"Sorry Trump haters. On this one you might have to admit "The Donald" did the unexpected. And the unexpected could turn into a huge win for the world."
"He can't do that! It is just not right! Nobody has done it that way in the past!" It is fair to say the lap dog media is having a cow today. I think this is funnier than all get out. Plus, it is a wee bit of "I told you so". If you want someone to shake things up, to be a disrupter, a "fixer", then you go outside the norm and hire a CEO. Especially one who has made billions in a very tough market. So we hired Donald Trump to be our President, and he is delighting his base by swimming against the current.
Back to "He can't do that!" for just a second. Oh, but he did. It caught virtually everyone by surprise - even his SOS who is in Africa. He saw an opening and he jumped on it. He vowed he would not turn the North Korean mess over to his successor like it was given to him. And as much as he would have liked to go in to North Korea with guns blazing, and taught that little rocket man a lesson, he listened to the wise and sage advice of his generals instead.
What was that advice? Turn the screws as hard as you can. And then turn them even harder. Make sanctions so unbearable, the Norks will have to cry "uncle!", as in Uncle Sam. Rumor has it the "back channels" have been buzzing with China - and China agreed to really help this time. In short, right now North Korea is on the verge of total bankruptcy. They put an inkle on the table. They are ready to talk with us - face to face. Trump pounced on that inkle, and said lets make it happen. Like as soon as this May.
I tuned to watch just a bit of the unwatchable MSNBC this morning. Joe, Mika and the team were apoplectic, to say the least. Their show prep today was going to be 75% Stormie Daniels, and 25% Russian collusion. And then this happened. So they were trying to spin this brazen move by Trump in the most unfavorable light. "This type of thing takes months and months! It takes acumen this President, and his team do not have! It will be a mess!"
Blah, blah, blah.
Here is the bottom line. Grandpa, Daddy, and now Rocket Man have flummoxed every President since Nixon. As a nation, we don't know how to deal with the Norks. They have taken our ideologues like Carter and Obama, and waltzed them around the May Pole. Our "lead from behind" and "hurry up and wait" diplomacy has led to nothing but a nuclear Korean Peninsula. Left unchecked, North Korea could easily drag the world into another, and this time nuclear, war.
So our "Fixer in Chief" saw an opening. Is this a slam dunk? Not a bit. It is a bit of a long shot. But Trump will be the first President in our history to sit down face to face with the evil empire. And should be be successful in getting this tiger back into his cage, this will be the greatest single diplomatic achievement since Ronald Reagan backed down the Soviets, ending the Cold War.
Sorry Trump haters. On this one you might have to admit "The Donald" did the unexpected. And the unexpected could turn into a huge win for the world.
A Nobel Peace prize in the making!
ReplyDeleteMay is a long way off, and Mueller or Stormy Daniels or CHAOS in the west wing, or who knows what else may derail 45's schedule.
DeleteNow here is what is more likely to happen.
ReplyDeleteKim and 45 will meet, and Kim’s regime will reap hours of footage of an American president shaking the hand of the Supreme Leader that will run forever in North Korea and go viral around the world.
Kim will play the gracious host, and agree to everything, knowing that this kind of flattery will trigger a torrent of praise from 45 and perhaps even elicit reckless talk about lifting sanctions. (The North Koreans will surely have done their homework on the president’s psyche, which is on display all day, every day, on social media.)
After the summit, Pyongyang will then dig in on further talks. When those talks fail, Kim will blame 45, leaving the president bewildered and angry.
45 will go back to his insulting ways, which will pave the way for Kim to exit any preliminary agreements.
The whole business will fall apart, and North Korea will look like the sure winner: the co-equal of a United States president who has been humbled in front of America’s allies and embarrassed in front of its enemies.
The unveiling of a functional, nuclear-armed North Korean ICBM will follow.
Year one was as controlled as 45 would allow. Now the safeguards are gone. The training wheels are off and he’s going to be on his own. The concern about the mental state of the president will begin to take shape. I liken him to a toddler who is prone to lashing out: this is a president who is not guided by ideology or policy but by emotion.
ReplyDeleteIn this “unstable environment” and “unparalleled chaos”, staff will leave and become increasingly hard to replace. As the situation gets worse, people will be looking for escape hatches. Are there people always wanting to work in the White House and to suck up to power? Of course there are. Are they highly qualified people? Absolutely not.
I think, instead of hiring folks to help with policy, whenever a policy decision/position needs to be decided, 45 should bring in one pro and one con person, listen to a short debate, and then make his decision. That way we can reduce chaos, reduce costs and decisions will be made quickly.