Trump 32: Pissing off the World, One Country at a Time

[Howl]

Who the hell knows what Trump really promised Dear Leader Kim while they were alone......

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, JMarie said:

Just putting this here, because sometimes fiction becomes fact

 

I wish John Candy was still with us. He was so funny! 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump is everything Republicans said Obama was"

Spoiler

Remember when Republicans feared the bungling diplomacy of a vain, inexperienced president and vowed to stop him before he destroyed our security? In 2014, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned that then-President Barack Obama was “inflexibly clinging to campaign promises.” If the novice president expected Congress to “stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal,” House Speaker John Boehner said a year later, he and his party had two words for Obama: “Hell no!”

“Our allies don’t trust us; our enemies don’t fear us; and the world doesn’t know where America stands” went a 2015 presidential campaign ad for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). And one Republican foreign policy analyst even wrote that negotiations — with Iran, not North Korea — have “become humiliating, not least because our diplomatic body language is telegraphing an eagerness for a deal — any deal — with such clumsy obviousness that only the dumbest opponent could fail to notice it.”

I’m fairly sure I’m quoting that last one correctly, because I wrote it, back in early 2015. And I think I was right: I remain deeply skeptical about the way the Iran deal was negotiated. But compared with the unconscionable mess that President Trump just left behind at his Singapore “summit” with Kim Jong Un, Obama’s long and arduous discussions with Iran look like Metternich convening the Congress of Vienna.

When it comes to foreign affairs — when it comes to everything, really — Trump is weighed down by inexperience, bedeviled by vanity and hobbled by impulsiveness. He’s a celebrity playing at president.

He’s everything, in other words, that Republicans feared Obama would be.

Going all the way back to the 2008 presidential race, Republicans were certain that Obama would be more attuned to the needs of America’s worst enemies than willing to discuss the shared interests of America’s best friends; this captures the destructive arc of Trump’s actions from last week’s Group of Seven meeting in Quebec to the spectacle in Singapore.

Republicans were scathing about Obama’s immense (and obvious) self-regard. But Trump has shown himself to be beyond any of the GOP’s worst nightmares about Obama — a political narcissist transfixed by his own image and utterly addicted to television coverage, Trump is unwilling to be briefed, incapable of being educated, and has now blundered into a summit with a monster in exactly the way Republicans were once certain Obama would do if a camera was pointed at him.

Trump supporters will object here and argue that Obama was as bad as they think he was — and on the Iran deal, they have a point. Whatever one thinks of it now, how we got there was a lesson in bad diplomacy, with Obama quietly, desperately mortgaging American interests all over the globe to reach a grand bargain with Iran.

The difference is that Obama was pursuing a strategy. It might have been the wrong strategy, but it was a purposive approach directed toward a major objective of his administration’s policy. Indeed, his critics — with me among them — might argue that Obama was so completely focused on the execution of his overarching vision that he made avoidable mistakes and lost sight of the escalating diplomatic costs.

Trump, by contrast, has approached North Korea exactly as Republicans once feared Obama would: without a strategy, driven by TV coverage, interested only in the short-term ego boost of a photo op that does more harm than good — who gets the better end of the deal, after all, when a two-bit dictator poses side by side with the putative leader of the free world? Obama’s critics screeched about pallets of cash being delivered to Iran — I didn’t like it, either — but that seems a masterstroke of diplomacy compared with Trump declaring the inhabitants of North Korea’s gulags “the great winners” of the summit and halting U.S. “war games” with South Korea because, as Trump bafflingly explained Tuesday, it will save us “a tremendous amount of money” and they’re “provocative,” besides. (Until now, American presidents refused to adopt the nomenclature of our enemies, referring to such operations as “joint exercises,” not war games. It’s exactly the kind of ignorant mistake that Republicans were certain Obama would make, starting from his first day in office.)

Trump talking to Kim, some Republicans will retort, is no worse than Obama going to a ballgame with Raúl Castro. But that comparison is merely sullen whataboutism. Unlike the Iran deal, I think Obama was right to normalize relations with Cuba, not least because the moral doublethink of isolating Cuba while trading with China was a ridiculous game that even our allies refused to play after the Cold War.

