Monday, May 01, 2017
What If a Man Really Is Known By the Company He Keeps?
It's quite a Rogues Gallery - Viktor Orban (Hungary), Vlad Putin (Russia), Recep Erdogan (Turkey), Kim Jong-un (North Korea), Marine le Pen (France), Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines) , Geert Wilder (Netherlands). These are Donald Trump's foreign pals. He congratulates them on their wins and sings their praises. He even called Kim Jong-un a "sharp cookie," praising Kim's ability to eliminate possible rivals to secure his grip on power. Now he's invited the Philippines murderous president, Duterte, to visit the White House.
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8 comments:
Yup. He's a thug.
This is why I prefer a solitary life.
Duterte, pfft! Chretien hosted Suharto. Duterte's a pussycat by comparison. Trump's going to have to try harder.
Cap
Cap, give the guy a break. He's barely three months into the job.
That's true. He's hosted Xi, so props for that. Duterte's on deck. I'll be impressed when he has young Kim over to Taco del Mar.
Cap
Bet he lusts for Christy Clark.
TB
I think that the motivation for the sycophantic utterances that Trump directs toward the members of this gallery is in the privately concealed reality that he is personally intimidated by a lot of them. Contrast his unctuous entreaties to Putin, Erdogan and now even to the murderer from the Philippines and the psychopathic kid from the DPRK, with the open contempt that he's displayed for some of the less conniving and malicious national leaders with whom he's sought petty punch-ups.
Trump's set of personal insecurities isn't much different from that of the confused and frightened flat-foreheads at the core of his most unshakable support. "Praise be to someone that he's beating up on someone other than me. I think he might like me; at least I hope so. Better sing louder or at least do something to show the proper respect." In the face of the overwhelmingly ego-crushing circumstances in which Trump finds himself now, maybe dispensing a few of the old magic tongue baths to some worthy bathers will make him feel better.
It's classic and essential stock in the skillset of the wannabe-tyrant milksop. Think about the behaviour of the most self-important useless finger-pointing dicks in positions of authority that you've ever encountered on the job. If you were able to stick around long enough and could get to be a fly on the right wall, you'd get the background story when you saw how fast and eagerly these smokes get down on their knees for their own oppressors.
The always insightful Juan Cole:
"But I would argue that the inside-the-Beltway Blob is mainly upset because Trump doesn’t seem to know the difference between the Bad dictators, whom you diss, and the Good dictators, whom you praise as strong allies. Trump just seems to like all the dictators."
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