6/11/18: I think we can all agree that
the G-7 summit in Canada did not end particularly well.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Robert D. Hormats,
a veteran of both Republican and Democratic administrations, who served as an
adviser at a dozen G-7 gatherings in years past. “The irony is this institution
that was designed largely by the United States was really designed to shore up
alliances and political relationships and resolve economic issues. This just
served to do the opposite of that.”
“A
pathetic little man-child.”
Prime Minister Trudeau has made it clear he does not
appreciate the U.S. instituting tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum on the
pretext that such imports represent a “security threat.”
It is true. The U.S. would want a healthy steel and aluminum
industry in case of war. This blogger is a former history teacher.
He can see that point.
Nevertheless, you can see, if you’re not a Trump-loving dope,
why this position might irk the Canadians:
1. Canadian
air units are assisting the U.S. in the battle against ISIS in Syria right now.
2. Canada
was the first NATO signatory to invoke Article 5, and come to our aid after the attacks on
9/11.
3. 40,000
Canadians fought by our side in Afghanistan; casualties
totaled 158 killed, 635 wounded.
4. Canadian
soldiers, sailors and air personnel joined us in the First Gulf War.
5. Canadian
forces fought alongside us during the Korea War.
6. Canadians
were on the same side in World War I.
7. Canadians
were on the same side in World War II.
And:
8. The
President of the United States is a giant ass hat.
The reaction of our closest allies after being slapped with
tariffs is negative in the extreme. Roland Paris, a former adviser to Trudeau,
drops all diplomatic niceties and mocks Trump. “Big tough guy once he’s back on
his airplane,” Paris tweets. “Can’t do it [insult Trudeau] in person, and knows
it, which makes him feel weak. So he projects these feelings onto Trudeau and
then lashes out at him. You don’t need to be Freud. He’s a pathetic little
man-child.”
It’s not just Canadians who express disgust. “International
cooperation can’t depend on anger and small words,” a statement from the French
reads. “Let’s be serious and worthy of our people.”
The German foreign minister describes the results of the G-7
in blunt language. “It’s actually not a real surprise. We have seen this with
[Trump on] the climate agreement or the Iran deal. In a matter of seconds, you
can destroy trust with 280 twitter characters [emphasis added, unless
otherwise noted]. To build that up again will take much longer.”
Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor is clearly unhappy. “We won’t
allow ourselves to be had again and again,” she says of trying to work with
the mercurial U.S. leader. “The withdrawal, so to speak, via tweet,” from a
carefully-crafted agreement on principle was “sobering and a bit depressing.”
A picture from the summit, showing Merkel and Trump in a
less-than-friendly pose, quickly goes viral. This leads to further mockery of
Trump. The Evening-Standard, a
British paper, posts some of the best humor:
…and this…
An editorial titled “A Group of Seven Fiasco in Canada”
quickly appears in the Japan
Times. Here are some of the main points:
If U.S. President Donald Trump’s
objective is to make himself the center of attention at every international
event, he is succeeding. If he aims to undermine the legitimacy of
international institutions, he is making progress. If, however, he seeks to
make America great again, his actions are working at cross purposes to his
goal….
Trump…held a solo news
conference when he departed at which he charged that his country was “the piggy
bank that everyone was robbing. And that ends.”
It goes without saying that accusing your friends of
“robbing” you for years is no winning strategy in the eyes of the British,
French, Germans, Italians, Japanese or Canadians.
The editorial continues:
Picking fights with friends is
not making America great again. Rather, it
is weakening the foundation of
American power, a development that none of its allies and partners wish to
see. It is also helping governments
that prefer a world that is ruled by raw power and indifference to the
aspirations to democracy and the dignity of its inhabitants.
As for letting Russia rejoin the G-7, our allies are aghast. Peter
Westmacott, former British ambassador to the U.S., openly questions the
president’s approach. “Trump is readier to give a pass to countries that pose a real threat to Western values and
security than to America’s traditional allies. If there is a ‘method to
the madness’…it is currently well hidden.”
Not even Dan Coats, Trump’s pick for Director of National
Intelligence, is onboard. At a conference in France, Coats lists a series of
recent actions inimical to Western nations, taken by Russia:
These Russian actions are
purposeful and premeditated and they represent an all-out assault by Vladimir
Putin on the rule of law, Western
ideals and democratic norms.
His actions demonstrate that he
seeks to sow divisions within and between those in the West who adhere to
democratic norms. The Russians are actively
seeking to divide our alliance and we must not allow that to happen.
So – if Putin is following news out of Canada – he will
surely be satisfied with his decision to help Trump win the 2016 election.
Putin ♥’s Trump.
*
WE ALSO LEARN TODAY that the president has a habit of ripping
up documents after he reads them. This is a legal problem because the
Presidential Records Act requires that all papers read or touched by the Chief
Executive must be preserved. Naturally, aides have tried to break the president
of his habit.
Just as naturally, he refuses to listen.
Earning
his $65,969, taping shredded paper back together.
Solomon Lartley, a nearly 30-year veteran in the records
management office, tells reporters that he
spends most days, earning his $65,969, taping shredded paper back
together.
Reginald Young Jr., “a senior records management analyst” tells reporters for Politico
that in more than two decades of government service, he has never been asked to
do anything like this. “I’m looking at my director, and saying, ‘Are you guys
serious?’ We’re making more than $60,000 a year,” Young explains. “We need to
be doing far more important things than this. It felt like the lowest form of
work you can take on without having to empty the trash cans.”
And that’s how Donald Trump wastes almost $130,000 in
taxpayer money annually, if not more.
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