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Nancy Pelosi looked like a malfunctioning Stepford wife as she sat behind President Trump during his State of the Union Address last week. Her lower face twitched, she muttered to herself, shook her head, smiled inappropriately, gazed around, chewed her lip or remained glued to her seat during standing ovations in honor of special guests.

It was a bizarre enough performance before she rose to her feet and dramatically ripped up her copy of the presidents speech in what will go down in history as the most unseemly display of partisanship in this partisan era.

That moment was when the myth of the master political strategist was busted, and we saw Pelosi, 79, for what she is. Pretending to be classy and prayerful when she is full of petty hatreds and is incapable of holding her party together, a woman who parades her Catholicism while advocating no-holds-barred abortions, feigning to pray for the president while deriding him as sedated.

As the leader of the Democrats until they select a presidential candidate, Pelosi is everything that is wrong with the party.

She told reporters that ripping up the speech was a very dignified act the courteous thing to do, considering some of the other exuberances within me.

But her petulant vandalism was the opposite of courteous, quite obviously.

It only underscored the desperation of a party which has lurched to the left in pursuit of Bernie Sanders supporters, as the president reaps the reward of a booming economy and his opponents continual miscalculations.

Pelosi showed no contrition for ripping up the speech, nor for the political catastrophe of her failed impeachment drive.

That failure is the albatross around the neck of her partys presidential candidates as they flail their way through icy New Hampshire.

Bereft of economic ideas, they are reduced to espousing electorally unpalatable policy positions: radical abortion, gender quotas in the Cabinet, wholesale drug legalization and the kind of criminal-justice reform that has turbo-charged crime in New York.

If Pelosi meant to delay handing over the impeachment articles to the Senate as a strategic masterstroke to tie up ascendant socialist Sanders in the Senate and give Joe Biden three weeks on his own in Iowa, that, too, backfired big time.

The more Iowa saw of Biden, the less they wanted him, and the candidate who benefited most from those moderate votes was Pete Buttigieg, who has done a good job of disguising his radical views on the campaign trail.

The former South Bend, Ind., mayor said last month that theres no place for pro-lifers in the Democratic Party, and claimed the Bible says a babys life begins with breath.

In Concord, NH, Saturday, he was vaguer when asked about the comment.

Were a big tent What Im not going to do is get someones vote by tricking them.

But Sanders was less coy: Being pro-choice is an absolutely essential part of being a Democrat.

Like Biden, Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang, Sanders wants to enact a litmus test for judicial appointments:

I will never nominate anybody who is not 100 percent pro-Roe v. Wade.

But most Democrats dont share these intolerant views. As Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, who challenged Buttigieg in a live Fox News town hall last month over his pro-abortion stance, points out, 59 percent of Democrats support restrictions on abortion.

With Mike Bloomberg waiting in the wings, maybe the candidates in New Hampshire have thrown caution to the wind in the hope of stopping Sanders.

But theres one metric that tells you why Democrats are so morose: the presidents job-approval ratings among nonwhites, according to Gallup.

That group, thought to be a lock for Democrats, is coming loose. Approval of Trump by all voters is at 49 percent, the highest of his presidency and higher than for Barack Obama (45 percent) at the same point in his presidency.

Trump has gained 10 points since impeachment began in October. Nice one, Nancy.

But nonwhites approval of Trump also is at a high: 28 percent, up 10 points in a year.

When it comes to Trumps handling of the economy, he gets 67 percent overall job approval and a resounding 49 percent among nonwhites, the beneficiaries of lower unemployment and higher wages.

So almost half of all black and Hispanic voters think Trump is doing a good job with the economy. That makes him hard to beat.

As well, 23 percent of non-whites say Trump deserves to be re-elected, 13 percent say they will vote for him regardless of who is the Democratic nominee and 36 percent will decide once they see whom the Democrats choose.

The Democrats counteroffer is unpalatable social policy and tantrums from Pelosi.

