Thursday, June 14, 2018

And Quiet Flows the Don . . . nah

First, apologies to Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov, and I hope I don't owe him royalties for stealing the title of his novel about the Cossacks.

Second, what more can be said about Donald Trump on the international scene and the over-the-top, hysterical reaction to his undoubted successes by the proponents of the current World Order? I think I have said it all. No, not really, give me a keyboard and I can always blurt something more.

Let's do a wrap up to the G-7 meeting, which I discussed before.

OK, Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): President Trump left that gabfest early so he could save the world from nuclear war, but his opponents couldn't stand it.

PM Justin Bieber Trudeau put on his/her/zhe big boy/girl/nonbinary pants, hid the floral socks, and made oh-so-brave comments about Trump while the President was in the air. Trump, of course, couldn't and wouldn't let it pass, and noted his surprise at Trudeau's new-found boldness when, in fact, during the meetings he had been quite meek and mild; Trump restated how American workers and industries are getting the shaft from tariffs and other restrictions imposed by our "allies." Trump told our negotiators not to sign the G-7 communique. The MSM press, of course, had a field day going on about how Trump has blown up the alliance system, maligned our allies, and divorced America from Europe. A note in passing to MSM: the divorce papers were signed in 1776, and unlike the prog-establishment created mess in Britain today on Brexit, there is no redo, no matter how much prog world would like one.

When I was at State, unity with our allies meant giving in to them. We would sign absurd declarations just to preserve "unity." The G-7 is like that. We go along with the nonsense about climate, gender equality, go lukewarm on ISIS ("Daesh"), yada, yada, yada, and get nothing in return for our people. This latest one (here) was just another mostly no-calorie, word salad but which had some sneaky stuff about synchronizing tax schemes (read it, you'll see; it's an obvious shot at our efforts to lower tax rates). To steal a phrase from Honest Abe, "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here today . . . ." Trump ain't buying it. Good. An alliance is a two-way street. An alliance with the current crop of globalist nonsense peddlers (Japan excepted) is real tough. I would note, for example, that one of those allies Angela Merkel, by name, has done more damage to Europe and Western security and values that anybody else in my lifetime. That is not an ally.

The MSM/Democrat Party reaction to the Singapore summit is also nonsensical. One gets the impression that these bien pensants would prefer the status quo, including the threat of a possible nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, than support President Trump's gutsy effort to change matters for the better--and there should be no doubt, Trump dominated that summit meeting. All of a sudden we hear strident patriotism from the likes of Rachel Maddow and others of that ilk bemoaning the "sell-out" to Kim by just meeting him, demanding all sorts of things that they never insisted Obama ask from the Mullahs and Castro when he engaged in his disastrous foreign policy forays. I don't see Trump giving Kim billions in cash and dropping sanctions in exchange for vague promises. He has launched a process which might just work, and if it doesn't, well, we are no worse off than we are now. Give the man some credit.

I hope the Don continues to refuse to flow quietly . . .

14 comments:

  1. I'll know if "Little Rocket Man" is serious when he returns the USS PUEBLO. Time will tell. Our president has the stones
    to make it happen I believe. Sure hope so.

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  2. He is now nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his great achievements in the Singapore summit. The choice of Trump would restore the Prize after the Obama-disaster. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/trump-nobel-peace-prize-north-korea-kim-jong-un-norway-progress-party-a8397796.html
    On top of that, the 2026 World Cup will be in the US. Another president will bask in the glory of the Cup but Trump made it happen.
    Swedishlady

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    Replies
    1. I would like to see the signing of a formal end to the Korean war and deescalation between the north and south, before any such awarding of Nobel prizes. That would be a huge accomplishment, and would open the door for unification. Then to watch Rachael Maddow howl and writhe in agony, like she was being boiled in oil would be the greatest thing in television history.

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    2. Agreed. The Nobel for "potential peace" has lost its value. Lets see some real "peace".

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  3. What kind of Bizzaro World are we now in where the North Koreans are more willing to work with the President than the Democrat Party?

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  4. Had the O sat down to talk with Kim Jongeun, the whole MSM would've been gaga. The first planeloads of glitterati visiting Pyongyang would've spewed megatons of garbage about the plucky spirit abd simple faith of Juche and the great advances an ossified Stalinism had brought to the suffering Korean Peninsula. It would be a reprise of Nixon's opening to Beijing (another odious regime, btw).

    While I am only cautiously optimistic about what Trump's "I've got a bigger button" diplomacy will yield, I still think that what we're seeing is probably the most significant step towards a Korean peace that I have seen in my lifetime.

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  5. The reference to Sholokhov brought back a memory of reading "And Quiet Flows the Don" some fifty years ago. Cant remember the story, except that it involved a lot of riding and fighting, along with a confusing cast of characters with long names.

    Pete Seger was inspired to write a song after reading the epic novel. Here are his his words with a new flair for today's reality. Imagine a chorus of G-7 leaders.

    Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
    Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
    Where have all the flowers gone?
    Trump has picked them everyone
    Oh, when will we ever learn?
    Oh, when will we ever learn?

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  6. If Trump and Pompeo accomplish this "denike miracle," will Foggy Bottom rewrite the Diplomat's Handbook? Or is Trump in striped pants not clonable?

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  7. Well the IG has found that political bias did not affect the FBI's investigation of Hillary's e mail question and the same conclusion was reached in the accidental meeting of Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of an obscure Arizona airport. This is quite a relief and I can sleep soundly. tonight.
    JH
    Those poor people only wanted to discuss grandchildren and recipes.

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  8. I'm still not remotely convinced.
    I need to see the knowledge of western prosperity distributed to the people of north korea before I will feel there's anything gained.... that would likely be irreversible.

    - reader #1482

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  9. Re: the G7

    I just came across this short article discussing the G7 and its increasing decline as representative of the global economy. The authors suggest a G7+, which makes some changes in membership but keeps the group small enough to actually arrive at decisions. Germany, France and Italy are combined into an EU seat making room for China and India. Canada is dropped in favor of Brazil. This brings the percentage of global GDP represented back up and also percentage of global population.

    Trump may have, as is his way, scrambled the old order. But the old order is ripe for some changes. The old order likes to chatter about change, Trump likes to throw wrenches in the works and force a reset and rebuild.

    http://bruegel.org/2018/06/the-g7-is-dead-long-live-the-g7/

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