Tag Archives: International relations

The World Turns a mite strangely

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

I often find that friends ‘across the pond’ see our situation so much more clearly than many in this country see it. Perhaps it’s that old adage “… can’t see the forest for the trees”. Right now, we are in the most politically stressful time in most of our lives, and our friend David astutely sums it all up in a view from ‘cross the pond. Thank you, David!

The BUTHIDARS

A little over two weeks ago the US had elections for President as well as some Senators and representatives. I’m quite sure most of you remember it since TV’s and newspapers the world over covered it along with the usual conspiracy theorists from Facebook. Under normal circumstances the election would have been done and dusted by now. But that doesn’t allow for the capriciousness of the current President Donald J Trump .

Once the count had been done which took a few days because of votes by mail which are counted last the results appeared Joe Biden. Democrat 290 seats and over 79m votes Donald Trump Republican 232 seats and over 73m votes. This appears to be a decisive victory for Joe Biden. Under normal circumstances, and I repeat this because it’s anything but normal, the President would concede (as gracefully as possible), the President elect, his Vice President Kamala…

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Another “Wrong Person For The Job”

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Trump's Staff Picks

An ambassador is the highest-ranking representative to a specific nation or international organization abroad. An effective ambassador has to be a strong leader—a good manager, a resilient negotiator, and a respected representative of the United States. An ambassador to a foreign nation is to remain completely neutral of the domestic politics in the countries in which they serve.

Germany is the most populous nation in the European Union and has at its head Chancellor Angela Merkel, an astute and effective leader.  Trump’s first ambassador to Germany was Richard Grenell, about whom I’ve written before.  Grenell got off on the wrong foot almost from the moment his feet first touched German soil and he added insult to injury for as long as he remained.

On June 1st, Grenell formally resigned from his post, although since February he had devoted most of his time to being the acting Director of National Intelligence and largely neglected his duties as ambassador, likely much to the relief of Chancellor Merkel and others.  Now, Donald Trump has nominated yet another poor choice to the position of Ambassador to Germany, Retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor.

macgregorLet me tell you just a bit about Macgregor. He is a bigot and a xenophobe.  He is a frequent contributor and commentator for both Fox ‘News’ and RT, a Russian state-controlled international television network, where he freely expresses his views.

He often demonized immigrants and refugees. He warned Mexican cartels were “driving millions of Mexicans with no education, no skills and the wrong culture into the United States, placing them essentially as wards of the American people.” He repeatedly advocated to institute martial law at the US-Mexico border and “shoot people” if necessary.

He has claimed that Muslim migrants were coming to Europe “with the goal of eventually turning Europe into an Islamic state.” He criticized Germany for giving “millions of unwanted Muslim invaders” welfare benefits rather than providing more funding for its armed services.

Macgregor’s nomination is already seeing opposition in the Senate, however. Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Bob Menendez, whose committee oversees Macgregor’s nomination, has said that Macgregor’s comments disqualify him from any government office and called on his colleagues to reject Macgregor.

“Colonel MacGregor’s public statements over the years on immigration, Muslims, and our relationship with Germany should disqualify him for any government office, much less to represent the United States as an ambassador. Even if his views reflect those of President Trump, it is incumbent on the entire Senate, including Senate Republicans, to reject this nominee.”

I would like to hope that the Senate doesn’t merely rubber-stamp this one as they have done so many others, but with Mitch McConnell calling the shots, it is likely what will happen.

Trump himself has been critical of Angela Merkel and more than a few times has bullied and berated Chancellor Merkel in phone calls, even going so far as to call her stupid.  One must ask, when we consider Trump’s attitude toward Merkel, and his two choices for ambassadors to Germany, what his goal is?  We expect our ambassadors to be respectful toward the leaders and citizens of their host nation, but Grenell never was, and from all indications, Macgregor will not be, either.  Since taking office in January 2017, Trump has shredded long-established relationships with our allies, while cozying up to autocrats such as Putin, Bolsonaro, Erdoğan, Mohammad Bin Salman, and even Rodrigo Duterte.  What, exactly, is the game he is playing?  For certainly it is a game … Trump is a game-player, never a straight-forward and honest ‘man’.

