At the least, President Trump’s meetings in Europe are going
to be entertaining. Gone are the days when we treated European powers as
America’s equal. Gone are the days of being nice to Angela Merkel, a woman
whose open arms policy has damaged her nation and has hurled the European Union
down the road to perdition.
Trump denounced Merkel for being a captive of Russia. He
denounced her for buying massive amounts of Russian gas while expecting the
United States to guarantee her nation’s security. Trump sees many European
countries as parasites, feeding off American largesse, not doing nearly enough
to contribute to their own defense. Better yet, using the money they do not
spend on defense to fund a generous social safety network, the better to show
how much more virtuous they are.
Of course, Obama was happy to belong to the group. He embraced transatlantic liberal values. He diminished the United States
in order to make all other nations appear to be our equals. Europe loved Obama.
It certainly does not love Trump.
European leaders have taken to lecturing Trump on the
importance of having allies… all the while refusing to act like allies. After all, where would we be without allies like Sweden and the Netherlands?
With the exception of Eastern Europe, the part that is
breaking off over the Muslim migrant issue. While Trump was recently welcomed warmly in Poland, he is going to be greeted by a derisive caricature in Once-Great
Britain.
Bruce Bawer set the terms of the meeting:
When
Donald Trump visited Poland last July, he was greeted with wall-to-wall cheers,
a sea of American flags, and enthusiastic chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” When
he goes to Britain on Thursday, he'll supposedly be welcomed by massive
protests and “a giant 'Trump Baby' balloon” floating in the skies over central
London -- a puerile insult for which Sadiq Khan, that city's Trump-hating
mayor, has approved a permit (even as his police force has refused to allow a pro-Trump rally during the
presidential visit). This in a country where Members of Parliament from all
parties, it will be remembered, argued after his election victory for him to be banned
from the UK.
Theresa May’s government is on the verge of collapse. The
British Prime Minister has shown herself to be singularly inept in negotiating
Brexit. If and when Once-Great Britain exits the European community, it might
need to have some friends on the other side of the Atlantic. In geopolitical terms,
Once-Great Britain is heading toward irrelevance. It ought to cultivate its
alliances. Instead, it has taken to insulting the American president, and, by
definition, America itself. The nation that turned a blind eye to Muslim
grooming gangs in Rotherham should not be lecturing anyone on anything.
Now, as Trump prepares to visit Great Britain, the Queen’s
subjects are hell bent on embarrassing him, and America, by floating a large
blimp, resembling a caricature of Trump in a diaper. The mayor of London, one
Sadiq Khan, a man who gives special meaning to the word pusillanimous, has
granted an approval. On the grounds that it’s free expression.
Piers Morgan has the story:
When President
Trump comes to Britain later this week, a giant 20ft balloon
depicting him as an orange baby in diapers will be flown over the Houses of
Parliament.
It will
be the visual fulcrum for a large scale 'Stop Trump' protest being planned
in London to
welcome the divisive leader of the free world on his official state visit.
Campaigners
crowd-funded their balloon stunt by raising $25,000 online to pay for it. Their
intent is simply to humiliate President Trump in a way that will garner
embarrassing images and headlines around the world.
Yes, indeed. Humiliate America. There, that’s the trick.
Recall that when Trump traveled to Saudi Arabia last May, he was greeted at the
Riyadh airport by King Salman. Recall that portraits of Trump and the monarch
were festooned around Riyadh. Again, some nations feel that it’s worth the
trouble to show respect for the American president. Will the real allies please
stand up.
Speaking for America, Rudy Giuliani responded in kind.
Morgan reports:
‘Sadiq
Khan should be ashamed of himself,' he [Giuliani] raged. 'Maybe he should just
do his job instead of attacking a world leader? Many people who come to London
are Americans. More than half of us in the US now support the President and
even those who don't support him, support his office. I would not like to go to
a country where someone with the authority of a mayor was rallying people
against them. It's highly inappropriate.'
Giuliani,
whose own 'zero tolerance' policies were widely applauded for substantially
reducing violent crime in New York, added: 'He's so busy attacking President
Trump's visit and in the meantime, crime is spiralling in London. If crime is
going up, he is obviously not paying attention to his job. This is one mayor
who can tell him how to reduce crime – you have to pay attention to your job.
From one mayor to another – do your job, Mr Khan.'
To which Morgan adds that Giuliani is right. Under the
mayoralty of the cowardly Khan, London crime has skyrocketed.
Knife
attacks have soared by 21%, shooting incidents by 23%, street robberies by 33%,
motorbike robberies by 50% and murders by 44%.
There
have been over 80 murders so far in 2018, and in the months of February and
March the city's murder rate exceeded that of New York.
So many
believe Mayor Khan has been an absolute disaster when it comes to keeping
Londoners safe and he should be focusing on THAT rather than approving stupid
balloon stunts designed to embarrass America's president.
What does Piers Morgan think of the balloon stunt?
