|
tweakabelle -> RE: President Trump, Melting Under Criticism (7/30/2017 5:42:43 AM)
|
I am not sure that Americans fully appreciate the extent that the USA's international status and reputation have suffered under the Trump regime. While the chaos in the White House must be disconcerting to Americans, it is having grave, potentially perilous effects across the globe as the rest of the world struggles to make sense of the turmoil enveloping the Trump Administration.
Perhaps this editorial in the Guardian might open a few eyes. Editorials are usually understated cautious and reserved, a million miles removed from the openly contemptuous tone displayed here. Here are the concluding paragraphs:
"Merkel suggested earlier this year that the US (and Britain) could no longer be wholly relied upon. While not entirely true, for instance in the case of Anglo-American security guarantees for Germany and its sheltered exporters, it was plain what she meant. And this lesson has been understood by America’s enemies, too. In provocatively firing off another long-range, possibly nuclear-capable missile last week, North Korea seems to be testing how far it can go, geographically and politically. It is counting on Trump proving to be the blowhard that, until now, he has appeared to be.
Recent months have produced a litany of Trump threats and boasts over North Korea. There was no way, he said, that Pyongyang would deploy an ICBM capable of hitting the mainland US. “It’s not going to happen,” he tweeted. Wrong again, Donald. It did. By conducting its own satellite launch last week, ignoring western concerns, Iran has similarly thumbed its nose at Washington. Iran’s leaders should understand there would be “very serious” consequences if they pursued their ballistic missile programme, Trump had warned. Additional hints from Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, and Jim Mattis, Pentagon chief, about regime change in Iran further darkened the strategic horizon. But guess what? Tehran took no notice at all. It went ahead anyway.
Or take Russia. Having played Trump to its advantage, Moscow’s open hand is turning into a clenched fist as it threatens reprisals over a new Congressional sanctions package. It was not hard to see this tactical switch coming, once it was clear Trump could not deliver the sort of concessions on Ukraine Putin craves. Except, in his fecklessness and blind vanity and courting Putin to the end, Trump didn’t see it coming at all. You can almost see Putin’s lip curl.
The common factor in all these situations is Trump’s self-induced powerlessness and ignorance, his chronic lack of credibility and presidential authority and consequent perceptions of US and western weakness. And in the case of all three actual or potential adversaries – North Korea, Iran and Russia – these perceptions are highly dangerous. Precisely because US responses, actions and reactions can no longer be relied upon or predicted, by friends and enemies alike, the potential for calamitous miscalculation is growing. This uncertainty, like the chaos in the White House and the extraordinary disarray of the American body politic, stems from Trump’s glaring unfitness for the highest office. As is now becoming ever plainer, this threatens us all."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/30/observer-view-of-donald-trump-unifit-for-office
The full editorial is well worth reading. The Trump induced chaos isn't a purely US concern, it is having grave consequences across the planet. No one trusts the word of the US President. No one is rattled by or even takes his threats seriously. The US's adversaries - Nth Korea, Iran and Russia - are by their actions demonstrating that they have no fear of the Trump Presidency as they rush into to fill the vacuum created by Trump's catastrophic leadership.
Trump is so obviously not making America Great Again - he is turning the US into an object of global derision.
|
|
|
|
