monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Trump's criticisms of NATO centered on the long term failure of our European allies to live up to their commitments for defense spending and the associated decline in the alliance's military readiness and ability to deter Russian aggression. In stark contrast, under our previous Administration the decline in European military readiness proceeded without comment, and, worse, was matched by our own decline. President Trump has taken constructive action to address both problems.

The whatabout camp? Which one is that? The one whose answer to every criticism of the Democrat party or individual Democrat is "The GOP is much worse!"?

And just who do you and revelette believe might be trying to justify Russian attempts to interfere with our elections?

If it happens to be me that is truly rich, and particularly so when coming from a couple of liberals. All this time on Abuzz and A2K and I never realized either of you were red-blooded Cold Warriors...and it took you two red white and blue-blooded patriots to reveal me as the Russian sympathizer I must be.

Ironic don't you think?

So hinting at a US withdrawal from NATO but not doing it is executing Putin's plan? And here I thought Putin was a smart guy. Those hints couldn't possibly have been a) an effort to appeal to America First nationalist and or b) persuade deadbeat NATO members to pony up their pledged share of the expense?

Of course not, as was made clear when he ordered a US withdrawal from NATO during his first 100 Days in office! Oh, wait...he didn't do that, in fact, he strongly endorsed Article 5. Nevermind he still has plenty of time to do Putin's bidding.



Let's see, Putin will spare Trump if he pulls the US out of NATO and lifts the sanctions. Is that right? If so what's Vlad waiting for since Trump obviously has not kept his end of your imaginary bargain? Oh yeah, he sent a tomahawk missile directly into the territory of one of Russia's client states. All part of that diabolical plan?
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Quote georgeob1:

Baloney. Trump said in his stump speech that it was time to "shake the rust" off of American foreign policy and deal with Russia from a position of "mutual shared interests". Which is directly opposite of what we have been doing, which is to successfully fight totalitarian expansionism at the side of our allies. NATO is not about "mutual shared interests" of it's individual members as regards Russia, it is about "one for all and all for one". And it's worked beautifully since the end of WWII, which is precisely why Putin wants it gone.

Trump is the only candidate who seems to think NATO is a problem. And Trump's campaign and Administration is crawling with Putin fanboys, friends of Putin's oligarch buddies and guys just off the Kremlin's payroll.

Remind me to never get on your bad side.

Quote Finn:

Trump hasn't finished his first year yet, and he's not gotten anything done. The inability of Trump to do anything at all, let alone withdraw from a NATO treaty which requires the cooperation of another branch of government, has gotten in the way. So far, he still hasn't taken back his stump speech promises to deal with Russia not as partners with our NATO allies, but according to whatever "mutual shared interests" he might find with Russia. Like, if Russia wants to move the tanks into Poland, Trump is fine with it as long as Russia cuts us in on the deal.

I certainly don't think your refusal to answer the ONE question (namely -Are you proud of the president?) I re-phrased a couple of different ways makes you a horse's ass. I really don't know what makes you a horse's ass - weaned too soon from momma's breast? Little man syndrome? Who Knows? I've always thought it was something to do with your sense of always chafing up against a whole universe that's in revolt to your diminishing white male supremacy. White man's burden? I really, really don't know, Finn old bird. What do YOU think it is that makes you a horse's ass?

And BTW - the reason you don't answer that very simple question is because it's too difficult for you.

Nonsense. Clearly it wasn't ever Trump's intention to withdraw from NATO: rather it was a long overdue effort to revitalize it and stimulate our European allies to do their share. Moreover it appears to have worked.

Beyond that, dealing with other important powers in accordance with our mutual interests is the essence of stable and intelligent foreign policy. Certainly it is a hell of a lot better ( and less stupidly silly ) than reset buttons and whispered assurances ( to Medvedev) that "I'll have a lot more flexibility after the election".

And not using it for advancing the neoliberal agenda would be a plus. What happened in Libya is an international disgrace, and so obviously not the humanitarian intervention the last admin portrayed it as.

