So, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatens to cancel the State of the Union address, and President Trump responds by denying her the usual military transport for a legitimate foreign trip, citing the same specious reason.

Next thing you know, they’ll both be running to the teacher yelling that the other one started it.

American government has now entered the Romper Room. Can’t anybody in Washington remember that they are supposed to be serving over 328 million people, rather than trying to prove who is more adept at breaking the other person’s crayon?

It’s all enough to make us wish for a return to the 1990s, when even amid Clintonian tawdriness and Gingrichian complaints about being forced to exit from the back of Air Force One, there were still adults around trying to find workable solutions, involving at least some compromise, on real issues. Even the government shutdowns then involved two sides actually trying to get to “yes.” Of course, the two parties then were each trying to define the middle ground in a way more to their liking — that’s what negotiations are all about — but that’s different than ruling out any middle ground at all.

Conservatives should remember that their sainted Ronald Reagan used to say “the purpose of a negotiation is to get an agreement." Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should remember that John F. Kennedy said we should “never fail to negotiate.”

I’d like to take four leaders from the 1990s who were hard-nosed but honest negotiators — let’s say Leon Panetta, Joe Lieberman, Bob Livingston, and Bill Archer — and lock them in a room with good food and drink. Four hours later, they would probably emerge with an eminently reasonable agreement, and the other 320 million of us could go about our business without worrying about airport security lines or overflowing National Park commodes.

It’s America’s reputation that is in the outhouse right now as a result of this absurd partial government shutdown and the toddler-esque behavior of our supposed leaders. Please, won’t somebody grow up?