Not a major diary here. I just wanted to observe that at the same time that Trump has cancelled all daily press briefings, the major media have become very comfortable getting, in effect, daily briefings from Speaker Pelosi. And she is really on her game. Every word is well thought out. She obviously is investing considerable time in preparing these more-or-less daily statements.
Basically, Trump had the microphone to himself for the past 3 years (including the campaign.) Now the media has found somebody who is newsworthy, and in many respects as powerful as Trump.
This shutdown thing has been a monumental blunder by Trump. It isn’t just that Trump started the process by saying he owned it. That is just the usual Trump stupidity. But the bigger impact that few people are talking about is that in just over 30 days, Trump has ruined two of the biggest messages the GOP has worked for decades to create.
“Government is the problem.” The one thing this shutdown is accomplishing is to show how important government is. The dimwits in the media are still talking about “800,000 government employees”. It is much bigger than that. It is affecting 40 million people directly. Anybody who flies is facing long security lines and uncertain safety. Airlines will soon have to curtail flights, which will affect airline employees, food service companies, taxi services etc etc etc People who have food trucks at the National Mall are affected. People who depend on Medicaid and SNAP may soon be impacted. Anybody needing their IRS refunds may face delays. It is not “800,000 lazy government employees.” The GOP has worked hard every single day since Reagan to create the “Government is the problem” narrative. Trump has single-handedly blown this away. “Pelosi is the bogey-woman.” For the past decade, the GOP has made Nancy Pelosi public enemy number one. Don’t look now, but Speaker Pelosi is now held in higher esteem than ANY living Republican (other than possibly Colin Powell or GW Bush,) and the media now clearly sees her as the primary spokesperson for the non-Trump world.Timing is everything. A year ago, most of the media was in fear of Fox News, and they insisted on presenting “both sides” of everything (and often just the Trump side), regardless of the truth. Now, most of the world understands very clearly that Trump, Putin and the entire underworld they work for are the greatest threat the world faces today. The media was ready for somebody to turn to, and Speaker Pelosi was in the right place at the right time.
I would also like to revisit comments I made as Congress was considering whom to elect as leader. My position has always been that she was going to be Speaker. I have never been opposed to her being Speaker. My only concerns have been that she has been the GOP bogey-woman and we need to develop a younger generation of leadership.
I confess she has been much stronger than I expected, and she is clearly the right person at the right time for the crises we face. I still believe it is important to develop a younger generation of leadership that can follow in Speaker Pelosi’s footsteps. And I have no doubt she is doing exactly that. Indeed, that is reflected in some of her committee assignments.
