MSNBC’s Wallace: Trump’s Cancelling Pelosi’s Trip Because of Russia So She Can’t Meet with NATO Leaders
EXCERPT:
HEILEMANN: “Oh, yeah. Look, let’s acknowledge from the outset, and this is something you’re familiar with, codels are neither one of these things substantively. The State of the Union or codel, neither one of them is the biggest deal in the world. Her not going is not going to change anything particularly important in the region, etc., etc. This is not like going to have big substantive impact either way. Tactically, though, and strategically, this is a politically important thing. What Trump has done tactically inept, strategically nitwitted in the following way, as a tactic, Nancy Pelosi will now stand up and say, so you barely have been abroad ever to visit the troops. You barely have ever set foot in a war zone, you've only done it once, and you moaned and whined about it when you went. You’re essentially saying to me you will take out your personal pique on me in my effort to try to learn more about the world and get to visit some troops. This makes Trump look bad at a tactical level. The strategic level, what’s the point here, right? Pelosi’s thing was brilliant for the following reason, it’s brilliant because it's basically a way to try to force Trump to end the shutdown. Dude, if you keep the Government shut down, this is not a secure event. I’m putting pressure on you to give you what I want, which is the Government gets reopened. Trump doing this to Pelosi has what effect on her stance related to the border wall? Zero. And the best-case scenario, even if he felt like it was a tit for tat, she slapped me, I slapped her back, how does that get her to change her mind and Democratic Party’s mind on the thing he’s supposed to be fighting for, which is wall funding? Zero chance of getting him anything, even in the best-case scenario, it has zero chance of accomplishing anything at the level of political strategy. So, yeah, I mean, it’s obviously kind of on the surface stupid. But took him a whole day, if you thought through the tactics and strategy, this makes no sense on either level."