Meanwhile, Trump is planning to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from bases in Germany, a move that is opposed by both republicans and democrats, as well as former military officials, who say the move will benefit Russia. I’ve long said that the reason Putin was so eager to help Trump win the 2016 election is he saw in Trump an ignorant ‘man’ who would be easily manipulated … a puppet, so to speak, to do his bidding.  Nothing I have seen since has disabused me of that notion.

Frankly, if I were Chancellor Merkel I would be sorely tempted to tell Trump to keep his ambassador on his own side of the Atlantic and I would bring my own ambassador home, let Trump put that one in his pipe and smoke it for a time.  Diplomatic relations require a number of things in order to work, with mutual respect at the top of the list.  Donald Trump respects nobody, and he makes that point with every decision he makes, with every sentence he utters.  In less than four years, he has taken us from a respected friend and ally to a pariah among most every nation.  It is almost as if his goal is to make the U.S. the most hated nation in the western world.  His “America First” policy could very well be the undoing of decades of diplomatic efforts.

What Next???

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

On Thursday, Secretary of Defense James Mattis tendered his letter of resignation to Donald Trump, finally having had enough of Trump ignoring his sage advise and making foolish decisions that endanger the United States as well as the rest of the world.  Mattis gave his final day in his position as February 28, 2019, in order to allow time for a replacement to be nominated and confirmed, as well as a transition period.James-MattisThe international outcry on hearing the news of Mattis’ resignation was loud and clear – basically amounting to fear that there is no longer a sane mind in the Trump administration and how can the U.S. remain a trusted ally.  There were many criticisms of Trump (well-deserved) from world leaders as well as from republicans in Congress.

Trump-angryTrump was apparently offended by the criticism and, as is his modus operandi, sought revenge by rejecting General Mattis’ offer to stay in his position until the end of February, but has told him to “go now”.  To replace Mattis, Trump has named as acting Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, who has been employed by the Department of Defense only since July 18, 2017.  Let us take a look at Mr. Shanahan’s qualifications, shall we?

ShanahanEducation:

Mr. Shanahan has impressive degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and MIT Sloan School of Management … degrees in … mechanical engineering.  Note there is no degree in Political Science, nor in History, nor in International Relations … just mechanical engineering.

Military:

Mr. Shanahan did not serve in the military.

Experience:

Mr. Shanahan is a businessman, most recently having served as Boeing senior vice president, Supply Chain & Operations. Prior to that, he worked as senior vice president of Commercial Airplane Programs for Boeing.  Mr. Shanahan is a Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Fellow and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. He served as a regent at the University of Washington for over five years.  His annual salary from Boeing was in the neighborhood of $1.4 million.

Well … Mr. Shanahan certainly knows a lot about business … and airplanes.  But what, I must ask, does he know about national defense?  What does he know about other nations, about U.S. foreign policy, about the military, about the Middle East?  Compare his rather narrow bio with that of the outgoing James Mattis:

James Mattis earned an M.A. degree in international security affairs from the National War College of National Defense University.  This seems a bit more apropos than a degree in mechanical engineering, don’t you think?  Mattis is a graduate of the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the National War College. He is noted for his interest in the study of military history and world history.

General Mattis served in the United States military from 1969 until his retirement in 2013.  Forty-four years of military experience!  Mattis commanded 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, one of Task Force Ripper’s assault battalions during the Persian Gulf War.  During the initial planning for the War in Afghanistan, Mattis led Task Force 58 in operations in the southern part of the country beginning in November 2001, becoming the first Marine Corps officer to command a Naval Task Force in combat.  While serving in Afghanistan as a brigadier general, Mattis was known as an officer who engaged his men with “real leadership”.

Mattis commanded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent stability operations during the Iraq War.  On September 11, 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that President George W. Bush had nominated Mattis for appointment to the rank of general to command U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia. NATO agreed to appoint Mattis as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.  Mattis was promoted to four-star general and took control of JFCOM/SACT on November 9, 2007.

