Applying Logic to Trump

David French is often a compelling conservative thinker. But he's used to dealing with politicians who behave rationally, or at least in their plain self-interest. Those are not qualities anyone should anticipate from the current president. In normal circumstances, this would be perfectly acceptable analysis:

If Trump reopens the government and declares an emergency, he’s actually caving creatively. Erick makes a similar point as Rich Lowry, who tweeted yesterday that “the national emergency isn’t a way to win the shutdown fight; it’s just a way to lose and shift the blame to the courts.” Trump knows that he faces long odds in court. He also knows he can go to his base and say, “I fought harder than anyone for the wall. I declared an emergency. No other Republican would have the guts to take things this far.”

Will Mr. Trump take the "caving creatively" route? Who knows. I do expect the Democrats to maintain their denial of wall funds, if for no other reason than to teach the President what divided government looks like.

In the meantime, 800,000 Americans are effectively unemployed, held hostage by the man who is their ultimate boss. His willingness to sacrifice those citizens is the worst aspect of this entire mess. And the most shameful.