To begin with, and for what little it’s worth, I want to be recorded as deploring the instinct to try to win a difficult argument by resorting to ad hominem slurs—“He’s a coward!”—against folks who disagree with you. It’s entirely illogical. It is an extraordinarily poor way to think yourself out of a hard problem. And it gives aid and comfort to the enemy.
So please don’t do it.
If you think Chuck Schumer’s analysis is wrong, fine, but explain why.
If you think my points are wrong, fine, but explain why. Don’t hurl ad hominem slurs.
Now to the main points, which are five.
First, a shutdown would have given extraordinary new powers to the president. See, for example, N.Y. Times, The Democratic Divide: Would a Shutdown Have Helped or Hurt Trump?
Second, as sure as God made little green apples, Trump and his minions would have used those extraordinary powers as tools to wreck the federal government.
Third, and relatedly, the extraordinary legal powers that the law purports to confer on the president during a shutdown would have been used to give what lawyers call the “color of law” to Trump’s wrecking ball. Our side is winning in court on Trump’s abuse of power. We don’t want to give ourselves another legal hoop to jump through.
Fourth, a government shutdown would have supplied Trump and his minions with a splendid “argument” to further confuse an already confused public. “It’s not Trump who’s causing your pain,” they would scream, “it’s those damn Democrats who shut down the government.”
With no government shutdown, ALL THE CHAOS IS ON TRUMP AND HIS ENABLERS.
Fifth, because of points one, two, three, and four, there would be little incentive for Trump and the Republicans to negotiate to get out of the shutdown.
A shutdown is to the Trumpistas as the briar patch was to Brer Rabbit.
Facing MAGA 