Well … do you feel safer now that Mattis is gone and businessman Shanahan is in charge of the Department of Defense?  Instead of a well-seasoned man who has studied international relations, history and served more than four decades in the U.S. military, our safety and the safety of the entire world has been entrusted to … a businessman.  And all because Trump got his feelings hurt, first by Mattis’ less-than-complimentary letter of resignation, and then by the world’s reaction.

If you aren’t horrified by this turn of events, you should be.  Mr. Shanahan may well be a very nice man for all I know, but he absolutely is NOT the man to fill James Mattis’ shoes, not the man to be advising the buffoon in the Oval Office on foreign policy — not even on a temporary basis.  All I can do as I digest this news today is shake my head and say, “What next???”  To which my inner voice replies, “Don’t ask.”

STOP!!!!

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

Enough already!  Can we just step back and try to act like adults here … just for a few days?  I refer, of course, to the continuing game of ‘nyah-nyah-nyah’ being played by two so-called ‘men’ who are in the position of leading nations consisting of millions of people, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and Donald Trump of the United States.

I find that I truly want to take both of these juveniles and bonk their heads together, put them into a ‘time-out’ room with no twitting devices, and send them to bed without their supper!

Both of these ‘men’ need to be removed from office, for neither are sufficiently mature, even-tempered, knowledgeable or compassionate to hold the lives of so many in their hands.  But, the odds of that happening being slim-to-none, these two must somehow be taken in hand and convinced to act as adults, for together they hold hundreds of millions of lives in their tiny little hands.  Lives, it would seem, for which they have little, if any, regard.

While the tensions between Trump and Kim go all the way back to before Trump was even elected, the current ‘tit-for-tat’ escalation began in earnest on Tuesday when Trump gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly.  I assume that somebody wrote the speech for him, and that person should be terminated immediately.  He may simply have gone “off-script” … I have no way to know, but either way, his words, as I wrote on Tuesday, were highly inappropriate and inflammatory.

Trump began by referring to Kim Jong-un as “Rocket Man”, presumably an attempt at humour, but it was definitely not funny.  And then he threatened to “totally destroy North Korea”.  He went on to wantonly attack leaders of Iran and Venezuela.  He called Iran “a corrupt dictatorship” whose “chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos”. And of Venezuela he said the government “has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good people of that country.” Iran’s foreign minister responded that it was “ignorant hate speech [that] belongs in medieval times”.  Venezuela’s foreign minister said, “Trump is not the president of the world … he cannot even manage his own government.”  Both of these statements ring true, but it is North Korea’s response that proves just how dangerous Trump’s rhetoric is.

Kim Jong-un responded on Thursday with a speech that is lengthier than I can share here, but you can read the full text. Here are a few of the more relevant snippets:

“But, far from making remarks of any persuasive power that can be viewed to be helpful to defusing tension, he made unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors.

A frightened dog barks louder.

I’d like to advise Trump to exercise prudence in selecting words and to be considerate of whom he speaks to when making a speech in front of the world.

The mentally deranged behavior of the U.S. president openly expressing on the U.N. arena the unethical will to “totally destroy” a sovereign state, beyond the boundary of threats of regime change or overturn of social system, makes even those with normal thinking faculty think about discretion and composure.

His remarks which described the U.S. option through straightforward expression of his will have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last.

Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say.

I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying the D.P.R.K.

Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation.

I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.”

And, not to be outdone and determined to have the last word, Trump responded this morning with a tweet:

“Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was spot-on when he responded to Trump’s UN speech by saying, “We are a world in pieces. We need to be a world at peace. The solution must be political. This is a time for statesmanship. We must not sleepwalk our way into war.”

Margot Wallstrom, Sweden’s foreign minister said, “This was a bombastic, nationalist speech. It must have been decades since one last heard a speech like that in the UN General Assembly. … This was a speech at the wrong time to the wrong audience.”

