tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post5311825659950453579..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: I Know This Will Sound Strange, But I Almost Feel Sorry for the Bastard.The Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-36326393205745265322017-01-15T06:10:06.744-08:002017-01-15T06:10:06.744-08:00PLG:
Losing some ground in a controlled gradual r...PLG:<br /><br />Losing some ground in a controlled gradual rational manner, I can see the logic of and for, and can even agree with. Losing some ground the way I believe we will see under Trump, not so controlled, gradual, nor rational, not so much. So excuse me and I suspect others who think that perhaps, just perhaps, this is something which could blow up the world order and stability in ways that have worse outcomes than the mess/reality we currently have, because Trump is simply too unstable for anything else!<br /><br />As Canadians, yes we kind of should care given that we are protected by the USA they are our only defacto neighbour, and they are still our largest trading partner. We have to care by virtue of geography and our linked history. To think otherwise I find incomprehensible.<br /><br />As to the "Russian spy silliness" you called it, it isn't silliness. There are more than enough blanks and legitimate linkage questions surrounding Trump and his closest circle to raise this as a very real possibility that has yet to be actively disproven. It isn't as if this is coming out of nowhere. I agree it isn't proven, and that it is one of the more unlikely and worst case scenarios with Trump and Russia, but neither is it fanciful, outlandish, nor without more than a fair bit of real weight behind it, and no, I am NOT talking about the MI6 agents dossier but all the rest which is currently getting obscured because of that dossier and the uproar around it.<br /><br />You and I, we have rarely agreed on anything (except that manga is good reading) but this time, this time, I am really having a hard time understanding your certitude and confidence in what you are writing/saying. I've seen the Russia/Red card played many times before in American politics, but never on the GOP side by the Dems, that is a first, and it is a first because this is also the first time where I have seen a legitimate case for it to be played. Something is very wrong here, was very wrong throughout the election cycle/campaign, and continues to be so.<br /><br />I fear that you may get what you have so clearly wanted, a weakened America, but I am not so sure you will like the new reality that comes out of it. There is a reason why one of the older cliched wishes for someone to suffer is may you get exactly what you wish for. I fear you may well be on that path.Scotianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06284856315992405261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-57423271662296870302017-01-14T22:56:11.888-08:002017-01-14T22:56:11.888-08:00When it comes to pushing Trump's buttons and m...When it comes to pushing Trump's buttons and making it impossible for him to work with his intelligence community, seems to me the Americans are doing it to themselves. No matter how the "Trump is a Russian Spy" silliness plays out, it's going to delegitimize both the presidency and the intelligence community and increase the hatred between different groups of US citizens. It's quite the impressive "own goal"--the US has always subordinated foreign policy to domestic politics, but just at the moment when they can least afford to do so they're doubling down on it and then doubling down again. All the Russians and Chinese have to do is<br />watch. If your opponent is screwing himself, step out of the way.<br /><br />And the ironic part is that the ones doing it are not the guy known for being infantile and unreasonable but the supposedly mature, intelligent types in the elite consensus. Although I'm sure Trump will do some screwups of his own if he's given the chance. I think, though, that you've got the wrong end of the manipulation--the Russians and Chinese probably don't want Trump to lash out. Trump's weakness is the size and fragility of his ego; he will lash out if it's threatened, but he will probably purr if it is stroked. Even though he's been officially hostile to China, he's not part of the foreign policy community and he doesn't have a fixed ideology or strategy; make nice with him and he might well change his mind.<br /><br />For me the bigger question is, as Canadians should we care? Is there some reason I have to have a side in whether the Americans can keep on bullying the whole world or whether the Russians and Chinese will be able to carve out chunks that they can bully instead? Putin may be a "thug", although I'm unclear what different actions he would have taken if he were just, say, a "pragmatist". But overall, the Russians to an extent and the Chinese definitely seem less interested in violent approaches than the Americans. US culture is violent from the base to the elites, and politically they've been captured by their war business much more than Russia or China. Plus at a basic level I tend to prefer a multi-polar to a uni-polar world--the former tends to leave a lot more wiggle room for smaller countries to try their own approaches to things, because there's a bit of space between the bigs. So if anything, it's probably better for Canada and most other countries if the US loses some ground to competitors, even if there's nothing especially inspiring about the competitors themselves.Purple library guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930984683714519212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-56331168044894980032017-01-14T07:45:17.251-08:002017-01-14T07:45:17.251-08:00Dispatching of US armoured brigade to Poland is li...Dispatching of US armoured brigade to Poland is like dispatching Russian brigade to Canada.