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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Trump doesn't want allies. He wants tributaries. His entire worldview is "I'm the strongest, therefore you should do whatever I want. If you don't, you can go to hell." All these agreements, treaties and organizations are restricting him from doing whatever the fuck he wants.
Edited by nightwyrm_zero on Jun 29th 2018 at 11:30:06 AM
He seems to genuinely think he can somehow get better deals if he negotiates one on one in every single case. Probably because that's how business works; One to one deals. Nevermind that he doesn't seem to realize that this doesn't stop everyone else from just banding together and hashing out their own deals with each other that locks the US out of the loop until such a time as they feel like letting us back in.
(And quite honestly I don't buy into this whole 'but they'll elect a lunatic every four years' that some posters have posited here. Trump is extremely unusual as far as international politics go. All presidents before him, regardless of how conservative they were, did in fact play ball with the rest of the world to some degree.)
I think the worry is more about whether Trump will be the new Republican standard or not. Yeah, no other one has been like him before, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Republicans will become less insane even assuming he isn't reelected.
I'm not totally into that, considering that part of what let Trump stay ahead was the bloated Republican field, but still.
Edited by LSBK on Jun 29th 2018 at 11:26:37 AM
I believe one of the reasons why Trump is taking such an isolationist stance it's because, as someone said before, he's the "ugly American" steorotype given form.
You know the stereotype of that one American, usually a tourist, who travels to a foreign country and starts demanding everyone in the host country must bow to him and do his bidding because America saved the world during the war or because without Americans everyone else would be poor, and the like.
When he says other countries are taking advantage of the United States, what I think he's really saying is that all those laws and regulations and the mere fact that foreign leaders aren't falling on their knees to kiss the land on where he stands, are being ungrateful. How can we judge the USA after they saved from Nazis!? How can we demand they respect the trade deals and not just roll over for American companies when we're benifitting from American people buying the products made in our respective countries?
So I'd say he is a true believer of all this. America is not just special, it stands head and shoulders above any other country and should be treated with the utmost respect because of what the country has done for the rest of the world.
However, the big problem, which is rather obvious I must say, is that he doesn't know what respect looks like. He's only known a life where his every demand must be met ASAP and if it doesn't he's free to ruin the life of the offending party.
He also doesn't know or show respect for the office of President of the United States because he doesn't know not being in charge. In the Trump Organization, he is the Trump Organization. Now, as POTUS, he believes he is America.
In short, his supporters weren't lying when they said he'd run the country like he runs his companies. The only problem is, he isn't even that good of a manager to begin with.
Trump both is and isn’t unusual as far as the US is international relations goes. The rest of the world knows that the chumminess and Russia and other authoritarian regimes is a personal quirk, but the distain for the international community, the selfish insistence that allies should be subservient, the unilateralism, the total disregard for international norms, the war mongering and the hatred? That’s not special to Trump, that’s a natural evolution from Bush.
Once is an accident, twice is a habit, and Trump marks the second time that the US has done this, until it can break the habit it’s going to hard to properly trust the US again.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranPart of that stems from the fact that the US is the only nation really able to enforce its will on its own.
Europe has to band together to meet the US on equal footing for Trade, China can scratch it but it cant claw it down.... The thing about California being the worlds 5th largest econemy doesn't just say a lot about California it says a lot about the US since thats just one state of 50.
Paired that with the fact that when it comes to National Security, every one else has just let theres decay into nothingness.... Germany's rifles melt down when fired, the Royal Navy can't even launch aircraft off its carriers... And then the US sits over there with its forces which it has maintained at WWII levels since WWII.
....
No the problem isn't that America isn't special, its that it is... It is by far the biggest dog in the room... and the American right think that gives them the right to wave dicks around in every ones faces and demand submission, like a playground bully.
If it wasn't.... this trade war... Trump... this any thing wouldn't even be a blip, it would be "Another North Korea for 4 maybe 8 years" not... "How much of the world are they going to take with them"
Edited by Imca on Jun 29th 2018 at 10:31:38 AM
After the Soviet Union fell, there really wasn't another massive power capable of matching the US. China still far from being capable of matching the US outside of maybe the regions immediate to their borders and Russia still isn't up to the same level as much as they like to pretend they are.
