In Part One I presented a sort of impressionistic overview of the hot spots around the world, waiting to blow up in Trump’s face—often with some unfortunate encouragement from the man himself.
Thank you Mark and that discussion was really evading the issue. Every USA president for the past decades has been a warmonger, some both a warmonger and a perpetrator of crimes against humanity. Trump inherits and perpetuates both and is desperate to avoid a prosecution and judgement at the International Court of Justice. I doubt he will succeed and at that day of judgement the UN will finally rid itself of this blight on humanity.
It is all very well for the trio to examine the entrails but there is no escaping the fact that the greater Israel conquest - from the Euphrates to the sea - is seriously underway. Trump is absolutely on board if not the skipper/pilot of this ship of murderous thugs. He certainly supplies the arsenal and the coercive muscle necessary to get Turkey to play its role in erasing the Syrian State.
So no, Trump is no hapless fool accidently grasping the tar baby. He has a constituency to please or appease as you will and that constituency wants to kill, conquer, and embed its Military conquest in as many nations as possible and equally seeks to annihilate all human opposition. Trump is the leader of a malevolent ideology that has zero compassion, zero constraint and absolute domination in mind.
He simply believed he could con Russia one more time and his coterie of court jesters urged him on. He is a decade or more too late. A century has passed whereby a few leading civilisation states have matured and arrived at an enlightened, independent and resilient position of strength and no slick yankee reeking of snake oil is 'gonna cut a deal'.
“what went wrong with Trump’s attempt to fool Putin”
Years ago I owned & operated a retail store for over a decade. During that time I hired & replaced many front counter people. A number of those I hired were very good “salesmen”. IE: they excelled at bullshit. But, over time, I came to see that bullshitters were “good” with customers but never learned the product. Because, as children, they had learned a lesson that would set the stage for the rest of their lives: If you can baffle ‘em with bullshit that’s ALL you need. Facts & Figures are for suckers.
Trump, unfortunately, sees himself as a success story. Not only President but Pope too. So whether he or any of his “diplomatic advisors” (written with an attempted straight face) actually understood Russia’s list of non-negotiable conditions is really besides the point because Trump, being Trump, was ALWAYS going to take the shortcut. He was ALWAYS going to jaywalk his way to a Deal. Because to simply agree to Russia’s terms is, necessarily to admit that this has always been an American war and there was no the New King of the World was going to admit to any such thing.
So Trump KNEW that he would sweet talk his way to one more deal and Putin would fold like a cheap suit. He was sure of it. Because he’s never done his homework in his entire life and he has no idea that there’s an actual difference between “dealmaking” & diplomacy. Or that Empires in terminal decline seldom become Great Again. Trump is about to be forced to learn the things he knew he’d never need and it’s not going to be pretty. We can only pray that he doesn’t drag the rest of the world down with him...
I think this is a bit of an over-generalization concerning Trump's success. I think he has had to know his products and the industries he has been involved in very well, including the people with whom he has had to deal. Bullshitting can get you so far but you need more knowledge and skill than that to sustain success.
That said, I agree with you about the difference between dealmaking and diplomacy. I had hoped Trump 1 would have had the effect of tempering his actions and attitudes and broadening his considerations the second time around. It seems like it has done the opposite.
I think JM is correct on his analysis of the competency and capacity of the advisors to Trump on all these issues. Perhaps even more so, I think there must have been a lack of quality advice during the campaign and administration transition as regards Russia, for Trump to make the peace making promises he did. Or were those statements under the assumption that the U.S. had the capability to run the world?
The old saying "Don't have your mouth write a check that your body can't cash" comes to mind. Before promising peace in a week, or a hundred days, or whatever, Trump should have been provided with an understanding of the Russian view of the root causes of the conflict and their base requirements for peace, along with the knowledge that the Russians were (and are) winning this war despite all efforts of the West and the U.S. to punish them and support Ukraine militarily.