More to the point, the Cuban embargo had achieved its purpose, which was to increase the costs of empire to the former Soviet Union and make the Cold War unbearably expensive. Once the Soviet hammer and sickle was lowered for the last time, America’s Cuba policy had accomplished its mission.

A lot of the Republicans, however, still appalled at Obama’s awkward handshake with a Cuban leader, seem to have no such unease about Trump fawning over the “talented” North Korean dictator who he says is “funny,” “smart” and really “loves his country.” Kim loves it so much, apparently, that it drove him, allegedly, to have his half brother killed in public with a chemical weapon, and to hold American Otto Warmbier hostage, in a coma, sending him home only when he could no longer be saved. Throughout the pageantry in Singapore, Trump played it all down.

It’s tiresome to have to keep noting that Obama would’ve been impeached for far less. But it’s important to ask Republicans now: If Trump is everything you said Obama would be, what will you do about it? Some Republicans have insisted that any deal with North Korea be ratified by the Congress. Good luck with that, since Trump, like Obama, has a pen and a phone, and won’t hesitate to use them.

They might consider, instead, what they’d do differently if they had a chance to stop a second Obama, one who embodies everything they ever feared in foreign policy, in mid-catastrophe. They have that chance now. The only question is w­hether they’ll take it, or again succumb to blind partisanship.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"If Obama had held this summit, we know how the GOP would’ve reacted"

Spoiler

Let us ponder what the reaction among Republicans and conservatives would have been if President Barack Obama had done what President Trump did on Tuesday:

● Sat down with a dictator whose regime had killed hundreds of thousands of people and who tortures and enslaves as many as 130,000 political prisoners in gulags.

● Set no specific preconditions for the meeting and secured no commitment on human rights nor any firm promise to denuclearize.

● Blindsided allies by agreeing to the dictator’s request to cease “provocative” military exercises with those allies.

● Praised the dictator in lavish terms: “very talented man . . . wants to do the right thing . . . very worthy, very smart negotiator . . . excellent relationship . . . funny guy . . . loves his people . . . great personality . . . a great honor . . . very special bond . . . I do trust him.”

But we don’t have to wonder what the reaction would have been to Obama doing such things, because we know what happened when he even floated the idea. In 2007, then-Sen. Obama answered in the affirmative when asked if he would be willing to meet without precondition the leaders of repressive regimes, including North Korea’s, “to bridge the gap that divides our countries.”

His presidential opponent John McCain and other Republicans hit Obama near daily for what they deemed “inexperience and reckless judgment.” (Hillary Clinton gave him grief, too.) Later, Sarah Palin, specifically mentioning North Korea, proclaimed the Obama doctrine was “coddling enemies and alienating allies.” Mitt Romney mocked Obama for saying he was going to “engage North Korea.”

Republican lawmakers criticized the Obama administration for having a ­“buddy-buddy” relationship with Iran, Sen. McCain (Ariz.) likened Obama’s handshake with Cuba’s Raúl Castro to Neville Chamberlain’s handshake with Adolf ­Hitler, and Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) condemned Obama for meeting Castro while there were “political prisoners languishing.”

John Bolton, now Trump’s national security adviser, in 2013 mocked the “fanciful” idea “that we could talk North Korea out of its nuclear weapons program.”

The website NowThisNews made a video compilation of Fox News commentators’ thoughts on Obama meeting with repressive regimes. Among them: “Obama likes talking to dictators” (Mike Huckabee), “he would meet with some of these madmen without any preconditions” (Palin), “Obama is bowing and scraping before dictators” (Dana Loesch), Obama is “going to reach out to these crazy people around the world” (Steve Doocy).

This changed on a dime when Trump was the one proposing such action. Fox personalities dutifully praised a “stunning Donald Trump breakthrough” and a “stunning diplomatic triumph.” Sean Hannity, who said in 2008 that Obama’s inclination to meet with rogues was “one of the most disturbing displays” of inexperience, said this year that Trump’s willingness to meet Kim Jong Un “is a huge foreign policy win.”