My own
opinion about the balloon is that it's a pathetically puerile stunt that makes
Britain look woefully petty, small-minded and gratuitously offensive.
Of
course, the protestors will argue that nobody is pettier, and more small-minded
or gratuitously offensive than Trump himself.
But
fighting childishness with worse childishness is usually a zero sum game – even
for a child.
Whether
you love or loathe Trump, for Britain to be greeting the leader of the United
States of America, its greatest ally, in this way is appallingly disrespectful.
Americans
are by far the largest group of tourist visitors to the UK, with more than 3.8
million travelling across the Atlantic last year, pumping billions into
Britain's economy.
The two
countries also enjoy reciprocal trade worth several hundred billion dollars.
And of
course, they have fought shoulder-to-shoulder in almost every modern military
conflict.
So for
a senior British politician to sanction such an openly insulting sneer at
America's president is beyond embarrassing.
Disrespectful and beyond embarrassing. it looks as though Once-Great Britain is consigning itself to the ranks of the also-ran. It is increasingly removing itself from big nation balance of powers diplomacy.
Morgan continues:
This
balloon farce comes as Britain teeters on the brink of political meltdown over
its decision to leave the European Union.
Trump,
an enthusiastic supporter of Brexit – in direct contrast to Obama, who said
Britain would go to 'the back of the queue' for a trade deal with America if we
voted to leave the EU – has repeatedly said he is keen to do a great new trade
deal with the UK once it actually happens.
Britain
desperately needs that deal to happen.
So
ridiculing the man who can make that happen when he flies over to discuss such
a deal seems a perverse act of self-harm.
Shame
on you, Mayor Khan.
Don’t the small minded leaders of Once-Great Britain
understand that they are weak? Don’t they understand that they might need
America’s support at some point in the future? Do you think these petulant gestures
are going to ensure that American public opinion will rally to the British
cause? Somewhere, someone is not thinking.
Does this not sound vaguely familiar? There was a president who basically received the same kind of disrespect. He eventually broke the USSR. Interesting is it not and the Europeans are/were wrong then as now.
ReplyDeleteThe Resistance is fighting back and crowdfunding for a Baby Sadiq Balloon. The Sadiq Balloon will be gigantic.
ReplyDelete"In light of the Donald Trump 'Baby Trump' ballon being allowed to fly over London during his visit to the U.K., let's get a 'baby Khan' one and see if FREE SPEECH applies to all and whether or not Mr Khan and the London assembly will also approve this.
Under Sadiq Khan, we have seen crime sky rocket to unprecedented levels. People in London don't feel safe and they aren't safe, 81 murders this year alone! Khan Out."
http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/giant-sadiq-khan-baby-balloon-to-fly-over-london
I read elsewhere this morning that May seems to be working for Brexit-ExtraLite. As in,
ReplyDelete"in-name only". Here: http://victorygirlsblog.com/teresa-mays-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-brexit-day-video/
I'm wondering what Ares' take on this is.
ReplyDeleteWhat else can Theresa May screw up?
ReplyDeleteStuart: Yes, indeed. Humiliate America. There, that’s the trick.
ReplyDeleteIndeed yes! What a beautiful baby Trump balloon. We have elections coming up. The people who voted for Trump, they should be embarrassed about their vote, and maybe not even bother voting in November, or they can switch sides and redeem themselves. And those who see Trump as en embarrassment hopefully will vote his sycophantic party of embarrassment out of the majority.
IAC: You got your answer today!
ReplyDeleteAO: I voted for Trump. I am delighted with my vote. I will vote in November. I will not switch sides. I guess I just remain an irredeemable deplorable. AO, you've been spending quite a lot of time typing your election predictions again. Be cautious. Your success rate wasn't good in November 2016. You've been pining for the end of the Republican Congress. The Democrat Congress gave us ObamaCare. You, sir, are the embarrassment. You imagine yourself witty and wise, while chasing balloons, tilting at windmills. Your snobby rage is amusing. You're humiliating yourself. Enjoy voting for Hillary in 2020.
ReplyDeleteAnd AO, did you once consider that Sam was being sarcastic? We'd all benefit from your exit.
ReplyDeleteAnon, such self-pity, and wearing it with pride. I certainly accept the possibility the Democrats won't help themselves and Trump and Company will get a full 4 years and maybe another 4, who knows? Really I don't believe the global economy will keep humming even to 2020, while perhaps our sovereign debt will keep us going with another 12 trillion in debt by 2024. That's my self-pity speaking, and cynicism, if I really believed any of it would be repaid.
ReplyDeleteAnd my Minnesota Republican candidates for Senate are asking for money so they can help Trump overturn Roe v. Wade, and they seem very confident, turning Minnesota Red. Anything can happen for true believers, or candidates who know they're going to lose anyway, so they might as well cash in from other true believers.
When Republicans are in power, AO cares about debt.
ReplyDelete