Saturday, July 8, 2017

Russian To Judgment, Con't

With Trump's 30-minute meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of this week's G20 suit in Hamburg turning into more than two hours, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed our worst fears: America under Trump is now nothing more than a client state of Russian interests.  Molly McKew at Politico Magazine:

President Donald Trump needed to accomplish two things this week during his visits to Poland and the G-20 Summit in Hamburg. First, he needed to reassure America’s allies that he was committed to collective defense and the core set of values and principles that bind us together. Second, he needed to demonstrate that he understands that the greatest threat to that alliance, those values, and our security is the Kremlin.

Trump delivered neither of these. In very concrete terms, through speech and action, the president signaled a willingness to align the United States with Vladimir Putin’s worldview, and took steps to advance this realignment. He endorsed, nearly in its totality, the narrative the Russian leader has worked so meticulously to construct.

The readout of Trump’s lengthy meeting with Putin included several key points. First, the United States will “move on” from election hacking issues with no accountability or consequences for Russia; in fact, the U.S. will form a “framework” with Russia to cooperate on cybersecurity issues, evaluating weaknesses and assessing potential responses jointly. Second, the two presidents agreed not to meddle in “each other’s” domestic affairs—equating American activities to promote democracy with Russian aggression aimed at undermining it, in an incalculable PR victory for the Kremlin. Third, the announced, limited cease-fire in Syria will be a new basis for cooperation between the U.S. and Russia; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson went so far as to say that the Russian approach in Syria—yielding mass civilian casualties, catastrophic displacement, untold destruction and erased borders—may be “more right” than that of the United States.

Each of these points represents a significant victory for Putin. Each of them will weaken U.S. tools for defending its interests and security from the country that defines itself as America’s “primary adversary.” Trump has ceded the battle space—physical, virtual, moral—to the Kremlin. And the president is going to tell us this is a “win.

Trump's capitulation to Putin yesterday was nearly absolute.  If there's still somehow any doubt left that Putin has complete control over Donald Trump and with it US foreign policy, this disastrous meeting buried those doubts in the Marianas Trench.  Trump is basically saying that he will gladly look the other way on Russian hacking, look the other way on Ukraine, look the other way on Syria and Chechnya, on Putin's autocracy and most importantly on NATO.

Six months into his term and Trump has sold us out to his boss completely.  Maybe, just maybe this is enough to get the GOP to do something, but I doubt it.  They've refused to lift a finger so far and besides, they're too busy trying to kill off millions by destroying the health care system and it's not like they're worried about voters kicking them out thanks to successful massive voter suppression efforts soon coming to the entire country.

Unless something changes and fast, we're done as a democracy.  Or as Chuck Pierce puts it:

I used to wonder how somebody could go broke running a casino. I don't wonder that anymore.

I'll take Obama's "Smartest Guy in The Room" act, with all its pitfalls, over the "Dumbest Guy Ever In The Oval Office". Because right now, we're the most dangerous rogue nation on earth, and the rest of the planet isn't going to tolerate us for long.

We Forgot About Poland

Trump's speech in Warsaw on Thursday was pretty brutal, scary stuff, sounding more like an alt-right website comment section than a White House speech, but this is where we are in the Age of Trump.

Drafted by Steve Miller, the architect of the travel ban, Trump’s speech used the type of dire, last-chance language often utilized by the far right on both sides of the Atlantic: "The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive.”

Gonna pause right there for a sec.  Not even Dubya and the Nameless One were were this blatant about casting the "West" lacking the will to power.
Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost?” Trump asked. “Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?” 

Guys, this is an American leader using the direct rhetorical arguments of white supremacists in a speech given on foreign soil.  The above paragraph is flat out the exact case that Stormfront assholes make for having an armed militia of white purists to defend against "white genocide" by anyone darker than a Kardashian.

The rest of the speech was just as awful if not worse.

Trump arrived in Warsaw Wednesday night for a 16-hour visit in the runup to the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Poland was a less-than-obvious choice for Trump’s first major public European speech. Typically, American presidents land in London, Paris, or Berlin before Eastern Europe. But Trump has been at odds with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over everything from climate change to migrant policy, and French President Emmanuel Macron has also positioned himself as a counterweight to the conservative American administration. The Polish leadership, on the other hand, seems to have more in common with Trump’s vision
In his address, Trump cast the West, including the United States and Europe, on the side of “civilization.” With an undercurrent of bellicosity, he spoke of protecting borders, casting himself as a defender not just of territory but of Western “values.” And, using the phrase he had avoided on his trip to Saudi Arabia, he insisted that in the fight against “radical Islamic terrorism,” the West “will prevail.” 
Again and again, Trump held up Poland as an example, saying their history reminds the world that “the defense of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of the people to prevail.” He recalled the story of the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis in 1944: “The West,” he said, “was saved with the blood of patriots.” 
That battle, the president seemed to say, is ongoing. He called on a new generation to rise up, saying “every last inch of civilization is worth defending with your life.” 
“Just as Poland could not be broken, I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken,” Trump said. “Our values will prevail, our people will thrive, and our civilization will triumph.” 
He did not mention that in 1944, the Polish patriots, while valiant, were not, ultimately, the saviors of the state. Nor did he note that Europeans widely see the Polish ruling party of today, which has tried to clamp down on the media and judiciary, as itself a threat to Western values. Some 90,000 Poles marched against the Polish government in early May, protesting its anti-democratic trajectory. That Poland was absent in Trump’s speech.

This is pretty much boilerplate white power stuff.  And you'd better believe that the whole world noticed what Trump said, and where he said it.
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