I woke up this morning, opened my shades to a beautiful, sunny day, flipped on a couple of TV stations to check on what was happening in the world and became instantly depressed. Those of you, who know me, know that I am not one easily affected by depression. With me it’s usually rage. That’s why I started writing this blog. But I look out at a planet, led by a nation that up until about a year and a half ago was led by a continuum of serious men and I see a giant pink baby floundering around in a planet sized playpen filled with various nations, banging them together just to see what will fall off.
The morning is launched by a series of stories, all about our President, the man who is supposed to be leading the free world. But the stories aren’t about world events, unless you want to count those in which the intelligence challanged infant is trashing long term, vital agreements with friendly nations over matters like national security or world trade. What has triumphed on the Trump docket on a day when issues like, nuclear talks with North Korea, the disintegrating Iran Treaty and rifts with our allies over tariffs should, one would think, keep him busy with the important stuff?
Well, let’s see. The continuing attacks on Bob Mueller’s investigation have brought forth statements indicating that if they do come up with a hanging offense, Trump will simply pardon everyone accused, including himself. Don’t ask! If that didn’t whet your interest maybe this little number about how Stormy Daniels doesn’t, in the eyes of the administration, stack up physically or socially with the various women who have decided that for a negligible number of millions, they can, belly up to the orange pig. Or maybe a statement brought to us from Israel, about how with the North Korea Nuclear talks approaching, Kim dropped to his knees and begged us not to pull out?
Really good stuff, right? Really important stuff! All brought to us by the troll that walks like a man, the President’s latest personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Okay, so you can understand why Rudy has a lot to say about Stormy and even Mueller, after all he was hired to be the hatchet man in both those messes. But what the hell is he doing running his fetid mouth about Kim and the North Korea meeting? Where does he get off insulting the leader of a nation with which we are about to enter into nuclear talks? I have often joked about Trump and Kim ending up wrestling on the floor of their conference room, but if anything could truly inspire this it would be Rudy’s idiotic quotes.
So let’s stop for a moment to consider the destruction of this once, somewhat respected, Mayor of NYC and the wretched palpitating heap of sewer matter into which he has evolved.
America’s Mayor! Yes, they actually called him that once. It was in 2001when he was the Mayor of NYC as the planes hit the Twin Towers and he found himself leading the biggest search and rescue mission in the history of the nation. Did he do a good job? Sure. Was he one of the heroes of the conflagration? Of course not! That stature is never shared by the leaders whose job it is to stand back and command their troops. That stature belongs and is given to the guys on the ground that stumble into burning buildings or burrow under piles of rubble to pull out the injured and dying.
But that wasn’t Rudy’s job. The job he had, he did and well. Unfortunately some of us never know when it’s time to get off stage. Rudy has turned into the perfect example.
But Rudy is just one of the clowns that Trump keeps kneeling at his feet for the moment when he needs a joker to stir up trouble. Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro emerged from the chaos of the G7 Meetings blabbering lies and creating false situations that will do nothing to coalesce the nations that for 70 years, have helped each other create, at least in part, a viable world for humans to exist in. One would have thought Trump would have wanted a united G7 behind him as he approached the talks with Kim Jung Un but the more we see him the more we realize that Trump is only interested in chaos and the personal possibilities that may accidently emerge from that imperfect state. Trump definitely needs a win from this meeting with Kim but no matter what the result, he will play it like it was a win. He will claim it as a win and he will celebrate it in winning fashion.
As a comparison to the madness and chaos of the Trump non-function, CBS presented the Tony Awards on Sunday night. It’s amazing that in a world dominated currently by the ignorance and selfishness of the Trump toadies that a universe of such creativity, intelligence, class and human values should exist in such prominence. Bob DeNiro’s crass display aside, the evening was a revelation. There was something for everyone, usually a bad sign, but in this case it was an indication that the Broadway Theatre has expanded its scope to include as its audience the entire world. There was talent and creativity to burn but that’s not what stood out for me. What made it a great night for me was the ability of many who took the stage to make intelligent, emotional, insightful pleas for those values that are so lacking in today’s America. The message was clear. This is still the greatest country in the world but to keep it that way we have to work at it. We have to abandon our petty differences, triumph over our baser instincts and work together to make life better for everyone because if we neglect to make life better for the guy next to us our own lives will suffer for it.
Like many in my generation, I lived with the unrealized terrors of the East coast during WWII. No, the Germans didn’t land U-boats full of trained killers on Coney Island, at least not where my family lived. Growing up in post war America was simple and easy if you didn’t mind large helpings of prejudice with every benefit. But the nation grew and prospered and as it surged to leadership of the free world other things, slowly began to change. From the last expected source available came a civil rights bill, liberal legislators began to shove little pieces of freedom into schools, buses, stores and the oppressive nature of religion began to pull back and accept at least a tiny sliver of change.
Around the world, our government was changing its way of doing things, sometimes even for the good. No, we couldn’t keep our hands off liberal South and Central American governments but we did discover that teaching people in poor countries to feed themselves was way better than bombing them into submission. Well, we almost figured that one out, at least some of the time. I have never understood why it’s such a hard concept for us to understand, but maybe that’s because I just don’t want to admit that most of the turkeys we elect to office don’t really want to make a better world, just a bigger rep for themselves.
But now the big wait is over. The New York Post has declaimed a “HISTORIC” meeting between Trump and Kim. After attacking our allies at the G7, Trump went to Singapore and slobbered all over a viscious dictator who is responsible for murdering hundreds of thousands of his own people. Maybe it will work but as of the end of the meeting it sure hadn’t. Yes, they signed an agreement, four items that amounted to nothing. “At least it’s a beginning,” the true believers say and they could be very right but all the work is still ahead of everyone and considering the nature of the players, it could all explode at any milli-second. Then again it might not.
Kim already has what he wanted. He has conned a meeting with the leader of the free world and it cost him nothing. He doesn’t want to start a war. There is no reward for him in that. He also doesn’t want to give up his nuclear threat. He doesn’t want to become Gaddaffi or Saddam. What he wants is the loosening of sanctions and financial help to build his nation into a real country. The only way he can achieve that is to put everything on slowdown and drag out a de-nuclearization process, that would normally take 15 to 25 years, as far as he can. IN the process he will try to get us to loosen the sanctions as much as he can. That’s the goal, nothing more or less.
Trump has probably been told this by his advisors. He may have even figured it out by himself, but he doesn’t care. All he wants is something hanging over the stage that he can point to and say; “This is more than any other American President has done in 70 years.”
The only thing that attracts Trump to nuclear peace with North Korea is the potential of some benefit to him. He is at the point now where he has already gotten a ton of mileage out of the Dog and Pony show he and Kim have created. He can go back to Washington while Pompeo tries to figure out how to make something functional out of the handshakes and public smiles. Meanwhile his ignorant policies are wreaking havoc with our trading partners and setting the whole world up for another 2007 magnitude crash. That’s the real problem, that and the fact that his slowly growing base thinks he has all the answers and none of the defects.