Nancy Pelosi Jabbed the President* Right in His Tender Ego

Nancy Pelosi Jabbed the President* Right in His Tender Ego

From Esquire

From what I read in The New York Times, it appears that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not playing.

“Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government reopens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has reopened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to Congress on January 29,” Ms. Pelosi said in a letter to Mr. Trump on Wednesday. She suggested he forego the annual presidential ritual of addressing a joint session of Congress in a televised speech during prime time and submit a written message instead.

George Washington addressed a joint session of Congress but, two presidents later, Thomas Jefferson thought that too similar to the way things were done by the King of Great Britain in Parliament, so he took to sending a written message. That practice held until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson astounded the capital by delivering a speech. The one constant is that the president has to be invited to deliver the message to Congress. This president* just got himself uninvited. You can almost hear the weeping from the executive suites of the cable news outlets.

Photo credit: Win McNamee - Getty Images
Photo credit: Win McNamee - Getty Images

No SOTU? No fancy little clock down in the corner? Hundreds of banal words about the majesty of democracy gone unspoken? No responses? Whatever will they do?

It's impossible to overstate what a deft power move this is by Pelosi. It highlights the responsibility that the president* and his party bear for the shutdown. It gives her a chance to point out that the Secret Service agents who are supposed to take a bullet for the president* are at the moment working for free. And it jabs the president* right in the heart of his tender ego. In truth, cancelling or moving the SOTU won't mean a whole lot in terms of governing the nation, and not many people outside of professional politics will miss it worth a damn. But in terms of demonstrating that there's a new sheriff in town, this is tough stuff.

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