As Trump and Kim shook hands for the first time Tuesday night, Hannity proclaimed it “officially” historic, compared Trump to Ronald Reagan, called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “rock star” and hosted Trump loyalists proclaiming “peace and progress” and “peace and prosperity.” He dismissed “artificial unrealistic expectations” of Trump’s opponents — that is, the complete denuclearization Trump himself demanded.

What Trump has gotten, at least so far, is far flimsier than the Iran nuclear deal he tore up. Trump, in his news conference after the talks, admitted that his joint statement with Kim does not deal with “verifiable or irreversible denuclearization,” said human rights were discussed only “relatively briefly,” and hemmed and hawed when asked what North Korea gave in return for his concession calling off “war games” with South Korea: “Well, we’ve got, you know, I’ve heard that, I mean, some of the people that — I don’t know . . . ”

Still, Republican lawmakers filled Twitter with applause emojis for Trump after he did the very thing they denounced Obama for even suggesting. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), like many colleagues, called the meeting a “major step” toward peace.

Democrats, were they inclined to be demagogic, could have attacked Trump for sitting down with a murderous dictator. Most didn’t. Though critical of Trump’s deference to Kim and the meeting’s lack of substance, they generally didn’t criticize the idea of meeting.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. ­Schumer (N.Y.) reflected the tone of many Democrats when he said “we remain supportive of American diplomatic efforts,” while noting that if a Democratic president did what Trump did, “the entire Republican Party would be shouting grave warnings about the end of American leadership and the belittling of our country.”

This points to the asymmetrical partisanship in our current politics: Republicans are blithely hypocritical in praising Trump for doing the same thing they blasted Obama for suggesting, but at least some Democrats retain enough integrity not to dismiss diplomacy just because it is being attempted by their opponent.

 

[Cartmann99]

I've been thinking about Otto Warmbier's parents today. It must be very painful for them to see Trump praise Kim Jong Un after what happened to their son. 

[AmazonGrace]

Happy Tuesday

We're getting to concentration camps sooner than anticipated 

 

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

12 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I think Trump has been singing "Blame Canada" lately. 

I'd think we're all trapped in the South Park universe but for Garrison-Trump being infinitely smarter and more thoughtful than our Trump, which is saying something.  Didn't Garrison start his presidential run after building a wall on the Canadian border and killing their leader?  Maybe Trump is just now getting around to those episodes.

I also think Kim understands English and likely speaks it.

The last couple days I just feel completely hopeless.  It's too much, and while I am an American, I don't even live in the US.  For the first time in my life I am relieved I have no children.

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

This is chilling https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-language-of-the-trump-administration-is-the-language-of-domestic-violence/

[Howl]

6 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Happy Tuesday

We're getting to concentration camps sooner than anticipated 

Likely Joe Arpaio got Trump's ear.  Sheriff Joe was really into tent camps for inmates.  Some of Joe's inmates died, but that never bothered Sheriff Joe.  My heart will truly break again if this happens. 

[JMarie]

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Happy Tuesday

We're getting to concentration camps sooner than anticipated 

 

I'm surprised he doesn't think he can use the internment camps from World War II.

[RainbowSky]

1 hour ago, JMarie said:

I'm surprised he doesn't think he can use the internment camps from World War II.

Meh. There's some empty malls and Sam's. 

[JMarie]

14 minutes ago, RainbowSky said:

Meh. There's some empty malls and Sam's. 

I didn't think of the empty malls.  Each vacant store could be a dorm room, and the food court could be the cafeteria.  See, I'm thinking like a Republican.

[Botkinetti]

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2018/06/12/dear-america-come-on-up-we-still-like-you.html

I love this editorial. To me it epitomizes what we Canadians think of as our national characterization. Polite, mildly sarcastic, self deprecating while still full of truths that reasonable people should be able to recognize.

We are a separate country. We are not America junior and Trudeau has to satisfy us that he is doing the best he can to protect Canada in terms of trade talks.

