Trump will be costly, very bigly, very soonly. He misthinks that he can weaponize tariffs to control the foreign policy of our allies, as in regard to Palestinian recognition. His pal in arrogance, Netanyahu, has undone years of good will building by Israel, by weaponizing food in Gaza.
The monetary price for Trump's vacillations will be borne by USA consumers. What he accomplishes on a Monday, he squanders by Thursday. The political price, while slower to show up, will be coming. Biden didn't become incompetent until the end of his term, Trump's already showing his shortcomings.
When Republicans will stand up and speak out remains to be seen. Only partisans can still accept the silence... support from independents has already been lost. I don't see Trump really caring about the Republican Party and reining himself in. Incumbents will have to distance themselves from His Highness to secure their political future.
I'm a fan of the old Drew Carey Show reruns, it is difficult for me to accept that he became a game show host.
I seem to remember you saying a few months ago that Trumps tariffs were going to tank the economy. That comment certainly didn’t age well.
ReplyDeleteNow that he’s corrected the trade imbalance in favor of the US, it’s time to grouse about him applying higher tariffs on countries that wish to undercut our foreign policy.
Similarly, you blame Netanyahu for “weaponizing food in Gaza”, which is the latest lie put forth by the Leftists in the media who hate Israel.
If anyone needs to distance themselves from anything, perhaps you need to distance yourself from the propagandists at places like CNN, MSNBC and the NY Times.
You’re being duped.
So often I get this comment about what news sources I must watch. I don't assume what news sources you watch and read.
DeleteThe food situation in Gaza pains me. Trump himself said earlier in the week that people are starving in Gaza. I don't hate Israel, I hate what Israel is doing under Netanyahu.
When the death cult HAMAS takes it boot off the neck of Gaza and surrenders unconditionally the food crisis will end immediately.
DeleteHAMMAS wants death and martyrdom and that strategy is bearing it’s obscene fruit.
Watch all the corporate media you like.
“Free, FREEEEEE Palistine, from the river to the sea!”
I’ve been reading and hearing stories that have a complete opposite interpretation than you provide here. That’s the problem with the current state of news. It’s impossible to know what’s accurate and trustworthy. I’ve mostly given up.
ReplyDeleteGod bless Liz Chaney and her family.
ReplyDeleteMs. Chaney is an inspiration to Democrats and Republicans of principle across this great country.
DeleteLiz Chaney was blessed by having a foreign policy, military and political genius as a father.
DeleteDick was my favorite recent President.
Mike, Trump critics have been gleefully predicting, and awaiting Trump's fall. There has been a spat of recent published concessions by some of these people that he was right and they were wrong. Expect more to come as time goes by. Europe wised up at the last-minute to sign a trade deal, there's widespread agreement here that they got the short end of the stick, but they also realized, the terms would become more severe if they held out. Canada may soon learn that lesson. Trump will make mistakes, but so far it's his critics that have made the most errors.
ReplyDeleteJust a few days ago John Maher reluctantly announced that he he wrong when he predicted that the Trump tariffs would fail.
ReplyDeleteI’m what you call an old man, one who has been politically involved most of his life.
ReplyDeleteNo POTUS in my lifetime, I was during that Truman years, has kept more campaign promises during their administration than DJT.
Why hope for the failure of one’s own government?
ReplyDeleteanon@6:05: The decision to recognize Palestine, or threaten to, by G7 isn't taken easily, especially after their painstaking negotiations with Trump, but it is a moral imperative from which they have no choice. For Trump to now threaten those recent tariff agreements is totally inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteRecognizing a “state” governed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State of Palestine and Hamas is beyond farcical. It’s a desperate piece of worthless international political theater from a group of feckless incompetent neutered politicians.
DeleteThe use of tariffs and sanctions by the U.S. government has created the BRICS group, which has promised no such actions by any of its members. It is going to lead to the end of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency and then the inability of the U.S. to prosper by the unlimited ability to create non backed dollars.
ReplyDeleteWhile limited tariffs could work, using them as weapons will only hasten the demise of the U.S.