Hating Trump is not enough, as you can tell from the subdued applause in New Hampshire when candidates rip into the president.

Yang knows real reason Don is prez

Andrew Yang may be lagging behind the field of Democratic presidential candidates in New Hampshire, but he is the only one with a clear-eyed view of his ultimate potential opponent.

Why is Donald Trump our president? he asked 7,000 Democrats on Saturday night at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club gala dinner in Manchester.

Its not Russia. He is our president because we lost 4million manufacturing jobs in Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania [and] New Hampshire. Those towns have never recovered.

We make a mistake when we say Donald Trump is the source of all our problems. Hes not. He is the symptom of a disease.

Liz blames racism on racism

Elizabeth Warren, who launched her academic career by falsely posing as a Native American to get favorable treatment at Harvard, would make Martin Luther King roll over in his grave with her push for race-conscious laws.

No surprise, then, that she is in denial about race problems in her own campaign. Asked about a furor in which why six women of color quit her Nevada campaign, complaining of tokenism and a toxic work environment, Warren told MSNBC it was the fault of Americas long legacy of racism and oppression [which] creates the kinds of toxicity where people take advantage of other people. Huh?

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Petulant Nancy Pelosi is everything wrong with Democratic Party: Devine - New York Post

This past Friday night, in addition to getting bested by Steve Bannon, Bill Maher also welcomed Fareed Zakaria as his guest on HBOs Real Time. Zakaria returned the favor, hosting Maher on his Sunday morning CNN show.

And just as Maher opened his interview with Bannonyour boy had the best week so farhe told Zakaria he thought it was Trumps best week ever, and therefore his own most depressing week of the Trump presidency.

From the Teleprompter Trump that America saw at the State of the Union to veiled threats against political enemies at his impeachment victory lap speech two days later, Maher said, The worst thing that could possibly have happened, that we all feared and talked about, has happened. Hes normalized. Anything you see enough becomes normal. You dont notice it.

Admitting that Trump is going to be hard to beat in November, Maher said, If this was a superhero movie, this is the moment when Superman is on the ground, adding, I dont how we get from here, this week, to November 3rd where [Trumps] defeated and leaves, which I dont think hes going to do.

Asked by Zakaria how he manages to make comedy out of someone who has become so normalized, Maher said there is no shortage of comedy with Trump. Im not worried about the comedy, he said. Im worried about the country.

Maher then turned his attention to the Democrats, or as he called them, the gang that cant shoot straight after the chaos surrounding the Iowa caucuses. If they cant get their act together, soon, its going to be over before it begins, he said. Citing a recent poll that shows only 44 percent of Democrats think they can beat Trump in 2020, Maher summed up their current attitude as No we cant.

Later in the interview, Maher explained why he believes one of Trumps favorite campaign lines, You have no choice, is likely to work. Hes saying, Yeah, you may not like me, I may be crude and vulgar and horrible, but theyre crazy, Maher said as Trump. As himself, he then added that he agrees there is a lot of crazy in the Democratic Party.

People read it every week, just these too far out left, woke-y stuff, Maher continued, warning that if Democrats continue down that path voters will say to themselves, Yeah, I dont like Trump, but hes right, Ive got to vote for him, theyre nuts.

For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.

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Bill Maher Warns Trump Could Win Because Dems Too 'Woke' - The Daily Beast

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs for travel to North Carolina from Washington, D.C. February 7, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)If the election is a choice between mean and crazy, the odds favor mean.

This past week many Democrats began saying publicly what they have been agonizing about privately: Its entirely possible Donald Trump could win reelection.

The odds are increasing that his opponent will end up being viewed as more extreme than Trump. If its a race between mean and crazy, I fear mean wins hands down, one former Democratic congressman told me. As a young voter, I saw Tricky Dick Nixon demolish a George McGovern who was tagged as being in favor of acid, amnesty, and abortion.

