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Confused Democrat lawmakers, along with their leader Nancy Pelosi, were left sitting idle on a military bus near the Capitol after President Trump postponed their 7-day foreign fun and PR trip.
In postponing the trip, Trump used some of the same words and rationale Pelosi used in postponing his scheduled State of the Union address which was set for January 29, but postponed by Pelosi due to the "government shutdown."
Be informed.
Pelosi grounded.
The letter to Speaker Pelosi read,
"Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed." The President further informed the Speaker that she could "reschedule" the week long trip abroad when the shutdown was over.
Trump also used essentially the same tone as the Speaker had in her letter to him earlier this week.
Fox News reported that "The president pulled the plug on her aircraft as she was about to leave...Her congressional delegation's military aircraft was slated to leave at 3 p.m. ET."
An official told Fox,
"As soon as the president found out about the trip today, he took immediate action, noting that the trip would have also kept Pelosi out of the country beyond next Tuesday night---when the next government pay period would occur."
The President suggested Pelosi and her high ranking Democratic group could certainly fly commercial if they chose to do so. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders repeated that to the press later yesterday afternoon.
To say the situation was chaotic in front of the Capitol yesterday is an understatement. Pelosi allies were getting off the bus---Adman Schiff, a vocal enemy of Trump, refused to talk to the press (that's a first), other Democrat leaders were seen wandering around trying to figure out what was happening.
When the bus finally pulled away from the Capitol, no one was sure if Speaker Pelosi was even still on the bus, or if she had gotten off.
Nor were they sure where the bus was actually going.
The bus later came back to Capitol Hill and the lawmakers who thought they were headed out to the Middle East and beyond, were standing on the sidewalk---eventually filing back into the Capitol.
The rest of this story will play out today in DC and in the press.
We'll see what happens.
Should President Trump have taken this action?
Fox reports that initially, the response was mixed, and the Republican response was "divided."
Fox says House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called the move "petty" and "small." He said, "It's unbecoming of the President of the United States. But it is, unfortunately, a daily occurrence."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) said Trump's action was "completely appropriate," while Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, called it "inappropriate," saying "one sophomoric response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi's threat to cancel the State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political."
While I agree that Pelosi's actions have been consistently small, petty and sophomoric, I disagree with Graham that it was inappropriate. I think it was appropriate, given the brazen, self-anointed attitude in which Speaker Nancy Pelosi has approached the President---and the nearly 63 million people who voted for him.
She has not had an honest open discussion with him about any issue that is important to our country.
In an attempt to pacify the baby progressive freshman class of uninformed Democrats that have just been sworn in, Pelosi seems to carry the fact that she intends to oppose anything and everything this President wants to do, as a banner of courage, true leadership---a big blue "R" on her chest showing she is faithful in her "resistance."
This woman understands politics and power. Trump responded politically and powerfully. She is not a reasonable person.
A sense of entitlement.
For the record, this "grounding" by the President will not sit well with Pelosi. She has a long history of self importance with no restraint and a overwhelming sense of entitlement.
You will recall, Nancy has been Speaker before.
Back in January of 2010, Bob Unruh wrote a well-sourced, in-depth article regarding just how much Speaker Nancy Pelosi was costing taxpayers.
There is no reason to believe she is not the same Speaker Nancy today.
Unruh says the costs from her flights read like a dream order for a wild frat party. He says according to receipts obtained by Judicial Watch, the Speaker spent $101,000 of taxpayer money just in "in-flight" services.
That's just for food and booze on her trips on Air Force jets.
Judicial Watch founder Tom Fitton told Unruh, at the time, that according to the records he had obtained through FOIA requests, Speaker Pelosi had spent about $2.1 million for her use of Air Force jets for travel.
Fitton said:
"Speaker Pelosi has a history of wasting taxpayer funds with her boorish demands for military travel. And these documents suggest the Speaker's congressional delegations are more about partying than anything else.
He also discovered that Pelosi had been "treating the Air Force like her own personal airline"..."erratically canceling and rescheduling flights as one would with an on-call taxi service."
The Department of Defense said in an email found in the research, "We have...folks prepping the jets and crews driving in, cooking meals and preflighting jets" due to her demands.
Then she would cancel and reschedule.
Another email found an official asking, "Any chance of politely querying [Pelosi's team] if they really intend to do all of these or are they just picking every weekend?"
The email noted that Pelosi had a history of canceling many of her past requests.
Yet another email exchange revealed Pelosi's demand that jets pick her up at Travis Air Force Base rather than San Francisco's airport because it was more convenient for her. The email revealed military officials asking "whether it is the best use of our assets," then privately asking one another "is it worth upsetting the speaker?"
Judicial Watch documented in 2010 that Pelosi's military travel cost the US Air Force $2,100,744.59 over 24 months---including $101,429.14 for inflight expenses for food and alcohol.
She has demonstrated a complete lack of restraint, and a sense of entitlement not seen since we cut ties with King George III.
Yes, I think Trump did the right thing.
And no, I don't think Nancy's behavior is all about a wall.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Pray for our Country.