run slobbering right into his political buzzsaw.

Anyway, shipping illegals all over the country would prove a logistical challenge of the first order. However, opening up the California part of the border and putting them on a fast bus or train for the tender mercies of relatively nearby San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? That sounds doable.

His championship of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the real leader of the Dems is a play from the same book. It strikes at that most vulnerable of spots, Nancy’s pride, and gives AOC the ego rush she craves to motivate her to further flights of embarrassing idiocy. Nancy’s recent trashing of the progs as “like five people” in the entire caucus and that they won districts that “a glass of water with a D next to it would win” is just what Trump intended her to do and will only make AOC shriekingly extra divisive.

Not counting Mitch McConnell’s bringing up the Green New Deal for a vote, a gambit the president no doubt approved and encouraged, he sprung another trap when Netanyahu was on the cusp of being reelected and Dem presidential contenders boycotted the prime minister at AIPAC. The Dems knew he (the best headline from that election? “Nobody Puts Bibi in a Corner”) uses his relationship with the president to great advantage and were not amused to have to make AIPAC donors and activists farklempt over the Dem disappearing act. To this end, amongst many, Trump keeps the PM close.

The best part is when the president merely uses the very words of Dems against them, as in the most recent Ilhan Omar episode. Not content with regular anti-Semitic outbursts, she now trafficks in a nonchalant attitude toward 9-11. She said, “Like, something, like, happened to some people, like, back in the day. By the way, did I mention I hate Jews?” I believe that was the exact verbatim quote. Yup, uh-huh, pretty sure.

Nancy pathetically tried to change the subject to Omar’s safety after the Minnesota Rep’s outrageous statement. This on the basis that since Omar is getting now a greater number of threats, the president should stop criticizing her. Well, Trump gets constant and additional threats by a wider margin than does Omar. Will Pelosi countenance the ceasing of all criticism of him? What did Omar, who revels in the attention, and Pelosi think Omar would get if she casually brushed off thousands of innocent American deaths at the hands of her fellow Islamists? A parade? A pony? A more fashionable exploding vest?

The pressure of so much losing is taking its toll on the Speaker. In fact, to deal with the stress as Omar doubles down on treasonous one-liners, Nancy increases her own Olde English 800 morning intake by the half gallon.

Globally, domestically, within her own caucus, and by highlighting her personal hypocrisy, the president has the House Speaker at a current disadvantage on the political chessboard.

If she doesn’t get control of her pawns and soon, the Queen herself could be too closed off from the action to significantly affect the eventual outcome. And with that, may fall the match.