Nancy Pelosi: third most powerful in the US government

When Nancy Pelosi wins, Americans lose   "Nancy Pelosi has had an eventful week.  Wednesday, letters were exchanged between herself and President Trump, who eventually conceded to her seething demand to postpone the State of the Union address.  Left-leaning media announced this as some kind of a victory, like CNN's front-page headline, which read, "Pelosi claims win over Trump in State of the Union showdown."  It begs to be asked: what did this really accomplish?

 

"The answer is that it has given Nancy Pelosi a feeling of vindication, that she finally got payback for President Trump canceling her vacation abroad trip. But does it help the American citizens whom she is supposed to represent?  Not allowing the president to address Congress and the American people is just a maneuver so she can act as a gatekeeper between the country and its elected leader, and that is at the core alarmingly anti-American.
"By using the government shutdown as an excuse to go against the tradition of the State of the Union, Pelosi is guaranteeing that the subtext of history remembers her as a spiteful obstructionist while paving the way for future speakers to use the same tactic, perhaps against a future Democratic president." . . .  Read more

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Trump Playing the Long Game With State of the Union Deferral " . . . massive MAGA spectacle; she’d regret the snub for sure. Other creative ideas arose: deliver it at the border; deliver it down the hall in the Senate.
"But late Wednesday night, the president decided there would be no alternative address, no high drama as he took to some other stage to hammer Democrats about the standoff that they could solve in an hour. He would in fact defer to Speaker Pelosi’s yanking of her House chamber invitation and schedule the address when the shutdown is over. “There is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber,” he tweeted, promising “a great State of the Union address in the near future.”
"The immediate question was not whether his haters would celebrate this momentary surrender; they promptly did. On the left and among his tormentors who still think they are on the right, the mockery was instant, ridiculing a supposed tough, deal-making Trump for bowing to the superior skills of Nancy Pelosi." . . .

And no matter how his maneuvers may strike any observer, one thing is certain: he does not do anything that he does not expect to accrue to his benefit.