Thats not all that Democrats have to worry about. Trumps outr behavior has led many Democrats to obsess about him, overreact to every perceived outrage, and distract them to the point that theyve allowed socialists and woke progressives to capture much of the partys policy agenda.

We spend too much time chasing whatever foolishness Trump throws out there, and hes masterful at it, Cornell Belcher, a veteran Democratic pollster, told the Washington Post. For example, Trump couldnt have asked for a better overreaction to his State of the Union message than Speaker Nancy Pelosis dramatically tearing up the speech on national TV, standing on the podium right after he finished speaking.

Former Obama aide Van Jones told CNN that Trumps reality-show-style State of the Union speech was effective and a big wake-up call for Democrats. Trump highlighted key issues that would resonate among blacks, Van Jones noted, including record-low unemployment, signing criminal-justice reform into law, and providing more federal backing for historically black colleges and universities.

During the Super Bowl, the presidents campaign committee paid for an ad featuring Alice Marie Johnson, a 64-year-old black woman who was freed after Trump commuted her prison sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. In the ad, she hugs her family, thanks Trump, and shouts Hallelujah!

Jones and other Democrats point out that while Trump remains deeply unpopular with most minority voters, even a small decrease in Democratic margins in minority communities can have large political ripples. Trump won only 8 percent of black voters in 2016 and only 31 percent of Latino voters. But both showings improved on Mitt Romneys numbers and helped Trump carry key states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, where enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket in inner-city neighborhoods declined.

According to Oval Office visitors, Trump privately chortles at the extent to which he lives rent-free in the heads of his opponents, thus discombobulating them. A new book entitled A Very Stable Genius recounts that former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, now a fierce Trump critic, once witnessed a classic over-the-top Trump riff in the Oval Office. Scaramucci then reportedly asked the president, Are you an act? Scaramucci says that Trump replied, Im a total act, and I dont understand why people dont get it.

Those Democrats who cant resist falling for Trumps trolling are reacting to him exactly as he would wish. Trump sends liberals over the edge in rage, and while theyre not looking, the socialists like Bernie Sanders are stealing their party out from under them, former GOP congressman Dana Rohrabacher told me.

Liberal satirist Bill Maher, who hosts a comedy show on HBO, says that Trumps behavior is increasingly viewed as acceptable. Every time hes just this horrible jerk people say, Yeah, but thats part and parcel of being a strong leader and getting things done.

Maher, a donor to Democratic causes, says his party is in danger of ceding the election to Trump if it drifts too far to the left on economics and politically correct social policies.

Trump Derangement Syndrome may be so deeply imbedded in the Democratic Party that it cant be successfully treated. But the first step would be for Democrats to take Trump at his word. He is not evil he is more of a total act who tramples social norms and sacred cows with equal abandon. Opposing him is fine, but acting as if hes a dictator tilts the rhetorical playing field toward him.

Instead, Democrats might compete with Trump by recognizing that hes the P. T. Barnum of American politics. In short, Trump is a brilliant self-promoter who often knows exactly what hes doing and changes course constantly to match what he thinks audiences want to hear much as Barnum used to switch out circus acts between towns on his tour.

The way to beat a master showman isnt by running a crazy candidate against him. It may involve running someone who can at least compete with him in the showman department.

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Democrats Lose If They Let Trump Live Rent-Free in Their Heads - National Review

House Democrats say even though President TrumpDonald John TrumpBrad Pitt quips he has more time to give Oscars speech than John Bolton had to testify Trump under pressure to renew last nuke treaty with Russia Trump to request 6 percent domestic cuts in .8 trillion budget MORE was acquitted in the Senate, that doesnt mean they are going to ease off their investigations into his administration.

Democrats are weighing whether to pursue new leads of possible wrongdoing or press forward with probes that were already underway when an anonymous whistleblower's allegations last year sparked the impeachment inquiry.