<br />Completely useless from any military and diplomatic viewpoint.<br />Let's Uncle Sam spend his money.<br />But wasting ~ 350 million Canadian dollars for "defending" Baltic states is pure nonsense.<br />A..non<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-83531836240077589402017-01-13T18:49:18.886-08:002017-01-13T18:49:18.886-08:00This asshole is a bully and a fraud and he deserve...This asshole is a bully and a fraud and he deserves be living under an underpass and shittting into a shoe box.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-87022217051271002552017-01-13T12:53:05.252-08:002017-01-13T12:53:05.252-08:00Trump will be lucky to escape with his life, he is...Trump will be lucky to escape with his life, he is probably targeted by the corporate predators who really run america.<br />jail will be another reality show theme for Trump, if he is lucky.<br />debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17230156686226794005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-12239048179819516552017-01-13T11:46:21.283-08:002017-01-13T11:46:21.283-08:00Trump's deficits are numerous, Mound. And his ...Trump's deficits are numerous, Mound. And his adversaries have catalogued them all.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-49218157740360252652017-01-13T08:46:02.048-08:002017-01-13T08:46:02.048-08:00" Seeing America descend into presidential ch..." Seeing America descend into presidential chaos, perhaps even paralysis, must be massively enticing to Beijing."<br /><br />Had tRump 'drained the swamp' rather than filling it with Wall Street & deranged Generals and shown he was serious about ending American hegemony, your assessment of Beijing's mood might be right. <br /><br />No, neither Clinton nor tRump would be found 'enticing'.<br /><br />tRex (Exxon guy) is already threatening Chinese control of their own front yard.<br /><br />Northern PoVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04670080478290108536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-12920336974220396292017-01-13T06:51:55.561-08:002017-01-13T06:51:55.561-08:00With one exception, I generally agree, and that ex...With one exception, I generally agree, and that exception being, I feel no sorry for him at all. He chose this, he wasn't forced, he wasn't chosen by fate or destiny, he did this I believe because Obama crushed his ego at the 2011 WHCD between his order to take Osama out and the public knowledge of it on its heels. This was a vanity project for him, nothing more, all in his world is a vanity project for him, Hells, he is a branding markerteer and lisencer, vanity is at the core of such a business model, almost has to be for it to survive by definition!<br /><br />I do though suspect his physical health will quickly show the strains, and his mental even faster, which in an American President I find terrifying, and I have to assume the rational global actors are even more aware of this than I. I agree btw with the way you presented Russia and China's interests and Putin as more than just an enemy thug, I always consider things from the perspective and interests of those under examination, not merely the way they are seen/perceived from our side of things, because as I said in a prior comment, no one perspective ever shows a whole image/reality, and the more you have the better you get to that full picture. That also means understanding how to walk a mile in someone's shoes, and that means more than just what you would do in their place at that moment, but how you would act in that moment had you lived in their shoes all the way to that moment, something a lot of people seem to not get in my experience when they use that expression.<br /><br />It is going to be a very interesting time indeed, the only question left is how powerful is that going to prove out to be in the curse sense as opposed to all the rest.<br /><br />Welcome to the nightmare is my guess, alas.Scotianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06284856315992405261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-88430699194966596792017-01-13T06:29:42.588-08:002017-01-13T06:29:42.588-08:00.. they're already pushing his buttons .. unti..... they're already pushing his buttons .. until its revealed exactly who holds his debt markers and for how much, it may be wise to assume the worst. The smell of money laundering, even if unwitting is becoming obvious & this complete buffoon is on what bankrupty now? Bankruptcy is Trump's 'Brand' if there is such a thing.. I've made the point before that he is simply a valet for the Pandoras Box of the Republicans & Tea Party & the Supremacists - racists.. He'll be outwitted and outmanouvered for 2 years at most, then forced to scram once the real shakers and makers consolidate & clean house. It'll be a true shitshow.. and Trump is the perfect dupe, the perfect deflection shield. And that's just on the domestic USA side. As you've detailed quite effectively, the Big Picture of the real apex predators who are already in motion will be fully revealed with Pense or Paul Ryan as el presidente - a front for the So called Trump Team. Trump will end up as a talk show weiner & collecting one million $ speaking fees for a strange ignorant, even dangerous mob of admirers & idolizersthe salamanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853337802990122289noreply@blogger.com