Every time President Donald Trump makes a speech, posts a tweet, or makes a promise, the Progressives collectively have their heads explode, but not before issuing the usual apocalyptical response that all manner of evil and unspeakable things will be forced on the unsuspecting American public.

I’ve been watching the news headlines for a few years now, and as best as I can tell, none of these dire predictions have come true.  In fact, by almost all indications, most people are slightly better off now than they were before Trump was elected in 2016.  I know there are exceptions, and that’s another of my pet peeves, the fact that both sides trot out the exceptions as if a handful of incidents proved the narrative wrong.

For every situation you can find to support your cause, I can find one to dispute it, and so on.  But my point is, despite predictions to the contrary, millions of Americans have not died en masse over any political move, such as tax reform, border security policies, or Supreme Court nominees.

Now, we are at an impasse over the funding for a border wall along our nation’s southern boundaries, which Trump promised in his campaign, and Democrats vehemently oppose despite previously supporting.  The only difference is Trump wants to do it now.  And to most level-headed Americans, it is plainly obvious the only reason the Left is against it is because Trump is for it.

The Trump haters will disavow this analysis, because they are so blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome they are unable to process the irony, but trust me, those capable of critical and rational thinking are seeing what is happening.

Why did Trump, risking all the bad press associated with a government shutdown that would certainly be portrayed as his fault in the press, choose to die upon this hill?  At first, I was a bit confused.  He had the majority in the House and Senate, as well as the Presidency, why did he wait until the Republicans lost the House to make this stand?

Then I began to realize it wasn’t as much about fulfilling a campaign promise as it was exposing the Democrats for being the party of obstruction, willing to sacrifice all and everything to stop Trump, at all costs.  And the Democrats walked right into the trap, as if they were blinded by something.  What could it have been?

First, after Trump made an appeal to the public on national television, looking calm, rational, and even Presidential, Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer, speaking for the Democrats and looking like a Halloween poster, attacked him for throwing a temper tantrum.  Obviously, their definition of tantrum is different from what most folks believe.

Then in the days following, Trump offered olive branches to the Democrats, saying he was willing to accept metal fencing instead of a wall, and inviting the leaders of the Left to the White House to talk of, OMG, compromise, almost as if he was willing to make concessions to work out a deal to re-open the government in exchange for some type of wall funding.

The Dems refused flatly and adjourned to the islands for a much-needed vacation break after a hard first week of work with the new Congress.

Don’t think for a minute the optics of this were missed by voters, and don’t think the Republicans won’t use these same optics in the 2020 campaign ads.  Trump has won the field, whether or not he gets wall funding.

Like him or not, Trump seems to be a fast learner.  As he polishes his political skills to be even sharper, the Democrats have much to fear, mid-term victories notwithstanding.  They may not have their eyes open, but a lot of voters do.