On Saturday, I decided to go back and look at some of the stuff I posted about Trump, prior to the election. I ended up getting sucked into spending the weekend streaming old news and commentary clips on YouTube; starting from before the election, and going all the way through to present day. Here's some thoughts I came away with:
Before the election, I boiled Trump's rhetoric down to a few key points:
- Stop illegal immigration.
- Roll back free trade.
- Cut back on military spending/interference.
- Stop antagonising Russia in their own back yard.
- Lower tax rates, and supplement revenue by closing tax loopholes.
When Trump killed the Trans Pacific Partnership, I was filled with joy and hope. However, what I've seen over the past year and a bit, is Trump's inner circle gradually expelled and replaced with the same sorts of dodgy cunts who were floating around during the Bush era. It also seems apparent that, at least up to a point, the defence/intelligence industry has worked out how to push the buttons on Trump's gigantic ego, in order to get him to do what they want. This has not been helped by the Democrats' (and the media's) manic insistence that Clinton only lost the election due to Russian interference. An assertion that carries about as much weight as the Republicans' claim that Obama was a Kenyan Muslim communist; which ironically, was a theory championed by Trump himself.
So, military spending has gone up, military involvement in Syria has gone up, and relations with Russia have gotten worse. And I would like to point out that a lot of the right/libertarian-leaning media that I follow has turned against Trump for this very reason. They voted for him because they thought he was their best chance at getting troops out of the middle east, and now they see him as a lost cause, completely captured by the unelected bureaucrats who work at the CIA and the Pentagon. I'm afraid they might be right.
As for everything else on the list, I did hear about tax cuts going through, but so far, I haven't heard anything about loopholes being closed. That's only going to make things worse. And his attempts at fixing immigration and free-trade have looked more like impulsive knee-jerk reactions than a coherent attempt at widespread reform. Honestly, the way things are going, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he got talked all the way around into supporting the TPP before he leaves office.
What say youse all?
PS: During my YouTube binge, I came across these videos, which relate directly to the discussion we had earlier about the gas attacks in Syria. I'm not saying I blindly believe everything that's said in them, and I don't think you should either; but I did find them interesting.
One thing I hadn't given too much thought to is something that was touched on briefly in the second video; whichever side loses, their surviving fighters are most likely going to flee into Europe and claim refugee status. I dunno about you, but I'd much rather be taking refugees aligned with the brutal dictator of a modern, secular nation, than the followers of a barbaric religious philosophy from the fuckin' stone age. So I guess there's definite downsides to Assad winning after all.
3 comments :
Just to make it clear that I'm not some sort of doe-eyed Assad cheerleader, I'd also like to remind everyone that Syria has spent decades backing Hezbollah in Lebanon; which probably has a military force bigger than the Lebanese army, and has attacked Israel on numerous occasions.
FBI interference, the KGB, contributed but the main damage was done by rampant sexism and fake news. And also their failure to go to that state that they thought was safe that actually killed them. Which means there was a failure of polling, and/or a lack of attention to the people on the ground and that state. Clinton was by far the better candidate. Anyway.
My opinion is that Trump has by far exceeded the already insanely low expectations I had for him. And by exceeded, I mean I'd rather Kim Jong-Un was the US President. Trump is the most dangerous piece of shit that never had a haircut. The whole Jerusalem thing is because of his daughter's connections.There is so much wrong with the White House and his election has exposed that there is so much wrong with the US Public Service as well. I mean, at least in this country, the public service is permanently employed - the most powerful people in this country do not get to fill the most senior positions in the country with their own cronies (or worse, unqualified family members). What looked clever and romantic when I watched The West Wing now looks to me to be a source of corruption and poison in the US govt.
the main damage was done by rampant sexism and fake news
Clinton was by far the better candidate. Anyway.
Obviously I don't agree with this. I think a lot of people knew what they were getting with Clinton, and rather than swallow another four years of the same shit they'd been getting served since Reagan, they were willing to take a chance on a sleazy New York property tycoon who was at least willing to pay them lip-service. Also, there were a lot of women who voted for Trump, and I can't imagine many of them did it for sexist reasons.
Trump is the most dangerous piece of shit that never had a haircut.
Can you elaborate on this please? The dangerous part, not the haircut part. The messes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and (soon to be) Iran, happened before Trump, during the time of the "less dangerous" presidents. As did the deregulation of the banking industry, which led to the GFC, and the continuing economic morbidity in parts of Europe. You can find footage of every president going back to Bush sr promising Jewish lobbyists and campaign donors that they would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as soon as they got into office (though none ever did, of course). Even the ones who talked tough on Israeli settlements in Palestine, never did a damned thing to stop them. And, while Trump's exchanges with Kim III have been idiotic, unless he takes military action against North Korea there's not much danger of escalation.*
* (Although, these war games they're having - right on the fucking border - could be the catalyst for something. Remember when Obama did this exact same thing, and it resulted in NK shelling an SK military outpost?)
The point I'm trying to make isn't that Trump is wonderful; it's that, while previous presidents have been much less boorish, they haven't exactly had a great track record, when it comes to stuff that actually impacted people's lives outside of America (or inside, for that matter).
And I agree with you that the executive branch of the US government is rife with corruption, but again, this is nothing new. Cabinet positions have always been handed out as payment for services rendered. This is how you end up with lobbyists for telecommunications giants running the department that regulates telecommunications. It's what Americans mean when they complain about the revolving door.
As one left-wing commentator I listen to keeps saying: The best thing about Trump, is that at least people are paying attention to the corruption that they ignored under Obama.
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