American foreign policy

Priority For Joe Biden And Secretary of State Antony Blinken To Support Allies And Be Tough On Adversaries

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With the confirmation of Antony Blinken as Secretary of State for President Joe Biden, the priority is for both Biden and Blinken to make perfectly clear that foreign policy will return to normalcy.

This means that America must restore the close relations with our NATO allies, and with Asian allies, including Japan and South Korea, all heavily damaged under Donald Trump.

It also means being tough toward our adversaries, including the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin; China; North Korea; and Iran, making clear we are not cozying up to these dictators, while dealing with them in a “tough love” atmosphere.

It also means we cannot allow Saudi Arabia to manipulate America, as it did under Donald Trump.

It also means working in unison with other nations on climate change, and promoting a series of fair trade agreements, instead of imposing higher tariffs on Americans, as Trump practiced.

Confrontations might occur, hopefully not, but we must make clear that America will uphold democracy as part of its historic mission, and will never abandon its democratic allies in the world!

The Donald Trump Base Is Withering Rapidly

Ronald 2 Comments

As the election day ticks down to 22 days today, it is clear that the Donald Trump base of about 35-40 percent is withering rapidly.

The COVID 19 Pandemic and the outrageously poor reaction of Donald Trump and Mike Pence to that disaster is turning senior citizens and even white working class men away from Donald Trump.

The fact that he has called his followers “disgusting”, and glad he does not have to shake their hands, is being noted by many former Trump supporters who now realize Trump would not want them at his Mar A Lago residence in Florida.

Trump is massively losing among those of his former supporters who have a brain and intelligence, morality, and ethics, and see what a disgusting human being he is!

More Trump backers in 2016 have seen how dangerous and unstable he is, and how his narcissism has led him to endanger American foreign policy, and side with authoritarian leaders, including Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Mohammed bin Salman, among others.

Many conservatives are realizing that Trump is not a conservative, and many former Republican officeholders have repudiated him as a destroyer of Republican Party history and values.

Trump has made no effort to expand his receding base, and every poll, even on Fox News Channel, shows Joe Biden far ahead in “swing states”, and competing even in states that by all rights should not be contestable, including Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, and Arizona.

This is not an issue of whether Joe Biden is a perfect candidate, as no such person exists, but rather whether he represents the interests and concerns of average Americans, whose families have struggled and continue to struggle.

Joe Biden comes from a working class background, and has always had the traits needed for a President—intelligence, knowledge, experience, compassion, empathy, decency, morals, ethics, humanity, and a magnificent record of service unmatched in American history.

The nation is realizing Joe Biden is the right person to deal with the worst conditions we have seen since the Great Depression, far greater than the Great Recession of a decade ago. Only his approach to the future, with Kamala Harris by his side, can help the nation to recover from the COVID 19 Pandemic, the economic calamity, and the racial divide that has been encouraged by the Trump Administration.

Donald Trump (Mussolini) As He Crashes, And Joe Biden (Elements Of Lincoln, FDR, And Obama) For The Future

Ronald 9 Comments

Donald Trump is acting like Mussolini, with elements of Hitler, as his administration is crashing around him.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has elements of Abraham Lincoln, as he spoke yesterday at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the future need for him, with the help of a Democratic Congress, and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to act like Franklin D. Roosevelt, as Biden will face a series of crises on the level of Lincoln and FDR, and also, that of Barack Obama in 2009.

However, 2021 now looks as if it will be a combination of 1861, 1933, and 2009, and we are going to need wisdom, conviction, and strength as the new President will need to promote a New Deal and Great Society combination domestically, and need to have the guts and courage of Harry Truman in foreign policy, to restore our alliances and protect our national security.

Best Strategy For Joe Biden: Emphasize Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, Under Attack By Donald Trump And Republicans, To Working Class And Senior Citizens

Ronald 10 Comments

There are many issues that need to be discussed and emphasized by Joe Biden and his running mate, and Democrats in general, during the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Election campaigns of 2020.

Certainly, these include the CoronaVirus Pandemic, the racial turmoil that has arisen anew since the George Floyd murder, and the economic Great Depression that have gained the most attention in these past six months.

Also, the need to discuss the issue of climate change and global warming, and the dangers to American foreign policy presented by Donald Trump’s reckless attacks on our intelligence agencies and foreign policy establishment, which has undermined our relations with our NATO allies and other democratic nations around the globe, must be discussed. Trump’s flirtation with authoritarian leaders, including Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Brazil and elsewhere is also a major threat to global security.

