You have to wonder who is calling the shots when the day after conservative talk show hosts roundly criticized President Trump, he did an about-face on whether to accept bipartisan legislation that would keep the governments doors open.
Bring on the shut down, proclaimed Laura Ingraham of Fox News. Of course, Ingrahams livelihood is not remotely affected by the maneuver.
Other Fox News commentators called Mr. Trump a loser if he accepted Congresss stopgap funding measure.
Someone should turn the channel.
But lets get this straight.
For forever, the complaint is that political gamesmanship is creating a more and more divided country.
So when we ever so briefly had Republicans and Democrats agreeing on a measure to prevent a partial shutdown, the president swallowed the line that he should undermine the process because the bill doesnt include $5 billion for the border wall between the United States and Mexico.
So instead of being a model of maturity, Mr. Trump digs in his heels over the wall and here we are in day six of a needless shutdown.
SO WHY did the president change his mind?
Up until the last minute, Mr. Trump seemed to agree that a bipartisan deal that included $1.3 billion for border security was better than nothing and would save the hundreds of thousands of federal workers from being furloughed.
Ultra-conservatives, however, convinced him that the compromise made him look weak because it doesnt fulfill his campaign pledge on the wall.
So Mr. Trump again insists its $5 billion for the wall or nothing, and again, falsely contends Mexico will foot the bill for its construction, estimated at $21.6 billion. The money, claims the president, will come through a revised trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. As of Wednesday, trade officials were in the dark as to how they are to make that happen.
That such a small, but clamorous, cabal can change the presidents mind so easily is worrisome.
These commentators are political hacks, not experts, basing their decisions on political polls, not facts. In a poll last week, 62 percent of Americans opposed the presidents decision to shut down the government over the wall. Among Republicans, however, 59 percent to 33 percent, thought the wall was worth the shutdown.
Clearly, the 2020 campaign is what swayed his decision and not the havoc shutting down nine government departments will cause.
