It\u2019s been awhile since I last shared my thoughts about the state of the union: much has been going on, including a visit by my son and family, continuing renovation at the family fish camp and, of course, lots of tennis leading up to Wimbledon which has just started. It\u2019s times like this when I\u2019m not following the news cycle closely or caught up with the political flavor of the day that I can sit back and think about the big picture. So, it seems appropriate to ask \u201c\u00bfQue Pasa?\u201d or what\u2019s happening? It\u2019s time to look past today\u2019s headlines and try to make some sense of things.<\/p>\n
One thing for sure is that with Trump in office, there will always be chaos, uncertainty and ruthless partisanship. Everything is on the table in addition to the usual economic and political issues. Trump and his supporters are eager to remake American culture and life as they believe it was in the past, whether true or not. Like \u201chail-fellow-well-met\u201d barflies, they stagger forth sanctimoniously spouting their truisms.<\/p>\n
Foreign affairs for Trump and his acolytes are largely a continuation of their domestic politics, reflecting the beliefs and bias of their constituents and looking to the past for guidance regardless of the historical record. Essentially isolationist, reminiscent of the America First Committee that opposed U.S involvement in World War II, Trump\u2019s foreign policy also includes more traditional GOP hawks who supported the recent intervention in the Israeli-Iran conflict. Unfortunately American skepticism about foreign aid, internationalism, and \u201centangling alliances\u201d has not produced a viable foreign policy any more than there is a working plan for domestic politics.<\/p>\n
The truth is that Trump\u2019s government is run by the seat of its pants without consensus building, bipartisanship or well-thought-out partisan plans for even next year. Yes, there have been big headlines, dramatic action and lots of boasting, but, as the saying goes, \u201cshow me the meat.\u201d There really is no solution for immigration on the southern border, only xenophobic abuses; there is no economic and business model, only economic nationalism; there is no resolution of cultural issues, only hatred; and there is no American foreign policy, only jingoism and chest pumping.<\/p>\n
And people are still dying in Gaza, Israel is overstepping its goals, Iran is still a terrorist regime capable of building nuclear weapons, China is becoming stronger and more influential, and Russia, sick man of Europe, continues its aggression towards Western democracies.<\/p>\n
Above all, the Russo-Ukraine War which Trump was going to settle on \u201cDay One\u201d rages on with the loss of life and terrible destruction to Ukraine. Trump has neither the will nor the interest to bring about a realistic settlement and he refuses to acknowledge Russia\u2019s aggression or help Ukraine defend itself.<\/p>\n
Another truth is that Trump weighs all of this as to how it will affect him, his reputation, his well-being, including his delusional belief that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. The recent bombing of Iran is a case in point: Trump joined the fight once he saw Israel\u2019s success. He then made a big deal of taking charge, giving interviews and afterwards boasting about the success without regard for the facts. His courage to break with past policy for which he might have received accolades was quickly perverted by his preoccupation about himself.<\/p>\n
This is what\u2019s happening!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s been awhile since I last shared my thoughts about the state of the union: much has been going on, including a visit by my son and family, continuing renovation at the family fish camp and, of course, lots of tennis leading up to Wimbledon which has just started. It\u2019s times like this when I\u2019m…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n