House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has politely requested that if the partial government shutdown is not resolved by the end of this week, Donald Trump should either postpone his scheduled State of the Union Address (January 29) or deliver it in writing.

Pelosi’s request seems eminently reasonable. Why go through the farce of having Trump declare how strong our Union is at a time when a large part of the government is shuttered … as a direct result of Trump’s own actions?

Why give Trump a platform to lie to the American people about the nature and cause of the shutdown? Why allow Trump to falsely accuse the Democrats of “obstruction”, as Rep. Steve Scalise and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell did recently?

Why allow for the optics of the entire Republican side of the aisle rising in unison with resounding applause when Trump badmouths the Democrats?

If Trump wants to deliver his “address”, let him do so from the Oval Office or wherever else he chooses.

Nancy is one smart cookie. She will not be a willing participant in what would surely be a Trump burlesque show.

Let’s face it, our Union is broken on so many levels … political, economic, social and moral. And no, it’s not simply because we have an incompetent, greedy narcissist in the White House but largely because of the current gang of Congressional Republicans lead by “Turtle-Face” McConnell.

So, no, we do not need Trump to take us on a trip to “Fantasy Island.”

The U.S. Constitution mandates in Article II, Section 3 that presidents “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

But the Constitution gives no specifics on how that should be done. What we’ve come to know as the State of the Union address — the pageantry, the televised address and the President patting himself on the back — is a relatively recent phenomenon. And the practice of delivering an in-person speech before a joint session of Congress has not always been the norm.

Way to go, Nancy! Like any good parent, you know how to treat a child in the throes of a temper tantrum… you do not reward him.

Photo | washingtonexaminer.com