It started as the epitome of arrogance.  House speaker Nancy Pelosi sent President Trump a letter, calling on him to postpone his Jan. 29 State of the Union address until the government shutdown ends.  She didn't even tell her fellow Democrats until after she did it, the latter being busy rounding up furloughed government workers to stand in the audience for the spectacle to shame Trump.  It was all about security concerns, Pelosi claimed.

Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

As if, in the absence of security, President Trump couldn't send some drones and electronic detectors, which Pelosi insists would be better than a wall to guard the entire U.S. border.

As Hot Air noted, the whole thing was a lie.  Security was there, and the move was little more than a bid to "de-platform" President Trump out of fear that his speech might just win. Now her entire argument is falling apart.

For starters, homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the Secret Service is ready to provide security, while others said security is mainly the job of the Capitol Police, who are unaffected by the shutdown.

The Department of Homeland Security and the US Secret Service are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union. We thank the Service for their mission focus and dedication and for all they do each day to secure our homeland.

— Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) January 16, 2019

Pelosi's response to that? According to the Daily Caller:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Wednesday night she "doesn't care" if the Secret Service said it was prepared to appropriately secure the State of the Union address despite the partial government shutdown.

Instead, she stood firm in her resolve to delay the January 29 event until the government completely re-opens.

Pelosi also appeared to be backtracking on earlier reports saying she had "canceled" the SOTU.  She clarified that her letter was just a "suggestion."

Now she's got prominent Democrats breaking ranks.  According to Fox News:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., broke from other top Democrats and acknowledged Wednesday on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" that border walls "obviously" work in some areas, and rejected suggestions that barriers should be removed where they already exist[.] ... In addition, the second most powerful House Democrat said the question of whether to fund President Trump's proposed border wall is "not an issue of morality."

Hoyer's comments were seemingly at odds with the positions of other House Democrats, most notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who have argued that border walls like the one Trump is proposing are ineffective and immoral.

There's also this, from West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin:

Democratic senator Joe Manchin said Wednesday that he thinks House speaker Nancy Pelosi made the wrong move in asking President Trump to postpone his State of the Union address until the government is reopened, or give the address from the Oval Office instead of the capitol.

"I'm not sure what her intentions are," Manchin said on NBC.  "I have the utmost respect for Speaker Pelosi.  But I think this is the wrong approach to be taking right now."

What does it add up to?  The bid to de-platform Trump suggests that Pelosi knows she will lose if more images of her, such as this, go out, which they surely will in a State of the Union address, with her sitting behind him.

It also suggests that giving Trump a stage to make his case for a border wall, with "angel families" (families of Americans killed by illegal aliens) in the audience and getting shout-outs, as opposed to Democrats defending bureaucrats, will be Trump winning on optics yet again.

Worst of all, polls show that public support is growing for a border wall.  And with Trump asking for a relatively piddly little $5 billion, compared to all the money being spent by the U.S. on walls for foreign countries, Pelosi's case for the shutdown is going to collapse.

These aren't good times for Pelosi, and you can see the strain in her face as the shutdown continues and she is still dismissing the funding of a border wall as out of hand.  She's on her back foot.  Overreach in arrogant power plays can do that.

Based on what's out there, she's not going to win this.

Image credit: Fox News screen shot.