Foreign policy experts all agree that Trump’s remarks were inappropriate, some even calling them ‘terrifying’ and ‘delusional’.  I would agree with all of the above, but none of this answers the question of what to do with these two ‘man-child’ world leaders who are playing a dangerous game of one-upmanship.  Both have huge egos and neither is likely to back down, so it is essential that cooler heads and stronger minds prevail upon them and attempt to convince them both to just simply SHUT UP.

I am less concerned that one of them will decide to attack the other’s nation with nuclear weapons, as surely they both understand how that would end.  But I am concerned that neither of them seem to care about the nearly 400 million people residing in the two nations, not to mention the rest of the globe.  This childishness is creating unrest and uncertainty around the world, and there is no doubt that ultimately it will have an effect on global markets and economies.  Whether Trump likes it or not, we are a part of a larger community.  Globalization is the way of today’s world, and that will not change … neither Donald Trump nor Kim Jong-un can change the reality of the 21st century.  The only solution is to learn to live together in relative peace.  Now if somebody will just sit the two little boys down and explain this to them … ???

Zero Credibility

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Re-blogs

The title of this post by my fellow-blogger and friend, Keith, says it all. Zero Credibility. Credibility, like trust and respect, must be earned. Our current president has earned none of these, and the cost is likely to be our standing among our allies. Please take a moment to read and think about Keith’s post … it sums our current standing in the international community quite accurately. Thank you Keith, for your very good, concise summary and for permission to re-blog!

musingsofanoldfart

If you were a foreign leader, let me ask you a simple question. Would you trust the current President of the United States? Unfortunately, the answer is an obvious no. The sad part is the leaders have less trust in America.

With the continuation of his lying and insufficient knowledge of the issues, he has offended several leaders in so little time. His mistakes are unforced, so he has brought them on himself.

His worst mistake which weighs him down as investigations continue are his continuing insistence that his predecessor had his offices wire tapped. He greatly complicated this false accusation by indicting the British in the wire tapping. He damaged a relationship with our best ally, so that he would not be caught in a lie. So, his solution was to lie again.

Adding to these lies are the Russian conspiracy investigation, the incompetently handled travel bans and various…

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America’s New Ambassador – Part III

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

The Headline that turned a two-part post into a three-parter was:

CHINA ADMONISHES “ROOKIE” TRUMP, THREATENS TO “TAKE OFF THE GLOVES” SOON 

On December 4th I wrote a post titled Diplomacy?  Who needs it, right? about Trump’s ill-conceived telephone conversation with Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, which was a diplomatic faux pas on every level.  The U.S. does not recognize Taiwan and it was the first time since 1979 that a sitting or elected president has had direct contact with the Taiwan government.  The Taiwan president called Trump, but sources on either side have indicated that the call had been planned several months prior, even before Trump won the electoral vote.

Last Friday, 13 January 2017, Trump did an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).  (I cannot provide you with the transcript, as I am not a subscriber … to the tune of $199 per year!  Other outlets charge from $1 to $8 monthly for unlimited access, and I do subscribe to a couple, including the New York Times, International Business Times, and Guardian, but I draw the line at $199 per annum.  So, here is a link in case any of my readers are subscribers to the WSJ  )  

From the snippets I have been able to pick up from alternate sources, when asked if he supported the One-China policy Trump said, “Everything is under negotiation including One China.” In 1979, under President Jimmy Carter, the U.S.-P.R.C. (People’s Republic of China) Joint Communique agreed that the United States recognizes the communist leadership in Beijing as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is one China and Taiwan is a breakaway province that is part of China.

According to Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, “The Taiwan question bears on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and touches our core interests. Adherence to the One China principle serves as the political foundation for the development of China-U.S. ties. If this foundation is wobbled and weakened, then there is no possibility for the two countries to grow their relations in a sound and steady way and cooperate on key areas.” 