More like an obvious resource grab and run. Who got all that gold?

The nation that had the highest standard of living and education in the region, now seeing slave trading in marketplaces. International war crime.

Here's an article from The Atlantic about Trump's remarks on NATO in a New York Times interview. The organization is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The fat boy can propose, but when it comes to treaties, the Senate disposes. The Senate has the sole power to ratify or amend treaties, by a two-thirds vote. The fat boy doesn't have that kind of support in the Senate. He can prattle on, but NATO is not going to go away just because he consistently engages his mouth when his brain is not engaged. He is possibly the most ignorant person ever to have held that office.

EDIT: Article Two, Section Two, first clause of the second paragraph: He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; . . . Read it and weep, fat boy.

And yet he won the contest to represent the GOP, and against the odds, won the contest against the corporate stooge who'd been groomed for the position.

That alone, tells me there's hope for the nation, as a whole.

Quote georgeob1:

Trump said that NATO was obsolete, that the US should consider withdrawing, and that the US should deal with Russia not as a defender of freedom for our allies but in terms of mutual interest for ourselves and Russia. No mention of allies at all, which is how we have successfully dealt with Russia since the end of WWII.

Check out this video on what Trump has said about NATO and Russia-all harsh criticism of NATO, all sweet nothings cast Russia's way.



Trump has several times echoed Russia's official line, that the US should stop opposing Russia in Europe and get cozy with Russia fighting Muslim terrorists. The hell with Eastern and Western Europe-Russia's our buddy, according to Trump.

What makes it more of a travesty is that Russia has not been fighting Muslim terrorists in Syria. They have been bombing the bejesus out of Syrian rebels, killing thousands and thousands of non-combatant civilians in the process. Putin, the former KGB apparatchik, has simply continued to service and support the Assad regime, a former Soviet client regime for almost 40 years. Plus ça change . . .

So, how reckless and stupid is Paul Manafort.

Remembering, of course, that US allies, the Saudis, and Israhell, had been covertly funding and arming these "rebels" through various channels, and at times, Obama had to admit that his forces had "inadvertently" dropped supplies directly to these "rebels".

And if you want to talk about killing non-combatants, where do we start with US "interventions"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnskeu-puE

He's as dumb as a tRump - and, that is really, really dumb!

If I could muster any sympathy for these brazen traitors, I still could not excuse that dumb sh#t Manifort who is blinded by the tinsel tinged arrogance of Trump and moves ahead as if nothing can touch him. Holy ****, his honor is in question and yet he still collaborates with Russian operatives?????? Is he suicidal? If Putin decides he is a liability, he can look forward to a plutonium surprise. The Russians feel better when others suffer.

You're a fool about this, but at least you're a fully committed fool.

If you were under the threat of exposure that could disgrace you and even possibly land you in jail, AND you already decided that you would do what it takes to keep your blackmailers happy, would you risk having your sins exposed by dawdling and not even making a gesture towards placating those who had the goods on you?

Of course, you wouldn't, but your answer of convenience to any question that involves Trump, (a man who has amassed an impressive fortune and actually won the US presidency), acting with the sort of self-preservation, and common sense that you who have neither billions of dollars nor a bedroom in the White House, would exhibit under similar circumstances, is predictably something to the effect of "The man is not only monumentally stupid, he's crazy. You can't expect him to act like a "normal" person."

It's an absurd response born of either real stupidity or an uncontrollable loathing for the man.

Rats are quite intelligent and one of nature's great success stories, but if there is only one thing the grimiest rat in the NYC sewer system is good at, it's survival. Even accepting the notion that Trump is the human equivalent of a grimy NYC sewer rat, his success over seven decades or so; despite numerous setbacks, would strongly suggest that he shares the sewer rat's talent for self-preservation. However, you would have us believe that facing personal and public destruction if he doesn't come through on his deal with the devil, Trump would rather play golf or grab a woman's private parts.

