Wrong Way to the Right Place

Retired political reporters, I am sure, probably look at today's headlines and offer thanks to whatever deity, human agency or random chance in which they believe that they are in fact retired political reporters.

Because otherwise they would have to find a way to write about the two septuagenarian pre-schoolers at the center of a Washington, D.C. hissy-fit in such a way as to help keep us mindful of the authority of the positions involved. And said septuagenarian pre-schoolers make that anything but easy.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi withdrew the invitation to President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union address in Congress later this month. She cited the current partial shutdown of the federal government as the reason, saying that the shutdown would make it difficult for the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service to do their jobs and properly protect all of the government figures in the building for the speech. I have no idea if she believes this herself, but if so she is the only one. Her more likely intent was to embarrass the president, which is a stupid thing to do for many reasons.

It's a move certainly beneath the dignity of the office of Speaker of the House, but the stupidity comes in thinking that anything could embarrass this president. Matt Murdock's Daredevil may be "the man without fear," but Donald Trump is the man without shame. Attempts to do so have never worked, and Representative Pelosi is not a smart woman if she thinks she can manage to shame a man who carried on with an adult film star while his wife was still opening baby shower gifts.

The president, for his part, proved that not only is it a bad idea to expect childish gestures to shame him, it's a bad idea to try, because childish tit-for-tat gestures are among his slender cabinet of talents. He withdrew permission for Pelosi and a group of congressional leaders to use military aircraft on a tour of Afghanistan and other countries in which the U.S. has troops stationed, suggesting they fly commercial instead.

It would be easy to say that this tantrum makes them both look bad, but neither has ever looked anything else so why should this back-and-forth be any different. The only positive development that may come from all of this is the very real possibility we will not have to endure a State of the Union speech this year. A memo was good enough for George Washington and it ought to be good enough for all of the significantly weaker successors modern times have inflicted on the office. I think there's a better than even chance that Speaker Pelosi will find a reason to withdraw the 2020 invitation as well, which could mean we would have two years without the meaningless spectacle of what is usually one of a President's worst televised speeches.

Unfortunately I think we will get only a temporary reprieve. If the Republicans regain the House of Representatives in 2020 or if the Democrats win the White House in 2020, then we'll see it resume.

Or rather, someone will see it resume. I haven't watched that speech in more than 20 years.