SOMEONE should have made him aware that these Russian requirements had not changed and would only become more stringent for peace to occur - the only alternative being full-fledged war between the U.S. and Russia. Alas this did not happen and it seems like it will not happen. Now it may well be too late for brokering any kind of peace.
"For Trump to have negotiated a deal with the Russians would have been incredibly difficult politically"
The only leverage Trump had or has - is that he/US would back, and not veto, a UN resolution that would legally make Crimea and the other 4 Oblasts - Russia Territory - legally recognized Russia - if Russia would stop now - and I imagine Putin was seriously considering this proposal, as it does carry some weight - but there had to be other terms Putin was insistent upon, like No Nato, No Nato forces, No Nazi's, bring the church and russia language and culture back - withdraw the laws against language and culture ---- and that would have been that --- peace
Very simple - and for many perspective - quite reasonable - this criminalizing the Russia language, culture and churches --- what Country does that - pretty much no one.
Unfortunate for Ukraine they could not accept that.
Trump still has this legalized Russia territory card and I understand has been toying with that to Putin -
Oh well, Putin will take Odessa in all likelyhood and Ukraine will ultimately be resolved, they will just continue to lose more and more before they get there.
It is an interesting topic for --- Jeffrey Sachs --- just gave [in my opinion brilliant/incredible] a recitation of China history going back dynaties - this guys brain is amazing the recollection and recitation ability
Simply put where China is today - it just makes sense - it is just that simple , it's not some horror story and in any manner a surprise -
Thank you Mark and that discussion was really evading the issue. Every USA president for the past decades has been a warmonger, some both a warmonger and a perpetrator of crimes against humanity. Trump inherits and perpetuates both and is desperate to avoid a prosecution and judgement at the International Court of Justice. I doubt he will succeed and at that day of judgement the UN will finally rid itself of this blight on humanity.
It is all very well for the trio to examine the entrails but there is no escaping the fact that the greater Israel conquest - from the Euphrates to the sea - is seriously underway. Trump is absolutely on board if not the skipper/pilot of this ship of murderous thugs. He certainly supplies the arsenal and the coercive muscle necessary to get Turkey to play its role in erasing the Syrian State.
So no, Trump is no hapless fool accidently grasping the tar baby. He has a constituency to please or appease as you will and that constituency wants to kill, conquer, and embed its Military conquest in as many nations as possible and equally seeks to annihilate all human opposition. Trump is the leader of a malevolent ideology that has zero compassion, zero constraint and absolute domination in mind.
He simply believed he could con Russia one more time and his coterie of court jesters urged him on. He is a decade or more too late. A century has passed whereby a few leading civilisation states have matured and arrived at an enlightened, independent and resilient position of strength and no slick yankee reeking of snake oil is 'gonna cut a deal'.
I agree that Trump is going into this with full knowledge and that the roots of this go back generations.
Never underestimate the Putin or Russia. Trump has no cards, just a bluff.
If Putin does not want missiles within close striking range, he needs to DISARM NATO.
{1} America Highjacking the Gov in Ukraine then Artillery Shelling the Russian areas of Ukraine.
{2}Sanctions Designed to Collapse Russian Economy,
{3}Blowing up Russian $40 Billion Pipeline which took Years to Complete.
{4}Freezing Russian Assets in International Settlements.
Russia has 4 Acts of War to Justify a Violent Response to All of NATO and America.
So Far the Russian Response has been Measured. Time to Make Amends!
To Quote Popeye, at some point, Ive Had All I Can Stand, and I Cant Stand No More!
Pass the Spinach and the Hypersonic Missiles and Tsunami Torpedoes !
“what went wrong with Trump’s attempt to fool Putin”
Years ago I owned & operated a retail store for over a decade. During that time I hired & replaced many front counter people. A number of those I hired were very good “salesmen”. IE: they excelled at bullshit. But, over time, I came to see that bullshitters were “good” with customers but never learned the product. Because, as children, they had learned a lesson that would set the stage for the rest of their lives: If you can baffle ‘em with bullshit that’s ALL you need. Facts & Figures are for suckers.
