Someone's been trying to bully our way of life into unrecognizable history. As long as he had support from a majority of Congress, he had the best chance of doing so. He lost that support, but the opposition must re-declare its determination to set things right, to get things back into rough balance, which is where democracy works best. Otherwise, it's all for naught.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi did so. She dealt with the wooly, dizzy, clueless, bully-mongering 45 with disdain and backbone. He tried to undermine her position as Speaker-Designate by stating, not without cause, that her actual installment as Speaker wasn't a done deal yet. But she deflected that attempt to diminish her by saying that the Democrats would now be in control of the House of Representatives, and that was the main point--which, of course, it is (and may have, in fact, solidified her re-selection as Speaker).
At that moment, the Constitution was being restored. This president can't get away with single-handedly humiliating those standing in his way any longer through tweets and carefully arranged rallies of sycophants. Power exists only in its utilization, and Pelosi reminded 45 that his wall didn't have the votes (Though he denied that, except if that was true, why hasn't the outgoing Speaker, Paul Ryan, hold a vote on it?). He threatened to shut down the government if the Democrats wouldn't cooperate--thus putting himself into a corner that he will probably try to ease himself out of (as he has before, when he realized his bluster was only mindless posturing). And if he tries to follow through, his party will suffer the consequences. Again.
Two things have become evident:
- First, a woman has stooped to conquer a bumbling male president by simply showing up and reminding him that his control has been significantly reduced; and
- Second, the fact that it is a woman will catapult female candidates (including those for president) forward in ways we cannot exactly determine--but will bring a woman to the White House for the first time far faster than any other event could have done. (And it could be a Republican; watch Nikki Haley very carefully. Like Sarah Palin, she's an ex-governor; unlike Palin, she has brains and savvy.)
Hillary Clinton deserved to be president on her chops and background, but she didn't realize that one of the major hurdles she needed to leap was standing right behind her on the debate stage, stalking her and succeeding in reducing her effectiveness by appearing to be the alpha male. She admitted in her follow-up book What Happened that she didn't know what to do about it.
Nancy Pelosi did. Granted, already having been in the Oval Office with 45 prepared her for whatever shock factor she might be walking into yesterday, and that experience undoubtedly gave her ballast for pushing back at him. But alpha males tend not to easily adjust to females who stand up to them, and she walked away by reducing him to a shell of a man trying to be a man through his main prop--the wall he now realizes he can't have, in addition to the power that has receded, whether he understands it or not.
When she did so (and insulted him right back in later comments), she restored what the Constitution is supposed to mean: a balancing of power by checking the irresponsible use of it. Whether this means that a compromise is coming on border security is anybody's guess, as well as whether 45 would be so reckless as to attempt an actual government shutdown. He may yell and scream and throw papers, but what is left of his staff may yet manage his childishness and avoid yet another debacle. It's happened before, and Bob Woodward's Fear documents some of those instances.
We are still in a time of relative instability, because 45 is still there in the worst possible place he can be, and Robert Mueller's report continues to seep out of his office, one awful fact at a time, one indictment at a time. 45 may go back out on the campaign trail, stirring up the thoughtless, chanting masses who will always believe, whether based on twisted religion or not, that he has been put there supernaturally to save our society from bad people who are no worse than them. Meanwhile, legal processes slowly grind on and the rule of law, too, is restored. That reckoning now draws near.
Nancy Pelosi has renewed what the Constitution means by standing up to a reckless, horribly irresponsible, corrupt president with power that will be wielded properly and responsibly. It will have to be maintained in 2020 as well, but now people see (hopefully!) that involvement (a.k.a. voting) beats standing and watching.
For now, it will have to do. But something shifted yesterday, and a whole lot of people feel a whole lot better. Hope isn't just a thought; it is a product and result of action. We have proven it to ourselves. Again. For now.
Be well. I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
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