Friends, what a difference a war makes... Not so long ago, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was one of Donald Trump's best friends and closest allies in Europe. Now, he's dissing her publicly and riling up the whole Italian nation, apparently out of pique over her refusal to support his strategy versus Iran. Reasonable people can debate the rightness or wrongness of America's and Israel's (abortive?) offensive against the Islamic Republic, but what exactly is to be gained by further alienating Italy, and Europe as a whole, as Trump seems determined to do? It seems to me that we have the worst of all possible worlds right now: we insult our alleged allies, and they disparage us, but we continue to maintain all the same old obligations and effectively still provide security, at vast expense, to those who increasingly despise us. And this makes sense how??? Help me out here!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: For an hombre like our President it may be a negotiating tactic meant to put someone with whom he disagrees on the defensive. Or it may be reflexive bad manners. He often speaks with hyperbole: something is either the best thing ever or the worst. He is under intense stress and perhaps its a way to vent.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that reasonable people can plausibly debate several different views of the Iran War. I do regret the way he has probably unnecessarily disturbed Canada on other issues.
I think he has done us proud by openly castigating the "American" far left as it so richly deserves. I like the way he has unapologetically used US power to garner sometimes grudging international respect for us. Power is the modus operandi of this hard world and the US has wielded it in a way more beneficial to the world than any other country ever.
Cynical old western Europe still sees us as bumpkins and has delighted in taking advantage of Presidents who are ashamed of America. " Why sure, let the do gooder virtue signaling Americans do the work for us!"I don't blame President Trump for being angered by having noodle spined allies fluff on us when we needed their cooperation.
His outstanding leadership qualities may well be sullied at times by his apparently intemperate language. Sometimes the damage done is not permanent; he seems to work very well with erstwhile "little Marco" and his problems with Elon Musk appear to have subsided somewhat.
It may also be a way he has of putting people from whom he hopes to gain concessions on the defensive . Of course that is not always the only way to do that. Jack
ReplyDeleteRAY TO DR. WADDY AND JACK
ReplyDeleteNothing complicated here. The United States of America does NOT need to be in the UN or NATO any longer.