Officially, the U.S. government does not support independence for Taiwan, now a democracy that elects its own president and parliament. Despite this, U.S. relations with the island are governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which outlines the U.S. commitment to help Taiwan maintain its military defense. Last year, the U.S. approved $1.8 billion in arms sales to Taipei. And the U.S. is Taiwan’s second-largest trading partner and Taiwan ranks as the ninth-largest trading partner for the U.S.

While the relations between the U.S., China and Taiwan are complex and seem awkward, it is a relationship that has worked to the advantage of all for nearly four decades.  Chinese President Xi Jinping met last week with Vice-President Joe Biden, saying:

“In the 38 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, relations between the two countries have weathered wind and rain, but generally have continued to forge ahead. The basic interests of the people of both countries and the world need China and the United States to work hard, to form a long-term, stable cooperative relationship.”

An excellent article  in The Diplomat assesses recent diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China, and the benefits of an ongoing relationship for both countries. While the relationship has never been easy and is often coloured by mistrust, we do share certain common interests and goals:  a better environment, trade and economic benefits, and global peace.  While the U.S. and China have different political systems, different ideologies, and very different cultures and histories, we have been able to work in key areas to the benefit of both. It is in the interest of neither country, nor the world, for the relationship, which is already tense, to deteriorate further.

To China, the One China policy is non-negotiable.  It is fairly simple:  we can have an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship with China, but not if Trump officially recognizes Taiwan as an independent nation.  Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush (both Sr. and W.), Clinton and Obama have worked within the boundaries of the One China policy.  The advantages of doing so far outweigh the disadvantages, not only for China and the U.S., but for the world.  It is to be hoped that Trump’s advisors are intelligent enough to realize this, and that they can convince Trump of the wisdom of working with China rather than further antagonizing them.

It is hard to know exactly what is meant by the expression “taking the gloves off”.  I suspect that each person who uses this phrase has their own definition.  The broad definition: “to express the notion that something will be done in an uncompromising or brutal way, without compunction or hesitation.”  Sound ominous?  It should.

Also during the WSJ interview, Trump commented that the U.S. dollar was already “too strong” in part because China holds down its currency, the yuan. “Our companies can’t compete with them now because our currency is too strong. And it’s killing us,” he said. No worries, Mr. Trump … based in part on your comments, the dollar dropped 1.2% against 16 other currencies earlier this week!

In short, Donald Trump must learn to think before engaging either his mouth or his twitter finger, else the U.S. is likely to enter a recession that will make the recession of 2008 look like a day at the beach.  He must learn to let the experts and people who understand foreign nations and policies take the lead, as he obviously does not understand them.  Trump has business experience, he is a marketer, a wheeler-dealer, but this is not how relationships between nations work.  Somebody please get this ‘man’ under control and educate him!

Diplomacy? Who Needs It, Right?

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

On Friday, Donald Trump made a huge diplomatic faux pas.  Those of us who think about these things and who realize just how crucial international relations are, knew without a doubt that this would be a problem, as Trump acts without thinking.  But I at least thought it would be sometime after his inauguration in January.  But no, he simply could not wait to open his mouth and possibly undo more than three decades of relation-building work between the U.S. and China.

An article in The Intellectualist  sums it up quite concisely:

With Single Phone Call Today, Trump Harms Decades Of U.S.-China Relations:

1) A U.S. President or President-Elect has not called the President of Taiwan since 1979. It is against U.S.-China relations to do so.

2) Today, Trump called the President of Taiwan today to wish her congratulations on her election win. This is a clear break in U.S. diplomatic tradition.

3) From 1949-1979, the U.S. recognized the government of Taiwan as the legal representative of China, since the mainland government was communist.

4) From 1979 onward, the U.S. formally recognized the People’s Republic of China (China) as the true government of China.

5) While the U.S. doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan, it does guarantee its security against China.

6) China considers Taiwan a renegade province, not a sovereign country.

7) Trump did not tell the Obama administration that it was formally calling Taiwan’s president, as this would be a major break in U.S. – China relations.

8) China has yet to respond to Trump’s aggressive action, but its reaction will likely be furious. 

