The New York Times reports that when Nancy Pelosi was asked whether she considers herself President Trump’s equal, she replied, “The Constitution does.” It’s difficult to say which is more staggering, the ignorance or the arrogance of that boast.
The legislative branch is co-equal with the executive branch. But the president heads the executive branch. The House Speaker does not head the legislative branch.
At least now we can better understand why Pelosi thought it was fine to negotiate with Bashar al-Assad. Readers may recall that during the Bush presidency she defied the State Department and visited Assad, declaring that “the road to peace is through Damascus.”
That was half a million Syrian deaths and five million Syrian refugees ago.
I once thought that Newt Gingrich would retire the trophy for most arrogant House Speaker. But Gingrich was only arrogant, not ignorant. Thus, even he never pronounced himself the equal of the U.S. president.
If Gingrich privately thought of himself as the constitutional equal of Bill Clinton, events disabused him of the notion. Let’s hope that, aided by Donald Trump, events will similarly disabuse Pelosi.
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