It has been a great challenge to hunker down and keep sane while besieged by the unhinged ravings and actions of our unfortunate President (of the United States). I have been at a loss for words during most of this, but every now and then something happens that prevents me from remaining silent.

I trust you’ve heard a lot about the government shutdown, and you’ve surely heard about Trump walking out on a meeting on Jan. 9, 2019. There is a video-broadcasted response and Q&A by Democrats and Republicans following this walk-out. The Republican response bears the most study and attention, without a doubt. Be sure to keep following Trump’s negotiation “tactics” closely, as you will see him try very hard to inject confusion regarding what he has done and said.

I agree with the main points of contention that the Democrats have noted, such as how although Republicans say that that this fight is primarily about border security, it is clearly just about that wall and their refusal to capitulate on something that Trump has unfortunately imbued with so much meaning to him. He’s trapped himself into this situation. It clearly exposes how he is not fit for the position he’s in. No one else would make such a grand stand over nothing.

He is not interested in passing laws to re-open other parts of the government. He must have all or nothing to feed his dangerously-inflating ego. I also agree with how Trump doesn’t give a damn about murder because illegal immigration is not a primary/major cause of murder. He has no concern about legal US citizens killing each other. He has no interest in curbing gun violence. And of course, the only national emergency at the border is the one he has created by kidnapping children and putting them in detention camps where there are major physical and mental health concerns.

But I don’t plan to talk about any of that. There is something far more nefarious and disturbing occurring, as evidenced especially by Vice President Mike Pence’s words and actions.

Democrats are Unwilling to Negotiate?

This is denial in real-time. Remember, it was Trump who walked out and ended the meetings and reportedly said that he was wasting his time. It is obvious that the Democrats are quite willing to negotiate, but what were they supposed to do? Tackle the President to the ground, chain him down and force him to talk? As I comment on these intriguing snippets, keep in mind that both sides agree on the following scenario:

Trump walked into the room and passed out candy. At the beginning of the discussion, Schumer insisted that a prerequisite for their negotiations was that they open the government immediately. Trump asked that if he did that, would they support a border wall. Pelosi responded no and Trump decided to leave the room.

1:01 – Pence: Today in the brief meeting, we heard once again that Democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate to resolve this partial government shutdown or address the crisis at our Southern Border.

The side that leaves the negotiating table is the one that is unwilling to negotiate. Again, there is no crisis at the border other than the one created by the detention camps. Pence repeats this several times, that it is the Democrats who are unwilling to negotiate.

5:35 – Rep. Kevin McCarthy: I tell the Democrats: Get back into the room. Let’s not leave… We’re here and we want to work.

Why didn’t he say this to the President? So the President leaves and everyone else is supposed to just sit there? Hoping he might come back?

7:40 – Rep. Steve Scalise: The President started off laying out not why he wants $5.7 billion but why the experts tasked with securing our nation have said it’s going to take $5.7 billion.

If you have been watching the analysis of all this, you’ll plainly see that no one is recommending that number except the Republicans. Remember the recent Fox interview with Sarah Sanders and Chris Wallace? Do you remember how she was being steamrolled by her own ideologues? Did she bring up any expert analysis at any point? And why are these experts saying this now? Why this is suddenly a major issue? It’s because it’s his re-election swan song…

8:20 – Rep. Steve Scalise: [The President] will move off the number [of $5.7 billion]. He even sent the Vice President down weeks ago to offer a negotiation with a lower number than what our national security experts would have said, and not one single time have the Democrats offered a counter.

Trump was asked about a lower number, and he explicitly said he would not accept it. He also said “somebody” said $2.5 billion and that he disagrees with it. That “somebody” was Mike Pence. The counter offer that Scalise is claiming he didn’t see was the very bill Trump vetoed that the House and Senate passed with this lower number.

9:27 – Rep. Steve Scalise: And there’s a quick way to solve this problem. And not once have the Democrats offered a single counter offer.

The quick way to solve the problem is to take the Democrats’ current counter offer which is to open other departments of the government while continuing to debate this silly wall, so he can find other ways to obstruct the government until he gets all his demands. The only quick way in Mr. Scalise’s mind is to dedicate over $5 billion of non-Mexican dollars to appease this monster. Instead, that money could go to Puerto Rico. It could help fund responses to actual disasters that were not of Trump’s creation.

Congress Should Do Their Job

I won’t pick apart this entire video piece by piece, but I recommend that you take the time to do so. Just one final comment on something that Mike Pence said that I happen to agree with 100%. Never mind how sickly they promote the humanitarian crisis they created at the border to something that now warrants their very specific $5 billion-dollar solution. Never mind the weird mind/language game he continues in order to convince you that someone walking out of a meeting is not at fault for halting the conversation, so that the only solution is to keep feeding Trump’s ego, because his passion is so important to appease. This is the statement Pence needs to take seriously:

16:38 – Pence: The President’s belief… is that Congress should just do their job.

Yes… and Congress’s job is to fund the government, not to negotiate with a tyrant. When you have a tyrant in the executive, as we have never had before until now, there are protections in place, luckily, so that this person’s damage can be mitigated, and the government can still function.

We may finally be coming to a point where Trump is doing enough damage to the people who typically support him for them to realize that he does not care about them at all. Will all those government workers without a paycheck be voting? I have not seen a single person that the conservatives have been parading as a Trump devotee who is proud to no longer have income, because the walls will stop the immigrants.

At the most we should impeach this person. At the least, remember to not vote for him in 2020, unless you call this winning.