Yes, Trump accepted what was apparently a pre-arranged phone call from Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, the first president or president-elect to have direct contact with the government of Taiwan since 1979 when the U.S. ceased to recognize the government of Taiwan and broke off diplomatic relations.  A Trump spokesperson said the two leaders discussed “the close economic, political, and security ties” between Taiwan and the United States and that Trump “also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year.”

This was by no means his first controversial phone call to a foreign leader since his election on November 8th.

  • On December 2nd, in a phone call with Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte, Trump endorsed Duterte’s violent anti-drug campaign whereby thousands have been murdered, causing concerns of human rights abuses by President Obama, the United Nations, and others.
  • In a November 30th conversation with Kazakhstan’s leader, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, Trump praised him, saying that his successful leadership was “a miracle”. Nazarbayev is an authoritarian communist leader who has been accused repeatedly of human rights abuses.
  • Also on November 30th, he spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who tendered an invitation to Trump to visit Pakistan. This is touchy, as it is almost certain to upset the delicate balance of India-Pakistan ties, which the U.S. has struggled to manage amid a history of wars and recent skirmishes.
  • On November 17th, Trump met with Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, at his headquarters in Trump Tower. Rather than inviting State Department officials to the meeting, he invited his daughter Ivanka, which was seen as a break with protocol and confusing to Mr. Abe, as Ivanka has no official government role.
  • Immediately following official word of his election win, Trump began calling world leaders. The UK, being one of our strongest allies, should certainly have been among the first, but it was December 10th before Trump spoke with Prime Minister Theresa May, and that after he had already spoken with nine other world leaders.  Although Trump issued a more-or-less formal invitation to Nigel Farage, he blew off Ms. May by saying “If you travel to the US you should let me know.”  He later added insult to injury by suggesting in one of his notorious tweets that Britain should send his buddy Nigel Farage here as ambassador to the U.S. – a statement that is highly inappropriate.

And all this more than a month before he will be inaugurated!  It would seem that Mr. Trump should have better spent his time during the last 18 months by reading and learning about the U.S.’ relations with other countries and what is considered appropriate behaviour for a president!

The concern regarding his conversation with Taiwan’s President Tsai is the likely reaction from China.  According to a senior State Department official, the fallout from the Trump-Tsai conversation could be significant.  Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has adamantly opposed the attempts of any country to carry on official relations with it. Initial reaction from China about Friday’s telephone call was surprise verging on disbelief. “This is a big event, the first challenge the president-elect has made to China,” said Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. “This must be bad news for the Chinese leadership.” Among diplomats in the United States, there was similar shock. “This is a change of historic proportions,” said Evan S. Medeiros, a former senior director of Asian affairs in the Obama administration. “The real question is, what are the Chinese going to do?” New York Times, 02 December 2016

“What has happened in the last 48 hours is not a shift. These are major pivots in foreign policy w/out any plan. That’s how wars start,” said Senator Christopher S. Murphy.

Those ‘disaffected’ Americans who voted for Trump may not, probably will not, understand nor care about the ramifications of these calls and Trump’s ignorance of foreign policy matters, but the rest of us understand all too well.  The Trump supporters are concerned only about the few things that will directly and immediately affect them, such as jobs, guns, and taxes.  Trump has spewed isolationist rhetoric since the beginning of his campaign, saying he would break foreign trade treaties, withdraw from Nato, and refuse to help our allies except under certain conditions.  But that is not the world we live in today.  Globalization, like it or not, is here to stay.  We must work with other nations on developing friendly relations, protecting the environment, and a host of other issues.  Trump is undermining, if not outright destroying, years of work toward friendly relations between the U.S. and other nations, and that can only end badly for all.  There can no longer be any doubt that the man is woefully under-educated, inexperienced and unqualified for the office of president.

STOP THE PRESSES … !!!

