3/4/20: Remember how Donald J. Trump solved the problem of nuclear weapons in the hands of the North Koreans, by waving his magic wand and repeating three times, “North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat?”
And then clicking his heels.
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The peace
deal with the Taliban looks shaky from the start.
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Well, two developments recently call into question Trump’s magic powers, related to international diplomacy. First, North Korea still has all its nuclear weapons and continues to add to its arsenal. Second, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency warn that Iran has ramped up production of nuclear materials – and now has enough for an atomic bomb.
The New
York Times has produced this handy graph:
Once again, President Trump learns the hard way that
diplomacy is a bitch! He just can’t admit it.
In the same way, the peace deal with the Taliban looks shaky from the start. First, the deal was negotiated without participation of the Afghan government. Kind of like Trump screwed our allies, the Kurds, last fall.
The Afghans say they’re not ready to abide by one of the main principles of the deal, that they will release 5,000 Taliban prisoners currently in custody. (Remember how furious Trump was when Obama worked out an agreement to free a few dozen prisoners at Guantanamo!!!)
As always you have to wonder how much Trump knows about what’s
going on. Yesterday, he told reporters he had talked with the leader of the Taliban by phone. The
first problem was that he had talked to Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy
leader. The second was that you could sense Trump was desperate for a deal
because it’s an election year. He doesn’t care what happens if he pulls
U.S. forces out and Afghanistan goes to hell in a picnic basket, so long as he
wins again in November.
Even more to the point, Trump says what he always says in
such cases. As The New York Times reports:
“I spoke to the leader of the
Taliban today. We had a good conversation,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the
White House, slightly inflating Mr. Baradar’s position.
“They’re looking to get this
ended and we’re looking to get this ended,” Mr. Trump said later in the day. “The
relationship is very good that I have with the mullah [emphasis added].”
Let’s be clear. Trump has NO “relationship” with the mullah, let along one that is “very good.” Just as he has no real relationship with Kim Jong-un. He’s trying to work out deals with our enemies.
These guys aren’t his buds.
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WHILE YOU were stocking up on hand sanitizer and hoping Team Trump knew what it was doing about the spread of COVID-19, Team Trump decided it would be a good time to sue two leading newspapers, The New York Times and the Washington Post, for libel. According to the president’s lawyers, both papers defamed the Orange Fuhrer when they published opinion pieces, saying that Trump and his pals encouraged Russia to help him win the last election and won’t mind helping him win the next.
It’s important to note that the piece in The New York Times was clearly labeled “opinion,” and posited the idea that the Russians had agreed to help Trump in 2016, in return for a change in U.S. foreign policy.
The two pieces in the Post are also prominently labeled “opinion.” One is titled, “Trump: I can win reelection with just my base.” The second warns that the Russians will attack our elections again, and carries the title, “Trump just invited another Russian attack. Mitch McConnell is making one more likely.”
You should be much more worried about Trump’s sustained
attacks on the free press than you are about contracting the coronavirus.
*
THEN AGAIN, Trump has his market mojo back – like Monday – but not Tuesday – or last Friday.
The Dow Jones soared a little more than 1,100 points on Wednesday. Time
for some tangerine-tinted Trump bragging.
BLOGGER’S NOTE (9/25/21): In editing this blog, I
note that my prediction on negotiating with the Taliban was spot on; as for
worrying more about attacks on the free press than contracting the coronavirus,
I got that one wrong.
In fact, my wife and I both got COVID-19.
But attacks on the free press? Yeah, Trump was
then, and remains, eight months out of office, still nuts.
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