I don't have to ask you to know that you would not for one second believe that the gravity of his role as Leader of the Free World, has chastened Trump and in repentance for his wicked ways he has chosen to defy his blackmailer, and so there is only one possible explanation for why he didn't even make a serious attempt to placate his Putin: He is a moron of epic proportions and/or as mad as a hatter. So stupid and crazy, in fact, that he, a proven slippery rat, doesn't even realize what a tight and inescapable spot he's in. If I rolled my eyes to the extent such an inane belief warrants, I'm afraid I'd flip them backward in their sockets altogether.

Derangement Syndrome. A lot of people had the Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama versions, and I would bet a Ben Franklin to a donut that you had a
very bad case of the W strain , but the derangement afflicted upon you by Trump has to be one of the worst cases ever. So bad, in fact, that you are apparently incapable of even recognizing how absurd you sound.

If he has not gotten anything done, and remains incapable of doing anything, including saving his own skin, why does he worry you so? When it suits you, you are very quick to accuse him of acting without the proper advice and counsel of Congress and in defiance of the judiciary, but now it suits you to claim he is an ineffectual and immobile slug. Afterall, this whole line of discussion (if it can be called that) is based upon your insistence that he is not only capable of selling the US and Europe down the river to preserve his bacon, he's poised to do it at any moment. However, when it's pointed out to you that he hasn't pulled the US out of NATO or even continued to disparage it, you counter "Because he hasn't done anything!"

As for your claim itself, that he has not gotten anything done, I've no doubt that you do not approve of them, but what do you call filling a Supreme Court vacancy with a conservative judge the Left seems to view as nothing short of Roy Bean, issuing and continuing to press for a travel ban on Muslims (your description, not mine), filling the EPA with capitalist rapists of the land (your assessment not mine), championing and moving to fruition a tax reform bill that will savage the poor and middle class and enrich the Corporate Hydra,(your description; not mine) signing 50 or more GOP passed bills into law including at least 13 that neutered regulations imposed by the Obama Administration as respects such things as wildlife refuges and internet privacy, killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership international trade agreement, consistently taunted and enraged the North Korean dictator and his regime, ordered U.S. missile strikes against an air base in Syria, revived the Dakota Access Pipeline, pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Acord, fired FBI Director James Comey, and just today greatly reduced the size of two National Monuments located in Utah?

The preceding is but a portion of the list of accomplishments he can claim and I've not included any of those that are open to a debate concerning the amount of credit, if any, he deserves, such as the unemployment rate, the stock market, consumer confidence levels, reduction in the flow of illegal immigrants into the US, etc. Again, I certainly don't expect you to issue any Atta Boys for these actions, and I strongly suspect you find them all noxious, but the point of the list isn't to support the idea that Trump is doing great things, but to refute the idiotic assertion that he is doing nothing at all.

Assuming he did, in fact, make them (and I hardly trust you to be precisely accurate about anything Trump has or hasn't done) why should he take back campaign promises to deal with Russia according to shared interests, and not as one of the NATO team members. He did run on "America First!" you know. It's clear you believe the fate of the world depends upon the strength of NATO and NATO depends upon the strength of Trump's commitment to it, but unless the shared interests of the US and Russia involve anything that is to the serious detriment of the other NATO members, how is this some sort of heinous betrayal of our allies? For instance, most NATO members have had their fill of Middle Eastern adventures and new ones would present their leaders with serious political liabilities. II would never trust Russia to behave as an ally of ours, but it does have an Islamist terrorist problem, and we have a shared interest in eradicating that problem. Mutual cooperation in affecting that end is bad how?

Your Trump Derangement Syndrome, inflamed by a major dose of tribal partisanism, has you believing anything and everything Trump does puts all of Western Civilization in peril...but wait, I forgot...he hasn't done anything at all so how can he be the serious existential menace you believe him to be?

It's the Blickers Paradox!

I would have to see what and phraseology he used in the writing. Judges hate parties in legal matters tampering with jury pools vis-a-vis tRump, corruption/obstruction of justice!

It's why he fully earned his nickname of Blinkers; he only sees what he wants to see.

Eyes front, private!