The Acosta-VSG dustup at today's presser

Not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it. Notice how the VSG paces the floor to give himself a moment to compose a response. He almost looked like coming off the platform to punch Acosta was among the options he was considering. Then comes the drop-the-microphone-very-terrible-person weighing-in.

The VSG is exactly right that Acosta was grandstanding with that pure opinion-expressing regarding the wave of Latin Americans who intend to, another two months into their march, become illegal aliens in the US. He was baiting the VSG about the term "invasion."

That said, this confrontation must be put into the context of the entire presser. LITD finds the portion in which the VSG got his strong-arm on by saying about the likes of the highly principled conservative Mia Love, "hey, you didn't unequivocally support everything about me and my agenda, too bad, so sad" really disturbing.

Which leads me to my basic conclusion. The VSG is now prepping for a position of maximum ugliness should it be necessary in dealing with Nancy Pelosi and House committee chairs. He was displaying his chops, sending strong signals as to the level of brinksmanship he's willing to go to as the next two years unfold.

I don't like the way Donald Trump conducts himself. Never have. But when the Left goads him, what they're doing is peeling away of layers of assumption about public conduct that are difficult to re-emerge from.

We're off and running. The next phase of post-America's parlor game called "Can It Get Any More Brittle?" is underway.

Think about that White House aide trying to pry Acosta's microphone away. The exchange of facial expressions between her and the president. That look of hers that says, "What should I do here?"

Presidential pressers now have a physical element.

That's where we are.

UPDATE: The VSG acted both indefensibly (see above mention of the way he named names of Pubs who lost and attributed their losses to insufficient throne-sniffing) and defensibly. LITD applauds the way he shut down PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor for trying to make Trump's yes-I-am-a-nationalist stance our to be bigoted code or dog-whistling. Assuming the label of nationalist is indeed counterproductive, but it's not some attempt to convey a hidden signal about race.