He’s Baaack!!
Robert A. Levine June 1, 2017
After his first trip abroad where President Trump kow-towed to Saudi and Egyptian autocrats and disrespected long term allies, he’s returned to Washington. He stated that his trip was a “home run” for himself and America, but I don’t think he even hit the ball out of the infield. He sold a lot of armaments to Saudi Arabia, which will mean more jobs in the U.S. and more killing in the Middle East. But that was his major accomplishment. Israel and the Palestinians are no closer to a peace deal and our European allies know that they are dealing with a self-important narcissist boor who shows little understanding or knowledge of foreign affairs and America’s historical allies. To get to his proper position at the front in a photo-op, Trump literally pushed the Prime Minister of Montenegro out of his way, with not a word of apology, straightening out his jacket and tie afterwards.
At the G7 meeting in Sicily, he refused to commit to Article Five to come to the aid of any NATO ally who was attacked, though his associates said that he would meet this obligation. Must be very reassuring to Europeans. Angela Merkel said afterwards that Europeans from this point on would have to be self-sufficient in terms of defense, as they could not depend on anyone else for help. Did you hear that, Donald? Trump also disappointed the Europeans by refusing to commit to the Paris Accord, subsequently withdrawing America from the agreement. All the leaders of American businesses who asked him to stay in the Paris Accord because it was good for America must be very happy about that.
It means that aside from America increasing global warming and not caring, America is also losing a host of jobs associated with renewable energy, with China set to step in as the new global leader. Trump is pushing old energy technology, coal and oil, while the Chinese are developing renewable energy technology which is the way the rest of the world will be going aside from the United States. And those miners in West Virginia and Kentucky won’t be going back to work, as energy companies in the U.S. are more interested in renewable energy than building more outmoded coal plants. There are also more potential jobs associated with renewable energy than there are in coal. Don’t you understand that, Donald? Your policies are hurting America, hurting our allies, and hurting the planet.
Trump is also back to his tweeting addiction, even adding some gibberish (or a secret code) to one of his late night tweets. Does anyone know what covfefe means in Urdu?(I think he was sleep-tweeting which is a well-known syndrome for people who drink too much diet coke and tweet excessively. It’s almost an automatic behavior that is uncontrollable.) Covfefe is actually from the ancient Sanskrit and means- he who has achieved greatness. South Asian narcissists used it frequently in their parchments and on tombstones. It shows that Trump still dreams about achieving greatness even when he’s asleep.
However, he may not even achieve completion of his term the way things are going, much less greatness. If he’s not skewered for collusion with the Russians, his downfall may be obstruction of justice. But everything was so much more peaceful in Washington while he was abroad. Maybe he should plan some more visits overseas. An extended trip. I’m sure he’d be welcome in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020