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

It is time to stop rolling those presses, stop whatever you are doing and think about this:  Michele Bachmann, America’s #1 Bimbo is now advising none other than Donald Trump on … wait for it … {drumroll} … FOREIGN POLICY!  The circus that is the 2016 election, the campaign of America’s #1 BOZO, is now complete!  We are no longer a nation-state, respected leader of the free world, we are the Globe’s #1 CIRCUS!  In case you have forgotten how M. Bachmann moved from #2 Bimbo into the #1 slot, here is a link to my March post that will explain the whole thing.

 

“He [Trump] also recognizes there is a threat around the world, not just here in Minnesota, of radical Islam, I wish our President Obama also understood the threat of radical Islam and took it seriously.”

bach-trumpSHE thinks SHE understands terrorism and the Middle East better than President Obama?????  Where is this woman’s … oh, never mind … I forgot she put her brain away in a place where no light could get to it, then forgot where she put it.  There is a reason she is in the upper echelons of Bimbo-dom!  Bachmann was already a part of Trump’s “evangelical advisory” team, but I didn’t see much harm in that, as it isn’t about anything more than teaching him to “talk nice” to the Christian radical right.  But foreign policy???  That is a bit disconcerting!  No, wait … it is a LOT disconcerting!  Let us think of some of the potential conversations where she would be “advising” da trumpeter:

Trump: Okay, Michele, so now how … how do we get rid … how can we get rid of ISIS?  Because, y’know … I am … I promised the voters … I promised to get rid of ISIS and … I will get rid of ISIS!  Because I am smart and I am rich … so how do we get rid of ISIS?

Bachmann: Well, we need to put shoes on the ground everywhere ISIS exists.  We need to rid the world of terrorism and so we need shoes on the ground everywhere … Europe, uh … Syria … uh … France … everywhere.

Trump: Yeah … we can do that.  We can do that.  Uh … I think you mean ‘boots’ on the ground … see I am smart … I am … I know about boots on the ground and we can … we can do that.  We will just increase … spend more on military.

Bachmann: Great idea, Don.  We just have to stop giving all our money to those lazy people on food stamps and welfare!  Those women on welfare … they need to find husbands to support them.  And get rid of Obamacare so we can spend more and defeat ISIS!

Trump: Yeah, and don’t forget … remember how smart I am … we are gonna bomb the sh%# out of them, too!  Maybe … maybe even use nukes … I mean, why have … why have … what’s the point in having nukes if … if we can’t use them?  I’m eager to try out the nukes!  We’ll try … we’ll try … I’ll try them out on Syria first!

Bachmann: I like the way you think, Don … you

Trump: Uh, Michele … it’s Donald … never call me Don.  I am The Donald … never Don.

Bachmann:  Oh.  Sorry, Don.  Now, as I was saying …

Trump:  Donald.

Bachmann:  OH … silly me!  Sorry, Don … as I was saying, the other thing about ISIS is that you remember I said God has caused most of the terrorist attacks to teach Obama a lesson, so I think it will be easier to get rid of ISIS when YOU are president, because you will have God on your side.

Trump:  Of course … of course I will!  I have a whole team to advise me about God … you … aren’t you on that … yeah, you are on my God advisory board, right … you told me … I remember you told me to mention “2 Corinthians” … right?  I did good with that one, huh?  Or was it … or was it …

bimboWell, I think I have imagined enough of that conversation.  I could carry this one on for hours, but seriously, it is no laughing matter.  When a bimbo is advising a clown, and when the clown already poses a threat to every man, woman and child around the globe, somebody needs to wake up and get the team of “BOZO and Bimbo” out of the political arena and FAST!

There were any number of foreign policy experts, people who spent a lifetime in the State Department, who Trump could have asked for advice, but instead he takes his advice from an airhead who understands next to nothing about international relations, about climate change, the situation in the Middle East, global economies, resource allocation, global terrorism, Russian expansionism, or any of the hundreds of foreign policy issues facing the country every year.  If you were not afraid before, you really better be now!

The reality is that it was Ms. Bachmann who claims to be offering her ‘advice’ to Trump, and as far as I can tell he has not yet verified this, so it may well be another of those figments of her rather wild imagination.  I certainly hope so, for the sake of the planet and its inhabitants!

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