“Nancy Pelosi, the old and broken political hack who Impeached me twice and lost, is finally calling it ‘quits.’ She illegally made a fortune in the Stock Market, ripped off the American Public, and was a disaster for America. I’m glad to see the stench of Nancy Pelosi go!!!”
—President Donald Trump on Truth Social today, responding to the news that Ethics Villain Nancy Pelosi will not run for another term. (What do you really think, Mr. President?)
I was going to frame this as an Ethics Quiz, but thought better of it. Of course a U.S President shouldn’t stoop to this kind of rhetoric, even if everyone else is, about him. “Old and broken,” “hack” and “stench” cross the line into ad hominem, but then that’s Trump, unfortunately. The sentiment, however is deserved, which is why EA designated Pelosi as an Ethics Villain. She has been an unequivocally destructive force on the U.S. scene, from her irresponsible and unethical ushering of Obamacare through to passage without letting it be thoroughly vetted, to her ruinous impeachments (we no longer have a non-partisan impeachment option, thanks to her precedents) to her disgusting performance during Trump’s final State of the Union address in his last term, to the rigged “J-6” hearings. Trump is also correct about her insider trading, though she has the defense of “Everybody does it,” just not as effectively as she did.
Yes, Trump’s message is typical “tit-for-tat” after she called him a “vile creature” and the “worst thing on the face of the earth,” to which “hack” and “stench” seem mild insults in comparison. President still have an obligation to eschew such name-calling and “take the high road,” a principle that Trump either rejects or refuses to acknowledge.
On the other hand, as Captain Hook would never say, everything Trump said is true. So there’s that… Ann Althouse wrote that she was impressed that Trump didn’t slip any sexist rhetoric into his message.
And that, my friends, is called damning with faint praise.
Ethics Alarms 
I’d add that I hope it’s a short retirement before Nancy Bug Eyes follows Harry Reid into Hell.
I, for one, will never forget her in her standing up behind Trump in her white outfit and melodramatically tearing up the transcript of his State of the Union speech. Shocking and utterly despicable.
Ditto. She should have been disciplined by the House. Party affiliation should not have mattered.
I just wish Trump had the presence of mind to give her a tyvek copy of the speech. It would have been funny watching Pelosi trying to rip that up.
I just choked in my dinner while reading that. Thank you.
That would have been epic. I can’t stop thinking about derivative content that could have followed.
I thought you were joking, but no, you can buy printable Tyvek sheets on Amazon.
Trump should print it out on Tyvek now anyway and send it to here as a departing gift.
Ironic, considering that the President had addressed the looming COVID-19 issue in his address which Pelosi and her ilk preferred to ignore until they realized it would rattle the stock market. Wasn’t the narrative that the President didn’t take the pandemic seriously enough?
Here’s MTG:
“I will praise Nancy Pelosi. She had an incredible career for her party. I served under her speakership in my first term of Congress, and I’m very impressed at her ability to get things done. I wish we could get things done for our party like Nancy Pelosi was able to deliver for her party,” Greene said.
Greene offered well wishes to Pelosi following her retirement announcement and urged longtime lawmakers to leave Washington earlier rather than later.
“So I wish her well in her retirement, but I would like to see people exit Washington a lot sooner rather than wait until their 80s,” Greene said.
Who would have guessed that MTG would be the one demonstrating what a professional tone looks like for other politicians in her party? That woman is full of surprises.
MTG is trying to distance herself from the GOP, similar as Fetterman distances herself from the Democrats. She was on the View lately, and is also critical of the GOP regarding the shutdown. She wanted to run for the Senate in Georgia, but the GOP does not support that. We need to see how she develops politically.
She’s an idiot, maybe the dumbest person in the House now that Cori Bush is gone.
I disagree. Certainly she’s a lot smarter than the likes of Lauren Boebert. She has good political instincts I think, which is why she is able to recognize and admire Pelosi’s political talents. And unlike some other GOP reps (at least judging by their actions and words), I think she has a pretty good grasp of what her constituents care about. Ditto Josh Hawley.
Or Josh Hawley, who seems to also value getting things done:
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., used Pelosi’s announcement to promote the “PELOSI Act,” a bill he reintroduced to Congress this year that would ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks while in office.
“Nancy Pelosi is retiring – perfect time to pass the PELOSI Act and BAN stock trading by members of Congress,” he wrote.