But no matter which route they take, Democrats are confident there is more wrongdoing to be uncovered its just a matter of when and how grave.

Donald Trump, I still believe, is a one-man crime wave, and we cant let him get away with all of his other offenses against the Constitution and the people, said Rep. Jamie RaskinJamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinDemocrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal Biden leads 2020 pack in congressional endorsements House Oversight committee asks DHS for information on family separation MORE (D-Md.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The House impeached Trump on two charges in December, alleging he withheld nearly $391 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine as leverage to press Kyiv to open investigations to benefit his 2020 reelection, including into former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenTrump under pressure to renew last nuke treaty with Russia In New Hampshire, high anxiety about beating Trump Moderates battle for edge in crowded lane ahead of New Hampshire MORE, one of his main political rivals. Democrats say Trump then sought to cover up his actions.

The GOP-controlled Senate acquitted Trump on Wednesday, with all but one Republican arguing his conduct was not an impeachable offense.

But Democrats, pointing to Trumps recent remarks maintaining that his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was perfect, have expressed concern that Trump will feel even more untouchable after his acquittal, despite being impeached in the House and admonished by moderate Republican senators.

One day after Trumps acquittal, Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiOutgoing lawmaker laments 'way more hate in this business' Sunday shows - 2020 Democrats make closing arguments in New Hampshire America's bitter divide is the true existential threat MORE (D-Calif.) said the House was awaiting the outcome of several lawsuits previously filed by Democrats, including those targeting Trumps financial records at Deutsche Bank and former White House counsel Don McGahn.

"We will continue to do our oversight, to protect and defend the Constitution," she said during a press conference Thursday, vowing to continue to investigate allegations of administrative wrongdoing, wherever it arises.

The McGahn case goes to the heart of a crucial question for House Democrats: Do they subpoena former national security adviser John BoltonJohn BoltonBrad Pitt quips he has more time to give Oscars speech than John Bolton had to testify New Qatari prime minister means new opportunities Democrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal MORE and other witnesses related to the Ukraine saga? Pelosi declined to say if they would.

"Those cases still exist. If there are others that we see as an opportunity, we'll make a judgment at that time," she said. "But we have no plans right now."

Still, other Democrats have eagerly promoted the idea. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold NadlerJerrold (Jerry) Lewis NadlerAmerica's bitter divide is the true existential threat The betrayal of Democratic voters: Many 'liberals' need Trump to win Nadler says it's 'likely' House will subpoena Bolton MORE (D-N.Y.) said this week thathe would likely pursue Boltons testimony.

House Democrats relentlessly pushed for the Senate to allow witness testimony during Trumps trial, arguing that the White House obstructed their impeachment inquiry at unprecedented levels by not allowing officials both current and former to testify.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, argued that doing so would set a dangerous precedent of letting the House rush through its impeachment process and then pass off its responsibilities to the Senate, rather than first battling for key evidence in the courts.

But now that acquittal is in the rearview mirror, the decision about whether to pursue Boltons testimony has been punted back to the House.

If the House decides to pursue Bolton, some Democrats believe they need to be ready for a legal battle and attacks from Republicans, who will characterize the effort as another partisan attempt to go after Trump through congressional investigations instead of at the ballot box.

Some Democrats,such as Rep. Ted LieuTed W. LieuDemocrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal Trump Jr. dismisses 'likelihood' of Pelosi praying for Trump with Satan comparison Ted Lieu says he's praying for Trump after National Prayer Breakfast comments MORE (Calif.), said they would support going to court for Boltons testimony, which they say is key.

The Bolton deliberations come just weeks ahead of hisbook release in mid-March.

The New York Times made waves during the Senate trial by reporting that Bolton planned to dish damaging details about not only Trumps contacts with Ukraine but also his contacts with other foreign leaders.