But despite these and many other issues, ultimately, the major message that will gain more working class and senior citizen support is to emphasize what Democrats have supported, and have battled to preserve—programs passed by generations of Democrats, and widespread attacked by Republicans, and particularly Donald Trump in the last four years.

That is, the social justice programs that matter the most:

Social Security, passed under FDR in 1935, the lifeline for millions of people.

Medicare and Medicaid, passed under LBJ in 1965-1966, which has been a literal lifesaver for millions of Americans.

The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, passed under Obama in 2010, and constantly under attack by Republicans who have no alternative plan, and which has been a blessing to thirty million Americans.

None of these programs were perfect or are perfect, but if left up to the Republicans of the past, and even more in the present, they would never have existed, or would have died over the years!

So Democrats need to emphasize this, that all these programs are scheduled for ultimate undermining and destruction, if, God forbid, Trump won a second term, and had a Republican controlled House of Representatives and Senate!

Explaining this reality to the working class and senior citizens is the best way to get them out to vote, not sit on the sidelines, or believe the lies and propaganda of the evil Republican Party!

Donald Trump Foreign Policy A Total Disaster!

Ronald 12 Comments

President Donald Trump has totally destroyed American foreign policy, creating a massive disaster which will impact the nation and the world for long beyond his tenure in office.

He has damaged our relationships with our democratic allies in NATO, along with our alliance with Japan and South Korea.

He has developed a total admiration for authoritarian dictatorships, including Russia, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, and Brazil.

He has created a situation in the Middle East that is causing disintegration of any hope of stability, by helping Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkey massacre the Kurdish minority that helped the world against ISIS. And he claims to be unwilling to trust Iran on the repudiated Nuclear Deal, but now is helping them and Vladimir Putin to increase their influence in the Middle East, a situation which also endangers Israel.

ISIS now is again a major threat to the world, particularly to our allies in NATO, and Trump seemed to encourage that with his outrageous comments last week, showing lack of concern with that reality. But it will also affect the United States as well over time, and will make it more dangerous for Americans to travel world wide, as ISIS will be out to attack Americans, as well as Europeans.

Trump is totally clueless on foreign policy, and has fired anyone who has any sense of reality on the subject, and now has sycophants working to destroy the Foreign Service and the State Department, a long range detriment to any future President who will follow Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

This is only one of a multitude of reasons why Donald Trump needs to be removed from the Presidency, but will 20 Republicans join 47 Democrats in doing what needs to be done, to rid the Presidency of this menace to the nation and to the world?

Sadly, the odds are strongly against it!

Is The Influence Of National Security Adviser John Bolton Declining?

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National Security Adviser John Bolton, a true “hawk” on foreign policy, and one of the major culprits in bringing on the Iraq War, and known to be an advocate of war with Iran, seems to have been sidelined by Donald Trump.

After Trump came within ten minutes of bombing Iran over a shooting down of an American drone, but pulling back, the star of John Bolton seems to have been sent into space, so to speak.

Bolton was not present when Trump met Kim Jong Un of North Korea at the DMZ between North Korea and South Korea, and instead had been sent on a mission to Mongolia, which seems like being sent into space, ironically.

It would be great if Bolton was fired by Donald Trump!

The fact that Trump seems at times to be a bluster bully with words, but not actions, is, of course good, but it still destabilizes American foreign policy.

In any case, it could be that John Bolton may be shown the exit soon, and let us hope for that.

The Trump Policy Toward Kim Jong Un Leading To Acceptance Of North Korea As A Nuclear Power

Ronald 11 Comments

It looks as if President Donald Trump is on the road to acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear power.

There are rumors that Trump will accept the status of North Korea with its nuclear stockpile, but with a pledge that they not develop it any further.

That is a total joke, as there will be no way to monitor or prevent Kim Jong Un from breaking such an agreement.

It will be further proof that Donald Trump is a weak person, who gives in to vanity and praise, and is undermining the security of South Korea and Japan in so doing.

Trump is so easily manipulated by authoritarians, including Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, and Mohammed Bin Salman, and it is to the detriment of American foreign policy long term.

Donald Trump Rejects Human Rights As A Principle Of American Foreign Policy, Even Theoretically, After Saudi Torture And Murder Of Jamal Khashoggi

Ronald 1 Comment

President Donald Trump has just destroyed all sense of morality, ethics, and principle, by rejecting human rights as a principle of American foreign policy, even theoretically.

