To Avoid Fighting Large Conflicts Trump Is Creating Smaller Ones
Yesterday, during a media event, president-elect Donald Trump held one of his typical ramblings (video, transcript) which jump from issue to issue without any connecting lines.
It was mostly about his plans for his upcoming reign. He promised more tax relief for the rich, repelling environmental regulations and an increase in oil and gas production.
But what caught the minds of most observers were his ideas on foreign policy.
Trump is rejecting to further raise conflicts with the most obvious 'enemies' - Russia, China and Iran. He is instead diverting the public by providing new targets - Canada, Greenland and Panama.
Trump said that he understood the position of Russia with regards to NATO membership of Ukraine. He thus seems to be genuinely intended to end that conflict:
We're going to have to settle some big problems that are going on right now. We're going to have to settle up with Russia, Ukraine -- that's a disaster. I look at numbers every week. ... So, we'll have to get that one straightened out too. That's a tough one, much tougher than it would have been before it started, I can tell you that.
and:
So, you know, a big part of the problem was Russia for many, many years, long before Putin, said, you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. Now they've said that -- that's been like written in stone. And somewhere along the line Biden said no, they should be able to join NATO. Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep and I could understand their feeling about that.But there were a lot of mistakes made in that negotiation. And when I heard the way that Biden was negotiating, I said you're going to end up in a war and it turned out to be a very bad war. And it could escalate -- that war could escalate to be much worse than it is right now.
Well, my view is that it was always understood. In fact, I believe that they had a deal and then Biden broke it. They had a deal which would have been a satisfactory deal to Ukraine and everybody else. But that Biden said, no, you have to be able to join NATO.
He goes on to pressure NATO countries to pay more money to the U.S. weapon industry. But it does not feel like he is willing to do a deal - more money in exchange for continuing the war in Ukraine. It is just his usual way of pressuring allies.
Trump is then asked when he will meet Putin:
Well, I can't tell you that, but I know that Putin would like to meet. I don't think it's appropriate that I meet until after the 20th, which I hate because every day people are being -- many, many young people are being killed, soldiers. You know, the land is very flat and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from each -- many hundreds of thousands from each side are dead and they're laying in fields all over the place, nobody to even collect, there's landmines all over, it's a disaster.
...
I hope to have -- six months. ... No, I would think -- I hope long before six months. Look, Russia is losing a lot of young people and so is Ukraine and it should have never been started. That's a war that should have never happened. I guarantee you, if I were president that war would have never happened.
Continuing that war seems to be really off the table for Trump - at least for now. That he is openly recognizing Russia's strategic concern - Ukraine in NATO - gives me some hope that he will find a way to solve the conflict.
During his talk Trump did not mention China at all even as a main competitor or even an 'enemy'. China only comes up in the context of the Panama canal (more on that below.)
Trump also rejected to talk about Iran:
Q: The last time you were here, you were asked a question about the US possibly launching a preemptive strike on Iran. You said you wouldn't answer that question.Trump: And I said I don't talk about -- it's a military strategy. ... Look, it's a military strategy and I'm not answering your questions on military strategy. All right. One more. Brian, go ahead. Brian.
Trump has thereby rejected the three potential conflicts, with Russia, China and Iran, that were long leading the headlines. He likely perceives that there is nothing to win in these.
But as he has to provide some fodder for the media as well as for his MAGA followers he is instead coming up with new conflicts which might even turn out to be winnable.
Why not take Canada and integrate it into the U.S. itself? Let's take Greenland from Denmark to better position the U.S. in the Arctic - or recapture the Panama Canal:
The Panama Canal is a disgrace, what took place at the Panama Canal. Jimmy Carter gave it to them for $1 and they were supposed to treat us well.
...