Democrats have noted that they are particularly interested in hearing from the former Trump official after the Times report said Bolton had similarlyvoiced concerns about Trump's contacts with China and Turkey, alleging that his former boss has granted personal favors to the leaders of the two countries.

If you believe the Bolton leaks that this was not the only country that he was acting shady with, then I do think we should learn more about what's going on with Russia. What's going on with Turkey? What's going on with Saudi, North Korea, etc.? said Rep. Eric SwalwellEric Michael SwalwellHouse intelligence briefing on worldwide threat assessment delayed Democrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal Swalwell to release book giving 'inside account' of Trump's impeachment MORE (D-Calif.), a member of both the Judiciary and Intelligence panels.

One example in the Times report said Boltons book will detail how Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoan asked Trump who ultimately agreed to step in and ask members of his Cabinet to thwart a criminal probe into one of the countrys largest state-owned banks, known as Halkbank.

Democrats say they are going to discuss early next week how to move forward on the Trump probes.

Those are all discussions for next week, said Rep. Mike QuigleyMichael (Mike) Bruce QuigleyDemocrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal Transgender detainees need protection a letter from lawmakers doesn't provide it Lawmakers to call on ICE to release all transgender detainees MORE (D-Ill.), a member of the Intelligence panel. Obviously, it's an area of interest.

Democrats aren't the only ones talking about pursuing impeachment-related investigations post-acquittal.

Senate Republicans are vowing to move forward with their investigations into Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiGraham vows to approach Hunter Biden probe with caution: 'I'm not going to be the Republican Christopher Steele' Sunday shows preview: Top tier 2020 Democrats make their case before New Hampshire primary Democrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal MORE, the presidents personal attorney, also said he intends to keep digging up dirt on the presidents political opponents in an effort to uncover corruption in Ukraine, and he encouraged Trump to do the same.

"I would have no problem with him doing it. In fact, I'd have a problem with him not doing it. I think he would be saying that Joe Biden can get away with selling out the United States, making us a fool in the Ukraine, Giulianitold NPR's Steve Inskeepon Tuesday.

Democrats argued that the administrations insistence on going after the Bidens is further reason to keep conducting oversight.

It's pretty rich to hear these complaints from Republicans when they're still demanding Hunter Biden's travel records and Giuliani is still scouring the gutters of Eastern Europe for dirt on Trump's opponents, said freshman Rep. Tom MalinowskiThomas (Tom) MalinowskiDemocrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal Sanders, Warren battle for progressive endorsements NJ lawmaker flips endorsement to Biden after Booker drops out MORE (D-N.J.). As far as I'm concerned, the House should keep doing what we've been doing legislating and conducting oversight.

While House Democrats have already used the strongest weapon in their arsenal to check a presidents conduct, they say there is nothing in the Constitution to stop them from impeaching again if the presidents behavior is serious enough to warrant such a response.

Any future prospects for impeachment will depend on a mixture of the gravity of the offense and then the imminent danger to democracy and the election, Raskin said. If the president insists upon violating the Constitution to try to fix this election, he is going to find his met his match in the House of Representatives. We're not gonna put up with that.

Embarking on a second impeachment effort would not only be unprecedented; it also would undoubtedly invite fierce political blowback.

Such a move is also considered unlikely, with Democrats noting that Pelosi was initially reluctant to take on impeachment in the first place.

For now, Democrats are bracing to see what the president does next.

I'm a big believer ... that we didn't just happen to stumble upon one time in his presidency that he happened to act corruptly, Swalwell told The Hill. A leopard doesn't change its spots.

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Democrats to plow ahead with Trump probes post-acquittal | TheHill - The Hill

CONCORD, N.H. Though an impeachment trial, a Russia investigation, an Iran crisis and other daily turmoil, President Trump has repeatedly been able to point to one consistent success that has united Republicans moving conservative justices onto all levels of the federal judiciary.