Certainly, other Presidents have often ignored human rights as a principle, including Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan above all, but none as openly as Donald Trump, who has just decided to ignore intelligence information that concludes that Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, ordered the assassination and torture of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national living in the United States and working as a journalist for the Washington Post.

Instead, Trump is giving bin Salman a pass, refusing the concept of some kind of punishment to be meted out on Saudi Arabia for this horrendous murder and dismemberment.

No one is saying that the US should break off relations with the Saudi government, but a nation can use other strategies and tactics to indicate outrage at such a violation of human rights.

But instead, Trump, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and National Security Adviser John Bolton, are choosing to show a lack of concern or principle about the basic decency of promoting basic human rights.

It is just another sign that Trump is cozying up to authoritarian dictators, all for his own economic betterment. It has led to bitter denunciation by many public figures in government, including many Republicans, as well as Democrats.

This author believes that the United States will one day realize the danger of what has been done, that Mohammed bin Salman will turn out as King of Saudi Arabia in the future, as the most dangerous foreign leader long term, probably more than Kim Jong of North Korea, who like bin Salman, is in his early 30s, and both will be a nightmare long term in the world, way beyond the leaders of Russia and China, who are twice their age.

Nepotism Gone Mad, And Undermining The Trump Presidency

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Donald Trump will be brought down by nepotism, something not realized a year ago, when he agreed to allow his daughter Ivanka Trump, and his son in law, Jared Kushner, to work at the White House, although receiving no paycheck.

But neither Ivanka nor Jared ever gained completely clear access to secret information, total security clearance, but no matter, as both have engaged in diplomatic activity that may have compromised American foreign policy and national security.

Jared Kushner seems on the way to indictment by Robert Mueller, and Ivanka may not be far behind.

Kushner and his wife have been too interested in gaining profits and economic advantages in many different nations around the globe, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, as their acquisition of obscene wealth has become an obsession beyond all norms.

But the same with Donald Trump, who never is happy about his level of wealth, and has illegally been involved in violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which is likely to be one of the charges against him in any impeachment, or indictment by a federal grand jury.

Son Donald Trump, Jr, allowing himself to engage in Russian collusion, is also likely to face indictment, because he has been taught by a lifetime of Donald Trump being his father, that arrogance and cockiness is perfectly acceptable behavior.

For the first time in American history, we are likely to see the Presidential family wearing prison garb, and it will add to the total disgrace of the Trump Presidency, out to enrich further the wealthy, at the expense of the American people at large.

So Trump’s basement ranking among Presidents will set a new low for the occupant of the White House!

Donald Trump Goes Bonkers, Unleashes Twitter Storm Against Three Nuclear Powers (North Korea, Iran, Pakistan) And Palestinians

Ronald 11 Comments

Since the New Year of 2018 began, Donald Trump has gone totally bonkers, unleashing a Twitter storm against three nuclear powers–North Korea, Iran, Pakistan–and also further caused massive disarray in the Middle East by attacking the Palestinian Authority.

He has threatened cutoff of aid to Pakistan and the Palestinians, not understanding what damage that will do in the fight against terrorism.

Trump has demonstrated his willingness to threaten nuclear war against Kim Jong Un of North Korea, while also making clear he will destroy the Iran Nuclear Agreement, not realizing that North Korea will have no desire to negotiate when they see that the US is ready to rip up an agreement that five other nations still wish to enforce with Iran.

Why would any nation take the US seriously on negotiations, when Trump is so inconsistent?

And for Trump to talk about the size of his nuclear “button” as compared to that of North Korea, is to make Trump look like a bully on a school playground making himself look like a total jerk!

And declaring Jerusalem to be the Israeli capital, and taking that issue off the table with the Palestinians, and then threatening cutoff of aid for the people who are living under such horrible circumstances in the Palestinian held territories, only convinces the Palestinians that no negotiations with Israel are possible, insuring further bloodshed and violence in the Middle East.

Starting to antagonize Pakistan only insures further troubles as America continues a war in Afghanistan with no end game, and makes for tilting too far toward India, and the India-Pakistan tensions, as both are nuclear powers, is only encouraged by Trump threatening cut off of aid to Pakistan.

Trump is destroying American foreign policy in a manner which will take decades to recover, and our once strong allies in Western Europe, as well as Canada, Australia, Mexico, Japan and South Korea are exasperated over what Donald Trump has wrought.