We gave it away for a dollar, but the deal was that they have to treat us fairly. They don't treat us fairly. They charge more for our ships than they charge for ships of other countries. They charge more for our navy than they charge for navies of other countries.They laugh at us because they think we're stupid, but we're not stupid anymore. So the Panama Canal is under discussion with them right now. They violated every aspect of the agreement and they've morally violated it also. And they want our help because it's leaking and not in good repair and they want us to give $3 billion to help fix it. I said, well, why don't you get the money from China, because China is basically taking it over.
China is at both ends of the Panama Canal. China is running the Panama Canal and they come to see this Biden, this guy who should never have been allowed even to run for president. Of course, she shouldn't have either because that never happened. I had to beat two people, not one. But they want $3 billion to fix the Panama Canal that's run by China and makes a lot of money, China.
One of the most profitable structures ever built, because you have ships lined up back to Florida, frankly, and they just keep going through. And the numbers are staggering $0.5 million to $1 million a ship. And they took it away from us, meaning we gave it to him for a dollar, but not going to happen. What they've done to us, they've charged us -- they've overcharged our ships, overcharged our navy and then when they need repair money, they come to the United States to put it up, we get nothing.
Most of Trump's claims are false. The charges to pass the canal depend on a ship's size, not on its nationality. China isn't running the canal but has rented port space on each side of it. The biggest problem with the canal is the lack of freshwater needed to run it. It is restricting the numbers of ships that can pass through.
But anyway - like ready made conflicts over Canada and Greenland it is a great theme to divert attention from other conflicts.
It reminds of Ronald Reagan who created minor conflicts, like in Grenada, to be free to make deals with the Soviet 'evil empire' Union.
As Gilbert Doctorow remarks:
The logic I see is that a bellicose stand on produced-to-order conflicts that can be solved at little cost to Washington, the proverbial kicking ass that Ronald Reagan practiced to great effect, is intended to provide cover for what otherwise would look like a humiliating defeat for Washington should it cut military aid to Kiev and stand by passively while the Kremlin imposes capitulation on the Zelensky regime.
Dean Baker is making a similar, but larger point:
Dean Baker @DeanBaker13 - 18:31 UTC · Jan 7, 2025Trump's pretty clever, he decided that it would be too difficult to confront ostensible U.S. enemies like Russia, China, or North Korea so he's decided to confront allies like Denmark and Canada. It's very MAGA!
Trump wants to avoid the larger potential conflicts as they are too difficult to manage and win. He is instead creating his own small conflicts right next to the U.S. backyard.
It is a nice trick and it may even see some success.
Panama will probably agree to some canal rebates or to a priority for U.S. ships. Canada may concede on trade issues. And the EU, which didn't even protest when the U.S. blew up its main energy supply, may well hand over Greenland without even making a fuzz about it.
All three potential wins which would be welcome by MAGA.
Posted by b on January 8, 2025 at 14:31 UTC | Permalink
next page »Well, very interesting words from Trump. One can hope he can bring some sanity to the FUKUS group and bring the Ukraine adventure to a close.....hopefully.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 8 2025 14:38 utc | 1
President Trump does not have to "win" on any of these issues. For a variety of reasons, Alberta genuinely hated the Liberal establishment of Canada and would be increasingly minded to escape the carbon tax via separation. Likewise, Panama remembers the lessons of Noriega and isn't likely to repeat them. Trump's true goals are threefold:
1) Make the people claiming to be "Trump whisperers" look like absolute idiots as he reveals his own willpower.
2) Turn panic among NATO allies into a reason to buy American defense products
3) Most importantly, make the rather subtle (!) point that the American military should be used to advance American interests and not Israeli ones. It's why Dong Zhou made his ministers drink wine mixed with human blood: shouldn't they enjoy it if they like war so much?
Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Jan 8 2025 14:42 utc | 2
If the US really were to dump the hohols cold turkey and stand down from the worst aggression against China and the collective Middle East, reverting to the Monroe Doctrine and isolationism as might be implied by this new, easier set of targets for aggression, that still wouldn't be good but it would be a tremendous step in the right direction. No one need feel anything but total contempt for Canada and Denmark.
