The Problem: Even Rhetoric Matters

First the good news this morning:

Philip Pilkington @philippilk

Even CNN is laughing at the clapped out boomerfest that the #resistance has become.

Quote

Ian Miles Cheong @stillgray

CNN is mocking the Democrats for their absolute joke of a protest against Elon Musk. They are cooked.

https://x.com/i/status/1887095530100019694

Philip Pilkington @philippilk



There goes the entire USAID global network. 

3:01 AM · Feb 5, 2025

Of course countries around the world will cheer the destruction of the US network for propagating woke ideology. Actual humanitarian aid will be welcome.

But then came Trump’s disgraceful groveling to a genocidal ideology: Zionism. In the person of a smirking Netanyahu, who owns most of our Congress through his agents in the US and who famously stated: The US is easily maneuvered.

Last night I offered—in a comment—the one ray of hope on Trump’s peformance: Could this be another of Trump’s rhetorical negotiating ploys intended to force opposing parties to come to an agreement? We’ll see how that plays out, but I have less and less hope. That, of course, is the same ploy Trump has attempted to use with Russia, maintaining the pretense that the US only offered “aid” to one side in a tragic war that Trump the humanitarian wants to help end—or else. Russia knows better, after long and bitter experience with the Anglo-Zionists, and has responded by maintaining its position. China, too, has responded to Trumpian rhetoric. China will be open to reasonable negotiations, but all those leaders of major powers with whom Trump had a “great relationship”? Rhetoric does matter:

Zerohedge @zerohedge

TRUMP AND XI ARE NOT SPEAKING ON TUESDAY -WSJ

11:18 AM · Feb 4, 2025

MenchOsint @MenchOsint

China opposes Trump's plan to take over Gaza and resettle Palestinians in neighboring countries.

Will the Russians be reconsidering negotiations in light of US unilateralism?

"Who gave NATO the right to kill Gaddafi" ~ Putin (President of Russia)

Megatron @Megatron_ron

BREAKING:

 US resumes arms deliveries to Ukraine over the weekend - Reuters

Combine that act with recent rhetoric—why would Russia or any other country trust Trump at this point. The weaker may indeed have to suffer what they must, may have to bow to coercion, but that’s not the same. Russia and China will not bow, and may decide that even speaking is a waste of time—as Russia’s FM Lavrov has openly suggested.

Because American Unilateralism should not be mistaken for American Greatness—certainly not in today’s world of shifting power centers. Attempted bullying of the wretched of the earth isn’t a good way to inspire trust among one’s partners.

This morning Larry Johnson articulates what I expressed in a brief comment. I suggested last night that Trump’s kowtow to the smirking Netanyahu was a ploy to prevent Netanyahu from resuming the genocide unilaterally, i.e., without Trump’s OK. Here’s how LJ articulated that concept this morning—with appropriae caveats:

Trump also insisted that the Palestinians will be relocated to a third country (unspecified) and will not have a right to return. This was scripted. You can see Trump is reading from a note card. Trump claims he has talked this over with Arab leaders in the region and that they are in favor of the deal. That is a lie.

Powerful Arab nations rejected President Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League released a joint statement rejecting any plans to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

One of the executive orders Trump signed today eliminates US funds for the UN that support UNRWA, which means other countries will have to step in and make up the difference. Any hope that Trump will help the Palestinians was dashed today.

However, maybe Trump’s public comments about taking over Gaza were intended to keep Netanyahu from ending the ceasefire unilaterally. Now that Trump has pledged to put additional troops on the ground, it will make it more difficult for Netanyahu to resume military operations.

Was the restoration, by EO, of “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran—supposedly to prevent Iran from going nuclear—actually designed to appease Netanyahu by giving him a victory, in exchange for continuing the halt to the genocide? Again, time will tell. Trump’s claim that the US will somehow “take ownership” of Gaza—who will make the transfer?—

"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too." –President Donald J. Trump

can’t happen overnight. That’s what gives pause to considerations of how serious Trump is. Still, rhetoric matters in any case, and Trump’s rhetoric is all most people around the world have to go on when it comes to gauging his intentions. His rhetoric yesterday will not help bring the “peace” that Trump claims everyone wants—but which Israelis patently do NOT want:

Max Blumenthal @MaxBlumenthal

Trump's pledge to "take over" Gaza offered a rare opportunity to hear an American president articulate the logic of Zionism in its rawest, most essential form. The history of Israel is defined by a continuous process of controlling and removing the Palestinian population by force, with the consent and participation of the majority of its Jewish citizens, in order to demographically engineer a Herrenvolk pseudo-democracy. Now, Trump has vowed to carry out the Final Solution on Israel's behalf, and possibly with US troops. Israelis love his genocidal energy, with 80% telling the Jerusalem Post they favor Trump's plan, and only 13% declaring it "immoral." Average Americans might be less enthusiastic about embarking on a foreign ethnic cleansing adventure, but as this episode makes undeniably clear, they are not the ones who determine their government's policy when it comes to the "Jewish and democratic" state.

Last edited

12:09 AM · Feb 5, 2025

“Herrenvolk”, of course, is German for Master Race. Even if most Americans aren’t paying attention, the rest of the world is:

The Russian Federation will not support the ethnic cleansing of 2mil Palestinians in Gaza.

"We have always supported a two state solution where Israel and Palestine exist side-by-side independently" – The Kremlin on Trump's comment

Sooner or later perceptions matter. None of this will make deal making easier when the perception of the world is that, for Anglo-Zionism, might makes right.