The count now stands at more than 180 judges many of whom are endorsed by the conservative legal group, the Federalist Society. About 50 of the judges sit on the nations appeals courts. (By comparison, President Barack Obama appointed about that many circuit court judges during his entire eight-year term.)

Mr. Trumps ability to push through judges has been possible in large part because of the success that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has had in holding open seats during the Obama administration and pushing nominees through after Mr. Trump took office.

On Saturday, eight of the presidential candidates still in the Democratic primary race took turns outlining their views on the federal judiciary; they argued about how and whether they would work with Republicans, if elected, and how they would protect reproductive rights and other Democratic priorities.

But for all of the focus on the critical importance of the courts, the candidates recognized the limits of what even a Democratic president could do, if Republicans and Mr. McConnell remained in control of the Senate.

The best solution to the Senate is to make sure that in 2021, Mitch McConnell is no longer in the majority, or preferably not in the Senate at all, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., told the gathering on Saturday. He added, This is our chance, this is our only chance.

We are going to be, I think, just about No. 1 by the time we finish No. 1 of any president, any administration, Mr. Trump bragged in November, releasing a fact sheet about his success in confirming judicial nominees.

As a result, Democrats fear reversals on a wide array of labor law, civil rights and environmental cases as the courts move steadily to the right. Perhaps no issue has garnered more attention than reproductive rights, in which Democrats fear a conservative-leaning Supreme Court can significantly restrict or even remove the constitutional right to abortion.

We have courts that are completely out of balance that have been taken over by activist judges who certainly, absolutely want to end Roe and criminalize abortion, said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, which co-sponsored the forum on Saturday. But abortion is always the tip of the spear on human rights.

At the event Saturday, Democratic candidates largely were unified in their pledge to try to balance Mr. Trumps judicial appointments with ones of their own. Several candidates, including Senators Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, and Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, said they would be in favor of creating their own lists of qualified justices who they would be ready to push forward on the first day of their administrations.

Lets give Trump and Mitch McConnell some credit, Mr. Sanders said. They were well organized; they knew what they were doing. As a member of the Senate, I can tell you, you know what we do every day? We vote for right-wing, extremist judges.

As Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund executive, put it: Someones got a steamroller. And theyre going right over us.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts attacked the qualifications of the judges appointed by Mr. Trump, calling them beyond unqualified and arguing that they would not have been acceptable in previous presidential administrations.

Asked by a moderator whether she would seek to appoint young progressive justices to the court to balance conservative appointments by Mr. Trump, she said she would.

I want judges who believe in democracy, who believe in justice, who believe in the rights of individuals, she said, because that is the job of a justice.

The Democratic candidates were repeatedly pressed by moderators to explain how they planned to make any changes to the courts or to enshrine threatened civil rights legislation into law if the Senate remained controlled by Republicans.

The most common answer involved winning elections. If we dont change Congress, were screwed. Mr. Buttigieg said.

Power is the only language the Senate G.O.P. responds to right now, he said. Our partys sense of fair play has come back to bite us.

Ms. Klobuchar argued that her experience in the Senate had given her insight into how to work the levers of Congress and, if necessary, to conduct a pressure campaign to get judicial openings filled with candidates of her choosing.

Its a game thats been going on, Ms. Klobuchar said. Youve got to be creative.

All of the candidates staunchly backed a womans right to choose, and most pledged to do whatever they could to codify Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that established theconstitutional right to abortion.

Ms. Warren said that over the years, the rights afforded by the case had become narrower and narrower, like were standing on a ledge, and every couple of months another rock sort of breaks loose and falls off. And she argued that simply seeking to protect the reproductive rights through the courts was no longer sufficient.

When youve got a tilted Supreme Court and a tilted court system, weve got to start putting a lot more emphasis on what we can do through Congress, she said. In a democracy, when three out of four people want to see something be the law, then its time for us to mobilize and make it the law.

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Trump Has Reshaped the Judiciary. Heres How the 2020 Democrats Would Address That. - The New York Times