From The New York Times article dated January 16, 2019, entitled “In a West Wing in Transition, Trump Tries to Stand Firm on the Shutdown”:
WASHINGTON — President Trump has insisted that he is not going to compromise with Democrats to end the government shutdown, and that he is comfortable in his unbendable position. But privately, it’s sometimes a different story.
“We are getting crushed!” Mr. Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, after watching some recent coverage of the shutdown, according to one person familiar with the conversation. “Why can’t we get a deal?”
First of all, a couple of responses to the ridiculous things Trump said today:
1. Of course, you are getting crushed, Donald Trump. You shut down the government, and now around 400,000 people are being forced to work for no money, about another 400,000 are being forced not to work--and they also get no money. In addition, about a million more contractors are permanently losing money. Who was the idiot that told you that you should shut down the Government unless you get Border Wall money? Coulter and Limbaugh? Why am I not surprised?
2. Why can’t you get a deal? Well, you asked the Democrats to do something that they did not want to do, which is to give you $5.7 billion for an unnecessary Border Wall. Giving you this money is also something which the majority of the country opposes. Then, when Nancy Pelosi refused to do what she did not want to do, you slammed your hand down on the table and walked out of the room. Is that how you expect to make deals? Is your plan next time to hold your breath until you turn blue?
The fourth paragraph of the NY Times article has the money quote:
He wants Democrats to come back to the table agreeing with his position on a wall, and he does not understand why they have not.
It’s as if Trump thinks that he can stand firm for a long time...but that no one else is capable of that. Oh my God, it is like watching the movie, “Dumb and Dumber”.
The sad thing is, Donald Trump has no idea how bad things are about to get. You see, over the next month, because no one is budging--not Trump, and not the Democrats--all of these unpaid Federal workers are going to have to look for new jobs, because they will see that no money is coming in, and they all have bills to pay. Now, here is the important part. Will someone in Trump’s staff please clue him in to the following:
When these people leave their jobs, no one will be taking their place. There will be no new TSA agents to screen for weapons at airports when these people leave because no one is going to work for free. Soon, there will be a whole lot of important jobs that no one will be doing at all.
In addition, when Donald Trump finally gets around to opening the Federal Government back up, it may be darn hard for the Government to get anyone to apply, even then, because few will trust working for a Federal Government that does not seem to like paying people.
Let’s take the TSA agents for example. A lot of them are already calling in sick. What are their bosses going to do, fire them for calling in sick? How can their bosses fire them? No replacements will be coming. What happens when there are no more TSA agents, and then ISIS or some other group decides to take advantage of this situation? If a plane is hijacked or a plane blows up, Trump will get the blame.
From the NY Times article linked to at the top, I get the impression that Trump is surprised by all of this--as if no one in his Administration thought about this. The other day, I read that Donald Trump was wondering why he did not get more credit for sitting alone in the White House. No one gives a crap if Trump sits alone in the White House.
People care about the workers not getting paid. People care about planes not being safe because there are not enough TSA agents working. A few days ago, Trump was sending out Tweets saying that he was alone in the White House, waiting for the Democrats to deal. Every time Trump says that he wants to deal, and the Democrats show up, Trump’s deal is always the same. His deal is always, “Give me what I want. I will give you nothing in return.”
It is like watching a scene from the movie Godfather II. How can anyone think that Trump is serious about “dealing” when there is no deal—when he offers nothing in return? Trump just wants Democrats to surrender. Well, guess what? The Democrats don't want to surrender! Apparently, the most obvious things surprise this man.
For the first time in American history, we are seeing what it is like to have a President who not only is an idiot, but who is also not even bright enough to make sure that he is surrounded by smart people...at least George W. Bush surrounded himself with smart people. Yes, of course, they were evil, but they were at least smart enough to avoid this kind of thing.