Chuck and Nancy have me believing in 4-D Chess again

I go back and forth on this whole, “Trump is playing 4-D Chess on these people” narrative.

Sometimes I hear the 4-D Chess thing and roll my eyes and mutter, “Sure. Whatever you say.”

But every now and then something happens that makes me a believer again.

And yesterday’s very transparent Oval Office showdown between Chuck and Nancy and President Trump has me a believer.

It takes talent to so befuddle your opponents, they walk out of the room thinking they eviscerated you when in fact, they were the ones disemboweled.

That’s the most impressive thing about President Trump.  He is a master at getting his opponents to underestimate him.  And he uses their lowered expectations to his advantage.

You don’t need to be an expert at body language to know who was in control in that meeting.

It was a clear as the shellshocked scowl on Chuck Schumer’s face.

Half the time Schumer was hunched over so far, he really did start to look like the Penguin from Batman.

No wonder Nancy didn’t want the news cameras in there.

Thomas Lifson over at American Thinker pointed out that Trump led Chuck and Nancy into three traps and those two idiots walked straight into them most willingly.  

He’s right.

According to Lifson, Trap #1 was holding this meeting in front of the cameras.  After all, it was Nancy Pelosi herself who declared that her Democrat-Led Congress would be all about transparency and openness.

So Trump gave it to her in that meeting. And what does she do?

She mewls and begs that they not have the meeting in front of cameras.

Of course she did.

The goal for Chuck and Nancy was to meet behind closed doors then rush to the cameras and lie about what happened. Trump took that away from them by letting the cameras record it in real time.

And in so doing, he exposed Madam Transparency as the fraud that she is.

Lifson explains that Trap #2 was President Trump taking ownership of any shutdown the fight over wall funding might cause.  He writes:

Democrats have convinced themselves that what is called a “shutdown,” but really means furloughing non-essential federal workers, is a tragedy, a scar on the nation’s psyche. The fact that federal workers are now a major and solid constituency for Democrats skews their perception of the public’s concern. Aside from cancelling sleigh rides in national parks and other such photo dramas, the fact is that life goes on very well for nearly all Americans during the furlough. They learn that there are a lot of non-essential government workers.

After multiple shutdowns, including the last one that bore the label “Schumer Shutdown” and was quickly conceded by the Democrats, the public is no longer afraid of non-essential services (roughly 25% of the government) being temporarily suspended.

Chuck Schumer took the bait on the second trap, and after the Oval Office meeting, he employed triumphantly the term “Trump shutdown” as if he had won a victory through Trump’s surrender. Thus fortified, he is more likely to take Trump’s dare and refuse funding for adequate border security, and metaphorically throw Bre’r Trumpinto the briar patch.

And finally, Trap #3 was getting Chuck Schumer and by extension the Senate Democrats on record before cameras that they do not want to secure the border and prevent illegal immigration.

Lifson writes:

He is immeasurably aided in crafting his third trap narrative by the Democrats’ acceptance of and belief in the narratives peddled by their allies in the mainstream media. Just as they believe that the voters share their own horror over a “partial government shutdown,” they also believe their own rhetoric about a wall being “immoral” (Pelosi) or “wasteful” (Schumer).

But the arrival of the Central American caravan and the reaction of Tijuana’s political leadership and citizens, has changed the game. The “race card” (more properly, the “ethnicity card” for Hispanics) no longer trumps (pun intentional) the hand being played by Trump. It is obvious that a substantial portion of the populace of Central America would like to enter the United States and take advantage of our free schooling for their children, food stamps, the refundable tax credit (which doesn’t refund taxes but sends a check to poor families who file tax returns without owing any taxes), Section 8 housing, and when their kids are ready for college, race preferences.

You want to know why Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wanted to kick the press out of their meeting with @realDonaldTrump?

It's because they don't want the public to hear how weak they are on border security.

— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) December 11, 2018

Both Pelosi and Schumer strutted out of that meeting thinking they had the upper hand here.

And I’m beginning to suspect that this is exactly what Trump wanted them to think.

Had the meeting been held sans cameras, they might have gotten away with it.  But because we all got to see it in real time, no amount of spin can change reality.

In January when we had a brief shutdown over DACA, the prevailing public opinion was that Democrats are willing to shut down the government for illegals.  Or, as I wrote back then, the Democrat Party has become the Non-Citizens Party. 

The notion that choosing non-citizens over the American people is a winning strategy is so stupid only a Democrat would think of it.

It was Donald Trump’s position on immigration and illegals that fueled his victory over sixteen other Republicans in the 2016 primaries.

And as much as the Non-Citizens Party wishes it was Russia, the real reason Donald Trump won in an electoral landslide is because of his position on immigration and illegals.

Americans are sick and tired of getting the shaft from the very people we elect.

And if the Non-Citizens Party had any sense, they would know that now is not the time to choose illegal aliens over the American people.

But nobody would ever accuse Chuck Schumer of possessing any sense.

This is precisely why Chuck and Nancy didn’t want news cameras present.

They may still be the Non-Citizens Party, but at least now they know showing that in full view of the American voters is not a winning strategy.

Trump is forcing Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to explain themselves in front of the press and the entire country. This is awesome.

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) December 11, 2018

The fact is securing the border and stopping illegal immigration are far more popular among voters than either the Democrats or the News Media are willing to admit.

Which brings me to my final point.

It wasn’t just Chuck and Nancy who were treated to this bit of 4-D Chess.

The news media was as well.

We can't let the people see such things! https://t.co/yi2JCwZkA8

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 11, 2018

This was a most brilliant move by President Trump — the very President the news media accuses of being against a Free Press.

He invited them in.

He let them see how the sausage is made.

And they complained about it.

Why?

Because the News Media isn’t about the Free Press. They’re about controlling the narrative.

They prefer to get their information second-hand so they can spin it in a way that advances their narrative.  They don’t want to risk the public seeing in real time what actually happened.

And inviting them in and letting them record this battle live stripped away the false narrative and showed the American people exactly where the battle lines are drawn.

Now as the news media, Chuck and Nancy struggle to spin this to their advantage, we have the benefit of knowing what really happened. And it made them look all manner of ridiculous.

So thanks for playing, Chuck and Nancy.

You’ve restored my faith in President Trump’s ability to pull one over on you while the American people watched.

And watching the two of you strutting around like peacocks thinking you won?  Well, that’s just the icing on the cake.

—

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