"And the EU, which didn't even protest when the U.S. blew up its main energy supply, may well hand over Greenland without even making a fuzz about it."
Denmark already surrendered, its prime minister saying, "the people of Greenland will make their own choice about their future." Of course it'll be child's play and cost pennies for the US to purchase victory in a Greenland plebiscite.
Of course there's zero chance the US will do anything but step up its collaboration with the Zionist genocide. That's why the Zionists chose him to be president, to get the most rabid pro-Zionist possible. And I'll believe Trump will wind down the Borderland proxy war when I see it.
Posted by: flying dutchman | Jan 8 2025 14:47 utc | 3
Thanks b for the encouraging update. I still believe that if Trump makes it past Inauguration Day that he will try to shut down the war by May,if not earlier. Keep praying for peace.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 14:51 utc | 4
No mention of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
But then, those deaths are just women & babies, murdered & mostly hidden under rubble that can be bulldozed away. Not soldiers strewn across fields for all to see by satellite.
And all that gas & waterfront property for development...
Posted by: Mary | Jan 8 2025 14:54 utc | 5
Greenland to the USA is realistic.
Find something where Greenland is bashed by Denmark and build protests and a color revolution on it.
Then a referendum of the Greenlandic population on joining ... fits.
Posted by: guest from franconia | Jan 8 2025 14:56 utc | 6
b. makes it sound as if this were a bad outcome?!
The BIG conflicts settled because they are actually unwinnable and should never have been started - of course Trump caused the Iran issue by cutting this country off trade by sanctions, when it was just about to become fully economically integrated with the West again, it left the Mullahs no option but to turn East instead, likely Trump's biggest strategic mistake yet, and there is a chance he regrets it. But shutting down the Ukraine war and not starting a war against China and Iran despite the Deep State's pushing for it, those would be major accomplishments.
Small conflicts created for face saving, and resolved just as easily. The conflict partners will understand and nobody gets hurt.
Again, how is that bad? MAGA is about stopping what's bad for the USA. This looks like a good start. Just not in classical diplomatic language.
Posted by: Matthias | Jan 8 2025 14:59 utc | 7
[email protected] for that.....yes, the forgotten.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 8 2025 14:59 utc | 8
50000 US troops out of Germany and Europe to Greenland would double the population of it! It would be where mass immigration will be required! 😆
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jan 8 2025 15:02 utc | 9
Trump is a bully, and bullies pick on the weakest kids.
The latest on Gaza is that Trump is trying to bully Hamas into a bad deal. Basically, just continuing the polices of Biden/Blinken.
The next four years are going to suck. It is possible that Trump sees the light on Ukraine and is going to put it on the back-burner and just let Ukraine collapse naturally, as nature takes her course. The neocons will scream bloody murder, though, and try to use their control of the US Senate to hamstring him into sending more weapons to madman Zelensky.
Fortunately, Zelensky appears to be at his sell-by date. The latest Kursk blunder probably means the entire Kursk area gets retaken by February.
Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Jan 8 2025 15:04 utc | 10
Posted by: flying dutchman | Jan 8 2025 14:47 utc | 3+
"Of course there's zero chance the US will do anything but step up its collaboration with the Zionist genocide. That's why the Zionists chose him to be president, to get the most rabid pro-Zionist possible. And I'll believe Trump will wind down the Borderland proxy war when I see it."
I'm still holding to my prediction that Trump will have an agreed upon pathway to peace for the Middle East in place by the end of the year. Whatever his motive (compassion for the victims of war, self promotion, pride that he was the one who brought peace, all of the above?) he has never shown any enthusiasm for wars.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 15:09 utc | 11
Again, how is that bad? MAGA is about stopping what's bad for the USA. This looks like a good start. Just not in classical diplomatic language.
Posted by: Matthias | Jan 8 2025 14:59 utc | 8
The trouble is that what's good for the USA is generally at the expense of being not so good for someone else.
You'll excuse those of us who aren't Americans for retaining some scepticism .