Netanyahu is destroying Israel's future, they have strayed from the path and blaming others and propaganda is just more delusion thinking.
While it easy to blame Trump, he will ultimately be responsible if he continues in his threats, but this counties policies are being decided by others than any president. It seems that Trump has fallen into the same policies that has put the U.S. in $37 trillion debt and the loss of credibility around the world. He still has time to change direction, but time is running out.
Like Germany following WW2 needed denazification, Palestine needs to be dehamasified first. When that is complete, the next step can be taken. Netanyahu and Trump know that while some others don't understand the nature of evil and the nature of war. Israel and the rest of the world can't allow sources of evil to remain so the job will go on until the victims decide that conditions prevail such that they will be allowed to live safely in peace.
ReplyDeleteanon@8:30: Hamas and Hezbollah will always exist, although the names may change. Hamas was never a real military threat to Israel, and Oct. 7th was a failure of Israel to prevent a very low-tech mad max invasion. Netanyahu remains in power from ultra right wing Israelis, who likewise want a biblical state.
ReplyDeleteHezbollah will exist as long Iran requires a proxy actor in that region.
DeleteThe PLO is in the ash can of history.
Times change, consider the Abraham Accords.
The Palestinian political movement has lost its political expediency. Shooing up the airport in Rome, throwing old Jews out of wheelchairs into the ocean and slaughtering Olympic athletes has lost its appeal. The wealthy Gulf states want the professional golf tour, the Grand Prix and investment opportunities with Israel.
No Arab country or Gulf State, consider next door Egypt, wants anything at all to do with Hamas.
Zero.
Zip.
Nada.
Nothing.
Nussing.
Hamas would probably be content to kill and kidnap a few thousand Jews a year, agreed.
DeleteMuslims have been at war with anyone who is not a Muslim since the "religion of peace" was founded in the 8th century. Nothing is going to change. Recognizing the "palestineans" as a "state" will just create a terrorist nation ruled by terrorists.
DeleteOctober 7, 2023 was the date Hamas showed it's true colors and the only way to solve the problem is to eliminate the problem. Every single one.
anon@9:53: That is a pretext being used by Netanyahu and his far right coalition. Every 8 year old boy in Gaza will be a future Hamas fighter from current conditions being inflicted upon them.
DeleteYes, there are things about Mr Trump that leave much to be desired. Especially his dealings with the Russians and his handling of the War in Ukraine. Seeing Putin making war on civilians and sending ballistic missiles to hit homes, apartments, shopping centers, churches, schools to wage terror on civilians are both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
ReplyDeleteTrump is doing nothing about any of that, other than mealy mouth statements about imposing massive tariffs on Russia, a nation we trade very little with and will not do anything to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians. Sending Ukraine effective weapons in large quanities to defeat the Russians, who have a far weaker army than anyone imagined is how to stop Putin. Also trade embargoes against the nations, such as India and others who buy Putin's oil will be effective measures. Trump just sits and hopes to have better relations with a tyrant.
On the other hand, the American people had a choice last November between Harris and Trump. They rejected Harris by a wide margin. And the revelations coming out now with regards to Obama/Hillary/Biden and the massive fraud they perpetuated on the people of the United States.
As I wrote before, Trump isn't perfect, not by a long shot, and his policies deserve criticisim. However consider the alternative with their lying, fraud and possible treasonous acts against the United States.
Which of you thinks that Biden was the sharpest knife in the drawer ?
I had been a supporter of Netanyahu until until mid 2024. It was difficult for me to accept that he would put his political future ahead of the. hostages and Israel's reputation. It is painful to hear Israel and genocide used in the same sentence.
ReplyDeleteNATO and the West lied to Russia for decades before Putin finally had enough, not to mention the shelling of ethnic Russians in the eastern region.
ReplyDeleteConsider the events of 2014.
Can you say Victoria Nuland?
Who needs to watch the corporate legacy media or listen NPR when they can read the propaganda regurgitated by Messers Moll and Nemeth. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Trump is the new New Hitler.
I blame the Russians.
Kiev was the first capital of the Rus.
See John Meirsheimer Ph.D.