Trump, unfortunately, sees himself as a success story. Not only President but Pope too. So whether he or any of his “diplomatic advisors” (written with an attempted straight face) actually understood Russia’s list of non-negotiable conditions is really besides the point because Trump, being Trump, was ALWAYS going to take the shortcut. He was ALWAYS going to jaywalk his way to a Deal. Because to simply agree to Russia’s terms is, necessarily to admit that this has always been an American war and there was no the New King of the World was going to admit to any such thing.
So Trump KNEW that he would sweet talk his way to one more deal and Putin would fold like a cheap suit. He was sure of it. Because he’s never done his homework in his entire life and he has no idea that there’s an actual difference between “dealmaking” & diplomacy. Or that Empires in terminal decline seldom become Great Again. Trump is about to be forced to learn the things he knew he’d never need and it’s not going to be pretty. We can only pray that he doesn’t drag the rest of the world down with him...
I think this is a bit of an over-generalization concerning Trump's success. I think he has had to know his products and the industries he has been involved in very well, including the people with whom he has had to deal. Bullshitting can get you so far but you need more knowledge and skill than that to sustain success.
That said, I agree with you about the difference between dealmaking and diplomacy. I had hoped Trump 1 would have had the effect of tempering his actions and attitudes and broadening his considerations the second time around. It seems like it has done the opposite.
I think JM is correct on his analysis of the competency and capacity of the advisors to Trump on all these issues. Perhaps even more so, I think there must have been a lack of quality advice during the campaign and administration transition as regards Russia, for Trump to make the peace making promises he did. Or were those statements under the assumption that the U.S. had the capability to run the world?
The old saying "Don't have your mouth write a check that your body can't cash" comes to mind. Before promising peace in a week, or a hundred days, or whatever, Trump should have been provided with an understanding of the Russian view of the root causes of the conflict and their base requirements for peace, along with the knowledge that the Russians were (and are) winning this war despite all efforts of the West and the U.S. to punish them and support Ukraine militarily.
SOMEONE should have made him aware that these Russian requirements had not changed and would only become more stringent for peace to occur - the only alternative being full-fledged war between the U.S. and Russia. Alas this did not happen and it seems like it will not happen. Now it may well be too late for brokering any kind of peace.
"For Trump to have negotiated a deal with the Russians would have been incredibly difficult politically"
The only leverage Trump had or has - is that he/US would back, and not veto, a UN resolution that would legally make Crimea and the other 4 Oblasts - Russia Territory - legally recognized Russia - if Russia would stop now - and I imagine Putin was seriously considering this proposal, as it does carry some weight - but there had to be other terms Putin was insistent upon, like No Nato, No Nato forces, No Nazi's, bring the church and russia language and culture back - withdraw the laws against language and culture ---- and that would have been that --- peace
Very simple - and for many perspective - quite reasonable - this criminalizing the Russia language, culture and churches --- what Country does that - pretty much no one.
Unfortunate for Ukraine they could not accept that.
Trump still has this legalized Russia territory card and I understand has been toying with that to Putin -
Oh well, Putin will take Odessa in all likelyhood and Ukraine will ultimately be resolved, they will just continue to lose more and more before they get there.
.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukrainian-drones-have-been-targeting-historic-orthodox-churches-russia
Thank you very much for the reference, Cassander!
.
It is an interesting topic for --- Jeffrey Sachs --- just gave [in my opinion brilliant/incredible] a recitation of China history going back dynaties - this guys brain is amazing the recollection and recitation ability
Simply put where China is today - it just makes sense - it is just that simple , it's not some horror story and in any manner a surprise -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcTLAX8hF7I
I listened to it a 1.75 speed with closed captioning on
so you can read along pretty well
Only take > 10 minutes - well worth the listen IMHO