Nancy blew it
I do not think Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the United States House of Representatives was sincere in offering her hand to President Donald Trump for a handshake as he approached the podium to deliver his State of the Union Address last Tuesday. She knew, the Democrats knew, that given the kind of person Trump is, he would not take her hand. And he did not.
Had Pelosi let it go at that, she would have emerged perhaps the bigger story than even the SOTU of Trump. She would have been, as my wife insists, the stronger person in that entire gathering of very strong and powerful people. Many American already hold Pelosi in high esteem for being the first woman Speaker of the US. She could even be held in higher esteem had she simply gritted her teeth and held her chin up to the affront.
What Trump did was very bad. It was even worse because most people expected him to actually reject the offer of a handshake that both tradition and good manners required Pelosi to do. Even if Pelosi did not feel like it, that she was just going through the motions or even baiting Trump, she still had to do it. And Trump was not expected to take it.
Had Trump taken the gesture of Pelosi, it would have changed the complexion of what happened on that day. But Trump ran true to form. He was bad, bad Trump. And he walked right into Pelosi's trap. Of course Trump could have done a Rodrigo Duterte who shook the hand of Leila de Lima, walked away, then turned to the cameras and made a funny face. But Trump is not Duterte. Trump has the humor of a horse.
Having thus been dutifully scorned, Pelosi could have sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the view from the high moral throne upon which she now sat at that moment, both the admiration and sympathy at this brave woman scorned almost blocking out all images of Trump forming rings with his fingers while talking.
And whether it was part of the same script or genuinely sincere, the sight of Pelosi actually standing up and applauding at certain points of Trump's speech had her having her cake and eating it to. Had an election for president been held at that very moment and Pelosi ran against Trump, she could have whumped him right then and there.
But oh no, my wife groaned. Pelosi just couldn't rein in her true self. She could not appreciate that she was ahead and winning. The admiration, respect and sympathy she gained from being rejected yet strong enough to even applaud points in the enemy's speech flew out the window the moment she tore up her copy of the SOTU in front of the cameras as Trump ended his spiel.
The woman is, after all, just like any girl throwing a fit. She was just like any other politician, not the dignified stateswoman many had heretofore regarded her. She is even worse than our Leila de Lima. At least with De Lima there are no expectations. What you see is what you get. Pelosi really blew it. And my wife is angry. She thought Pelosi was an extraordinary and strong woman. Now she feels being taken for a ride.
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