Posted by: Red Star | Jan 8 2025 15:11 utc | 12
No mention of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
But then, those deaths are just women & babies, murdered & mostly hidden under rubble that can be bulldozed away. Not soldiers strewn across fields for all to see by satellite.
And all that gas & waterfront property for development...
Posted by: Mary | Jan 8 2025 14:54 utc | 5
=======
Call me a cynic, but Trump has nothing to gain at this point in time (pre-Inauguration) by talking about the Gaza genocide. His best tactic, regardless of what his ultimate aims are, is to stay mum on this topic until he is firmly in the saddle and controls all the reins.
Posted by: Jane | Jan 8 2025 15:14 utc | 13
“Trump is rejecting to further raise conflicts with the most obvious 'enemies' - Russia, China and Iran. He is instead diverting the public by providing new targets - Canada, Greenland and Panama.“
Perhaps slightly more accurately—Trump is rejecting direct conflicts with the most obvious enemies in favor or indirect conflict. The sudden concern over the Arctic is aimed and containment of Russia and the opportunity to place missiles “close” to Russia without having them on continental Europe. And Panama, as Trump himself said, is about China.
Posted by: Gengar | Jan 8 2025 15:16 utc | 14
You'll excuse those of us who aren't Americans for retaining some scepticism .
Posted by: Red Star | Jan 8 2025 15:11 utc | 13
Hell, some of us are Americans, voted Trump twice, & have retained significant skepticism.
Talk is cheap. I'll believe his promises when they happen. Not one second sooner.
And iirc, Zionist Don's "solution" to Palestine was to remove the Palestinian people from their homeland & dump them somewhere else.
Not acceptable.
Posted by: Mary | Jan 8 2025 15:18 utc | 16
It is not Biden who refused the negotiation in 2022 - it was uninvited British pm Johnson who arm twisted Ukraine to wage war on Russia at a time when Ukraine was all ready to negotiate in good faith .
Trump must understand real enemy of USA which is England who plots wars to be executed by American and NATO pasties
Posted by: Sam | Jan 8 2025 15:21 utc | 17
Greenland and Panama low hanging fruits. Greenland with a population of around 56000 could declare independence and join US for an offer of like hundred thousand dollars per person and US passport. Musk could chip in. Better buy than twitter
The trouble is that what's good for the USA is generally at the expense of being not so good for someone else.
You'll excuse those of us who aren't Americans for retaining some scepticism .
Posted by: Red Star | Jan 8 2025 15:11 utc | 13
===============
I spewed my coffee when I read Trump's suggestions re Greenland.
But in the "good for whom?" field, Greenlanders might be glad to get out from under the Danish yoke. It is kind of absurd that tiny Denmark controls gigantic Greenland, but more to the point, there is a long history of overt racism by Danes regarding the indigenous population of Greenland.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/02/1133382
Despite the negative colonial baggage, in the case of a referendum I hope the Greenlanders take plenty of time to consider the benefits of being far removed from one's master!
Posted by: Jane | Jan 8 2025 15:24 utc | 19
Posted by: Red Star | Jan 8 2025 15:11 utc | 13
"The trouble is that what's good for the USA is generally at the expense of being not so good for someone else.
You'll excuse those of us who aren't Americans for retaining some scepticism ."
What is bad in stopping wars in which innocent people are dying? You must be a glass-half-empty kind of person.
Nobody gets everything they want when a deal is made, but when you worry about what's good for the USA and how it affects others you need to remember that the definition has just changed. Biden's definition of good for the USA involves MIC priorities and lots of contracts for weapons sales, and transgendering the rest of the world. Trump's definition of good for the USA seems to be more about business deals that benefit the US.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 15:25 utc | 20
Posted by: Sam | Jan 8 2025 15:21 utc | 18
"It is not Biden who refused the negotiation in 2022 - it was uninvited British pm Johnson who arm twisted Ukraine to wage war on Russia at a time when Ukraine was all ready to negotiate in good faith ."