Did you ever serve in NATO? Ever see the Berlin Wall ? Ever see the Iron Curtain? Ever visit East Germany?
DeleteMy wife and I did.
People want to be free and decide their own destinies. Not be slaves.
Yes, in 2014 Putin illlegally siezed Crimea.
Crimea has ALWAYS been Russian.
DeleteSee the Siege of Sevastopol, 1854/55
See the Siege of Sevastopol, 1941/42.
The Russians lost hundreds of thousands of men defending their Crimea.
NATO has a long and well documented history of lying to Russia and has finally restored to a proxy war. No amount of revisionism or KoolAid changes the facts.
The Russians defeated the Nazis menace in Europe with some relatively modest assistance from the West. The Russians lost several million men driving the Germans and their allies out of the Ukraine.
Thank you for your service.
DeleteI’m glad that you were spared from the horror show in S.E. Asia.
Berlin was liberated by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and with it the necessity for a NATO. In 2014 neocons running the US Government fomented a bloody coup in Kiev led by Victoria Nuland.
NATO, in spite of years and years of promises pushed right up to the Russian frontier.
Russia has legitimate national self interests, as much as that offends the average American television viewer.
How would the United States react if a coalition of hostile foreign powers were pressing in on the Rio Grande?
It’s abundantly clear that many Americans still have a Cold War mentality. Who could have imagined that we would live long enough to see the Russians made the boogeyman yet again?
This was supposed to be Hillary’s war against Russia.
Pity.
God bless Rachel Maddow. She worked hard to make Russia bleed and she has been successful.
If it wasn’t for those dastardly Ruskies we Americans would have had the privilege of having Hil as president.
Such a lost opportunity.
Damn those Russians.
Let’s blow up their pipeline…no, wait……..
During the Vietnam War, half of the Air Force was stationed in Thailand. I was assigned to Korat Air Base there during the Vietnam War and awarded the Vietnam Service Medal for being there during the United States era of the conflict. It was after that I was assigned to West Germany to help defend Western Europe against the Russian hoardes who occupied Eastern Europe.
DeleteUkraine declared independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union imploded. The events of 1989, when the Red Army retreated from its occupation of Eastern Europe led to the freedom of millions of people from Soviet occupation. The newly-independent nations of Eastern Europe applied to join NATO to secure their independence if a future expansionist Russia would want to invade them again. Indeed pushing the NATO allence right up to the Russian border was the intelligent choice after the Cold War ended with the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In 1994, the internationally-recognized border between Russia and Ukraine was then agreed to with their independence, which included the Crimean pensula as part of Ukraine.
In 2014, Putin began his war to regain Ukraine by siezing the Crimean penesula and a small portion of Ukraine's soverign territory, while Ukraine was preoccupied getting rid of a pro-Russian regime, whose leader fled to Russia. In 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion that the Ukranian military has successfully stopped. Indeed, the Russian army occupies less territory today than they did in 2022.
That is the reason why NATO is defending Europe. To prevent Putin from trying to regain the lands not part of Russia that were occupied by the Soviet Union. Ukraine is not part of Russia; Ukranians are not Russian.
The United States has promoted peace and freedom as part of our national policy for generations. Helping the Ukranians defend their nation and their freedom is part of that policy. Especially against the tyrant Putin, who is a war criminal for waging war against civilians.
The United States is not the enemy of Russia. We desire a peaceful relationship with Russia. We will not stand by as Putin crushes the freedom and independence of his neighbor, or threatens our allies in Europe.
We need to send the Uranians all of the support they need to retain their freedom and repel the Russian Army back to the 1994 international border where it belongs.
Brent@2:35: From the timelines I will assume that you started writing this post and sent it before you saw my comment at 2:16. I will be accepting no more comments on Russia and Ukraine on this post.
DeleteHey, who remembers when Hamas drove the Palestinian Authority of Gaza with gunfire in the streets and targeted assassinations?
ReplyDeleteHamas won a legitimate election:
One man.
One vote.
One time.
I can’t wait until Hamas gets a seat at the U.N.