However even if there was it wouldn't be roses and posies, the Proxy Wars from the Cold War were propped up not just by the US but also the Soviet Union.
So no depending of which rising power starts to exert their power and influence, instead of seeing them curbing the US intentions, you might see the US and the rival power either making a more intensive drive to get regional powers and countries under their influence regardless of the means or you might see indirect clashes due to proxy wars, like we're seeing in Syria.
Inter arma enim silent legesPut simply. America poised itself as a paragon of freedom and democracy. The problem with paragons, while they don't always rebel, the times they do make them the most dangerous enemy one could ever have.
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jun 29th 2018 at 11:29:49 AM
I don't think there will be another Trump. Mainly because I think egotistical reality show stars with a (false) reputation for business success and a six year commitment towards racist dog whistles are thankfully in short supply.
We might see Trump-lite or Trump 2.0, but nothing will overshadow the original and as such I think it's effectiveness will be significantly reduced. Honestly, the only natural successor to Trump would probably be Ivanka, as she would be the only one to be able to wield the Trump brand without being consumed by it.
Maybe I'm being a pessimist but we all thought there was no conceivable way Trump would win and he did anyway. We also probably all would have expected a president to get booted out of office for even half the things he's done now and half the country remains dead loyal to him.
I think the bar has been permanently lowered. In the minds of radicals, the country has proven to them that they have a chance of getting their way and I think if anything we should brace ourselves for a whole lot more trumps. Probably forever.
The bar never rises again. We already had candidates come CLOSE to nomination in my lifetime that had Americans saying "Never again. Let's learn from this and be better."
The opposite happened.
bogleech.com for my writing, comics and cartoons.Can we please stop calling Trump the embodiment of "Ugly American"? That was a great show. Just say he embodies Type 2 of Eagleland.
Edited by ironballs16 on Jun 30th 2018 at 5:08:01 AM
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"And how many of those voters actually support him, and how many of them are just supporting him because it's the done thing, as opposed to genuinely liking him? I've heard it said numerous times that Republican voters are overly-servile.
Come to think of it, I thought that the real worry for the Republicans, particularly after the whole Roy Moore debacle, was that they were pushing candidates who are so far out of the mainstream that they risk alienating good chunks of their regular voters until only the crazies and the lifelong loyalists are left. Haven't they already been denounced by the likes of Mitt Romney, John McCain, George Dubya and all the other 'classic' Republicans? I get the feeling that 90% support rating is down more to a lot of ex-Republican voters no longer claiming to be Republican because they feel it's a damaged label or something.
Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Jun 30th 2018 at 1:51:12 PM
Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!
On top of that, how many voted for him solely because of the Supreme Court pick(s)? It has the same end result, but the rationale is mostly different than blind support - which could be better or worse, depending on viewpoint.
Edited by ironballs16 on Jun 30th 2018 at 6:08:33 AM
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"The fact that the Supreme Court is only one branch of three, and one of those three of looking increasingly likely to reach Democrat hands, at least partially, in November.
Also the fact overturning or enforcing anything Trump wants or does requires an extensive appeals process that may not even reach the Supreme Court.
We also recently saw a red state (Iowa) court strike down a pro abortion law as unconstitutional.
And I think the gun nut crowd are the only ones who actually want any kind of civil war, something that isn't really feasible without getting really chaotic in today's us landscape.
Edited by sgamer82 on Jun 30th 2018 at 7:19:42 AM
His lawyer and campaign manager have flipped.
Also, Trump is 72 and consistent poor health.
Edit:
BTW, the Annapolis shooter was Alt-Right. SHOCK OF SHOCKS.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jun 30th 2018 at 6:30:14 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

Is there a given reason as to why Trump wants to take the U.S. out of pretty much every international organization? Is it out of nostalgia for a supposed past in which the U.S. was totally self-sufficient, or does he think he can make money out of it?
Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!