After 35 days, the longest government shutdown in American history is finally over. Chuck Todd called it a 'temporary truce,' that is for now at least until February 15th when the continuing resolution ends. However, at the end of that time, there is no way the president forces another shutdown and survive politically. During the shutdown, the president said the 'buck stops with everyone,' but it doesn't. It indeed stops with him. With Mr. Trump reopening the government without money for his vanity border wall, the shutdown and the pain his administration caused was pointless... Pointless.
Without getting too much into the weeds with the 'winners and losers' in this shutdown fight suffice to say that politically President Trump and Republicans took at hit, Nancy Pelosi and Democrats came out on top, and the American people lost. Tom Brokaw explained that the shutdown, though partial, was more systemic than most people realized with farmers having to be in contact with government agriculture officials who weren't in. Things came to a head on Friday when air traffic at major airports was delayed. Mr. Brokaw also said that he didn't think the disconnect between the beltway and the rest of the country couldn't get any wider until this shutdown, however, that picture shouldn't be painted with as broad a brush as he used. Specifically, it was individuals in the Trump Administration that were completely out of touch namely the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who put the final rhetorical stake in the insulting injury. "I don't know why government workers have to go to food pantries...,' which PBS's Yamiche Alcindor put in stark relief.
NBC's Kristen Welker explained that the Administration had no strategy or plan B going into the shutdown, which is how Mr. Trump likes to play it, but as we've painfully found out it is no way in which to run a country. All this coupled with the news that Mr. Trump's long-time political advisor Roger Stone was indicted on Friday for obstruction and lying to Congress among other things, 7 counts in all leaves the presidency in a shambles. If there is any silver lining (or perhaps just gray) to come out of all of this it is that the legislative branch of the U.S. government is asserting its duty again. For all the naysayers in the Democratic party of Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) leadership when taking control of the House, she's been the best thing to happen for them (again) in combating Trump's erratic leadership and it has forced Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to get off the sidelines and start leading his caucus instead of just following the president.
As far as House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is concerned, he like other House Republicans is still blindly following the president saying that the president was the only one being reasonable in the negotiations. Really? How can the president be reasonable when he's not negotiating based on fact, just what he wants to believe. That's irrational. What was good to hear from the minority leader and Congressman Hakeen Jeffries (D-NY) was that Congress is considering legislation to stop shutting down the government.
With all the dysfunction we've discussed, it was refreshing to see Chuck Todd and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) have a rational discussion about border security and immigration. Political preferences aside, Mr. Rubio was part of the gang of eight in the Senate that put together a comprehensive immigration bill that had many elements of compromise, but at the time the Republican-controlled House didn't bring the legislation to the floor because of provisions that included a path to citizenship for the dreamers. They also discussed whether it would be better try and pass smaller measures or go big with something more comprehensive like the gang of eight bill. The problem at this juncture is that there isn't enough time to finalize anything, especially with the president being a wildcard when it comes to what he'll support and what he won't which can change from day to day.
Lastly, the indictment of Roger Stone has now shown the clearest link between Wikileaks and the Trump campaign. This has prompted many politicians on both sides of the aisle, in spite of the president's continued attacks, to support the Mueller investigation to its completion. The number of campaign officials and advisors indicted or who have pleaded guilty is simple untenable. It has clearly become a matter of 'what the president knew and when he knew it.' The key point in the indictment as Mr. Todd pointed out, is that a senior campaign official was directed to contact Stone about additional releases. This leaves the obvious questions of who was the senior campaign official and who directed that person? The fate of Mr. Stone withstanding, it seems these two individuals were too close to Mr. Trump for him not to know. When an indictment such as this prompts steadfast Trump supporter Hugh Hewitt to say that these two individuals might be going to jail with Roger Stone, you know there's serious trouble.
Finally, Mr. Todd featured a particular word cloud twice which featured the phrase 'wrong track' most prominently. In fact, 63 percent of Americans feel this way about the country. Nice hat, catchy slogan but it's now obvious that Mr. Trump isn't making America great again.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network
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