As an aside I am enjoying the fact that no one seems to have picked up on the subtle “ screw you” of our tariffs going into effect on July 1st. This is our national holiday celebrating confederation and is as important to us as July 4th is to Americans.

[milkteeth]

12 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Happy Tuesday

We're getting to concentration camps sooner than anticipated 

 

 

[Audrey2]

12 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Happy Tuesday

We're getting to concentration camps sooner than anticipated 

 

This is morally abhorrent. I don't have enough words to express how ashamed and embarrassed I am because of this administration. Treating these children like this is pure evil.

I can also see the countries who wish to do us harm appealing to these children as they grow up. They will already hate the United States (with good reason), but would have an easier time returning to this country and harming us than those from banned countries. I can see the ones from banned countries training these children on how to do harm and then helping them get into the United States. This terrifies me. I really pray I'm being an alarmist.

[Audrey2]

Adding more- I contrast things today with the GIs after World War 2, who shared food and sweets with those in occupied countries (like Germany). During the Berlin Airlift, one airman, known as Uncle Wiggly Wings, dropped candy for the children of Berlin, besides the coal and food delivered by others. I believe the Allies treatment of the children influenced the way they felt about Allied Countries years later. After these camps, I don't have much hope for future adults from many countries.

[47of74]

Next month is the fifth anniversary of my Grandpa's passing.  I am sure glad he didn't live long enough to see that orange fuckstain getting into office or how he and his GOP groupies shit and pissed all over the Constitution.  Especially since he fought against the same shit the orange fuckstain and his groupies are doing now back in WW II.

[GreyhoundFan]

There was a huge celebration in DC yesterday for the Washington Capitals, who just won the Stanley Cup. There was a parade and rally. I've seen lots of numbers of attendees bandied about, not sure which are accurate, but it was a sea of people. I did laugh that they had the event while Dumpy was coming back from Singapore. I'm wondering if that was on purpose, so he couldn't spoil it. Here's a picture from the rally with a response from a WSJ reporter:

 

 

[milkteeth]

7 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

This is morally abhorrent. I don't have enough words to express how ashamed and embarrassed I am because of this administration. Treating these children like this is pure evil.

I can also see the countries who wish to do us harm appealing to these children as they grow up. They will already hate the United States (with good reason), but would have an easier time returning to this country and harming us than those from banned countries. I can see the ones from banned countries training these children on how to do harm and then helping them get into the United States. This terrifies me. I really pray I'm being an alarmist.

This is only one in a very, very long series of terrible things that the United States has done to both Central and South America. Many of the asylum seekers are fleeing chaos and violence that was directly caused by the United State's interference within their countries. We supported dictators, trained death squads and overthrew democratic elections with impunity for decades, and now we are locking people into the burning building that we set on fire. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Audrey2]

5 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

He does know that Korea and Vietnam are two different countries?

Right, this is Trump.

It is possible for some Gold Star Mothers (and Fathers) of Vietnam Vets to have mentioned it to Trump, but Korean War Veterans are in their 80's and older.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[formergothardite]

I don't know what to do. I don't know what to actually do to try and stop this awful stuff from happening. I feel helpless. I don't want to be one of those people who watch passively while awful things take place, but what could I actually do to stop this from happening?

So many terrible things are taking place with no way to stop them. 

[Howl]

A nice little smack down to Breitbart and a precursor to Rick Wilson's latest dump on Trump over at The Daily Beast.

HECKUVA JOB, DONNIE!; Trump’s Negotiating Style Is Pure Art of the Moron  Even by this blowhard’s YUGE standards, it’s been an exceptionally bad and destructive week of terrifying our allies and legitimizing our enemies.

[47of74]

He does know that Korea and Vietnam are two different countries?
Right, this is Trump.
It is possible for some Gold Star Mothers (and Fathers) of Vietnam Vets to have mentioned it to Trump, but Korean War Veterans are in their 80's and older.

God what a fuckhead.

My great uncle who is mia from Korea would be 91 if he had survived. His mother would be 122 now. If she was alive I doubt she’d be asking fuck face for anything.