Yassar Arafat was the most funniest guy at the U.N. ever and the snappiest dresser by a country mile.
Those were the glory days of the Two State Solution!
If reading Israel and genocide linked together makes you queasy don’t read the Hamas Parties charter documents.
ReplyDeleteMM 5:13 am wrote: "Trump himself said earlier in the week that people are starving in Gaza."
ReplyDeleteI suppose that Trump may have been reacting to the same phony picture of the emaciated child being held by his mother that was printed in the NYT.
As it turns out, the child has other medical conditions that are responsible for his condition, and another (no-so-starving) child was cropped out of the photo by the NYT.
I'd also note that no mother in the photo didn't look like SHE was starving, nor have any of the Hamas fighters that I've seen in photos and videos.
The war should only end when Hamas releases the remaining hostages that they took almost TWO YEARS ago (including the CORPSES of those who died in their captivity and from their torture); lays down their weapons; and recognizes the right of Israel to exist. Until then, Israel should continue to terminate Hamas with extreme prejudice.
anons@12:03,12:47: As a Jew it isn't easy criticizing Israel. Over the years a troll has called me a Zionist, meaning it as an insult. The mass hunger in Gaza is very real. Witkoff and Huckabee aren't there today for no reason. Do you really think that you can feed two million people at four distribution centers?
ReplyDeleteI will be accepting no more comments that the hunger there is fake news.
I will be accepting no more comments about Russia and Ukraine on this post.
The hunger is real. Hamas is responsible. The Arab government including the Gulf States are MIA.
DeleteAmerican students focus their outrage at the Ivy League.
Isreal and Netanyahu aren't perfect, no one is, nor is any nation state, but as with Trump vs Harris, Republican vs Democrat, Hamas is by far the bad alternative. I love the opinions expressed here that Isreal should learn to tolorate a terrorist state on it's border. One that is governed by a recognized terrorist group, whose charter explicitly spells out their goal of eliminating Isreal as their priority. This same group infiltrated Isreal, committed unspeakably cruel and disgusting crimes such as mass rape and infanticide, videoed them, shared the videos, and received a hero's welcome afterwards back in Gaza. And people here expect Isreal to do what none of us would ever do? Live next to neighbors who not only threaten to kill us, but exist to kill us, raise their children to hate and kill us, and have killed us. Raped our women, and murdered our children. None of us would except what voices here and elsewhere are asking Isreal to accept.
ReplyDeletescott@4:46: It is much more complicated in Israel. All the surrounding Arab states hate Israel, that hatred helps keep their leaders in power. The Hamas attack was an Israeli failure, they had nothing more than 1200 men with rifles. The majority of Israelis do not currently support the situation in Gaza, but the government is a coalition. holding power. Ironically the religious party(s) calling the shots do not serve in the army.
ReplyDeleteThe Gulf States can not wait to do business in partnership with Israel.
ReplyDeleteThe Hamas attack was in large part timed to sink the pending Abraham Accords.
The contemporary Palestinian political movement has zero support in the Arab world.
No one in the Arab world (Yemen is a failed state riff with religious and sectarian strife, its Houthi minority are proxies for the Shia Persian Farsi speaking Iranians.) wants to take in a single Palestinian refugee. Ask the Jordanians. Check out the Egyptians.
ReplyDeleteMike, Hamas seized an opportunity to do exactly what they always planned to do, destroy Isreal. The fact the Isreal let it's guard down for a moment proves my point. For heaven's sake, one of their first targets was a "Peace Concert " attended by young idealistic Israel's who believed peace could be attained through understanding. Hamas brutally murdered as many of these young idealists as they could, committed unspeakable acts of sexual violence, and gleefully shared all this proudly on social media and with friends and family back in Gaza. They will do it again if not thoroughly defeated now. Anyone who thinks this isn't so, doesn't understand Hamas.
Additionaly Mike, the fact that most Israelis want to end the war stands in stark contrast to Hamas that now, living in self induced ruins and destruction stands determined to continue it. Years ago Israelis learned that if they disarmed they would be eliminated, if their enemies disarmed there would be peace. This remains true to this day.
ReplyDelete