Friends, it's getting genuinely ugly between DJT and Elon. The insults and the recriminations are coming thick and fast -- mostly digitally, of course. Trump isn't taking well to Elon's suggestion that Republicans should "kill" the big, beautiful bill, and his implication that Trump owes him for his win in November was practically tailor-made to drive the Donald up the wall. Personally, I'm inclined to blame Elon primarily for this falling out, because his criticism of the budget bill, while well founded and reasonable, didn't need to be so strident and categorical. Of course, it's easy to see why both men are frustrated, because so many of their initiatives have been stalled, either by Congress or the courts (and maybe in rare cases by one another). My advice to both is to take a deep breath and swallow your pride, because, like it or not, there's no going back. You can be in Trump's camp, Elon, or you can be against Trump, but the Trump haters are never going to accept you as one of their own, so you might as well get comfy in MAGA-land. Yes, the results that Washington, D.C. produces for the American people are frequently disappointing, but politics is the art of the possible, not the ideal, so keep that in mind. Set your expectations low -- frightfully low -- and you'll never be chagrined again.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I would think it improbable that a formidably business wise person like Musk would be as frivolous as to flit between two so opposite views. I think he became Maga because it satisfies his essential beliefs.
ReplyDeleteAhh, these two guys are HOMBRES and this possibly only a spat may well be on the way to uneasy rapprochement. Dialogue reported of Musk by Fox today suggests he is open to it. Neither one of them always takes opposition with good grace. Their being as scrappy as they are has done our country incalculable benefit. How many of us could endure what they have, including deathly threat? Being conservatives, they cannot claim perfection, as do their polar antitheses on the left.
Our second Civil War continues and it may well manifest many of the ups and downs which characterized the first one. We must keep the faith; this may well be our last chance to stop the still rampaging far left from destroying America. I doubt if we might ever again experience this happy juxtaposition of a great American leader with unprecedented popular support and able successors in the wings, and a sympathetic Congress, against an overweening radical faction which has recklessly exposed its historically condemned totalitarian flank to an aroused America.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: In reviewing previous dialogues I notice you opined that the West might continue to demonstrate interest in the security of Ukraine even after this present conflict is ended. I see in a Russia which has painfully endured the advance of Nato across that ideal tank country in Poland, with which Russia is fully acquainted , nonetheless a resolve that "enough is enough". Russia knows that for the West , Ukraine is not vital to its defense, while to Russia , it is vital. So perhaps their stance is as before: " Beware, do not push us too far. We are Russia! Best that you stay out of Ukraine altogether. But Nato in Ukraine or Ukraine in Nato? NYET!!!"
ReplyDeleteWe have no vital interests at stake in Ukraine so why risk pushing a terribly destructive power like Russia to the limits of its endurance? We need to get the hell out of it and stay out of it. Jack
ReplyDeleteJack, I tend to agree that we should have stayed clear of this Ukraine imbroglio from the start, and indeed if we had the whole conflict wouldn't exist, but that's water under the bridge. The question is: can we STILL disengage, would it be productive, and does Trump have either the will or the power to make it stick? So far, I'd say Trump's Ukraine policy looks, in practice, alarmingly similar to Biden's.
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