Pelosi must give in

This is terrifying. Nancy Pelosi must give Trump his wall, or at least a portion thereof.

Politics, not border security, compels me to take this position.

Consider the numbers -- specifically, these numbers. Kos, MSNBC and other leaders of the prog media flat-out lied to you when it convinced you that the shutdown hurt Trump. His present job approval numbers, though not good, match his career best. He's slightly better off now than he was when the shutdown began.

Yes, it's true: The shutdown improved the public's view of Donald Trump -- perhaps incrementally, but the direction is not heartening.

The rah-rah hoorah-for-us prog media also gave you the impression that Mighty Nancy has suddenly become a beloved figure. She is, in fact, less popular than Donald Trump. 

As we used to say in the '80s: Wake up and smell the coffee. Another shutdown will hurt Dems more than it will hurt Trump.

Trump's re-election plan is simple: He intends to hold on to his base and then use smear tactics (the kind now being road-tested in Virginia) to chip away at his opponent. For that strategy to work, he can't capitulate to Pelosi; his base won't tolerate it.

What if Trump declares a national emergency? At the beginning of Shutdown 1, I warned that this outcome could prove disastrous. You don't want to give Donald Trump a taste of that kind of power. Yes, previous presidents have also declared national emergencies, usually for bullshit reasons. But previous presidents did not yearn for dictatorship the way Trump so clearly does.

Let me repeat: You don't want to give Donald Trump a taste of that kind of power.

That point was unpopular the first time I tried to make it. A couple of weeks ago, Trevor Noah made the same argument. Maybe you'll listen to him.

At the height of the previous shutdown, Pelosi could have struck a deal: Two hundred miles of Wall in exchange for DACA. Trump probably would have gone for that; the problem was Nancy's refusal to budge. In early January, the WP made the exact same argument that I'm making now; Nancy didn't listen then, and probably won't listen in the future. The fact that she refused to consider such a deal told me that she didn't give a damn about the young people who benefit from DACA. She cared more about gaining political advantage.

And the hell of it is, she didn't gain a damned thing. Again: Trump's popularity ticked up after the shutdown. The shutdown hurt the public's perception of the Democratic Party, while simultaneously increasing the favorables of the Republican Party. We're talking just a few points; the movement has not been huge. But there is movement, and it's going in the wrong direction.

Are you surprised to hear about those polls? Don't be. Fox viewers inhabit a bubble which distorts their view of reality, and a similar bubble encases Progworld.

If any other president were in office, Pelosi would have cut a "Wall for DACA" deal. I can understand why she finds Trump uniquely detestable, but her refusal to do something on the DACA front was irresponsible. She could have helped those kids -- and at the same time, she would have helped a whole bunch of American workers.

I've always defended Pelosi, even back in the days when all good progs loved to beat her up. But ever since she regained the speakership, she has made dubious decisions. Another shutdown will prove disastrous for the Democratic party; Trump will feel no pain.