Are you suggesting that BOJO did it without Biden's knowledge and consent? Of course, I mean the people who were animating the Biden persona.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 15:31 utc | 21
If T-Rump said out loud what his actual intent was, the Old World Order would rub him out in plane view and broad daylight.
It's only natural for T-Rump to be coy and implement a sales pitch that set his advisaries at ease.
The Panama Cannal was part of Columbia until Western multinational corporations instructed their agent in place to send American "Gunboat Diplomacy" down there and take it by force. We stole it once and called it so American that John McCain was born there and also born a native American. So I don't see why we wouldn't steal it again.
As for Greenland. The few people living in Greenland do not like Danmark and do like the US and will do backflips to become part of America, and there is nothing Denmark can do about it other than complain.
On an unrelated side note: Did you know Donald Trumps father's brother, a gentleman mad scientist named George Trump was "the father of American radar" and considered to be the person to have contributed most to America's victory over Japan? George Trump used to use particle beams to cut up slugs like you might have used a magnifying glass to burn ants. But here's the good part; when Nicoli Tesla died, the US Government sent George Trump to confiscate all of Teslas papers and gadgets and experimental devices! The one person who would most likely have known about the orbs and drones seen lately, and back in George Trumps time were well documented but called "foo fighters" back then is Donald T-Rumps uncle!
Have a nice days
Posted by: Hot Carl | Jan 8 2025 15:32 utc | 22
The only countries that america won't bomb and rape are israel; the tax paradises and island retreats where the rich jews live; and the control centers like Switzerland.
Posted by: Jack M | Jan 8 2025 15:36 utc | 23
It seems that most people who believe that Trump will end the war in Ukraine are operating on blind faith and take Trump at words uttered during a political campaign!
Few are talking about the origins of RussiaGate and Ukrainian involvement in it, which may have caused Trump to harbor a grudge against Ukraine and prompt a settlement on less than favorable terms.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/ukraine-sabotage-trump-backfire-233446
Posted by: JohnH | Jan 8 2025 15:36 utc | 24
It reminds of Ronald Reagan who created minor conflicts, like in Grenada, to be free to make deals with the Soviet 'evil empire' Union.
Posted by b on January 8, 2025 at 14:31 UTC | Permalink
Read the title and thought right away "Granada worked well for regan"
But that was already 6 years after vietnam, would expect something closer to 2027 as kabul was only in 2021
That brought to mind how the us used afghanistan to bait the ussr while they were licking their wounds
The other day I was thinking that the us have a way of keeping things going for 20 years and losing (vietnam, iraq, afghanistan) while russia usually wins or loses in 10 (afganistan, chechen wars, syria).
As for more, let me read the full transcript (or hear the video)
Posted by: Newbie | Jan 8 2025 15:40 utc | 25
I leave here a link to the latest interview of Emmanuel Todd (in French) which is really worth to be seen.
He think that Trump will not be remembered as the strong winner of an election, but the president which had to admit the US defeat in the conflict with Russia, and to avoid recognizing this defeat, western oligarchy might be tempted to double down.
He think only Germany is having the industrial capacity to do this, but if this is how things are going to turn out, then the Russians remembering WW2 will be ruthless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTz0gnOM3NM
Posted by: w | Jan 8 2025 15:41 utc | 26
[email protected] Gate had nothing to do with Russia or the Ukraine. It was concocted in Whitehall. Passed through the proper channels then bought by Hillery Clinton who handed it off to attendant media....if Trump has an issue, oh, and he knows it, it's with the Brits.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 8 2025 15:43 utc | 27
The only countries that america won't bomb and rape are israel; the tax paradises and island retreats where the rich jews live; and the control centers like Switzerland.
Posted by: Jack M | Jan 8 2025 15:36 utc | 24
Panama 1989?
Posted by: Newbie | Jan 8 2025 15:44 utc | 28
In this context, I would like to note that in troubled times like these, such great leaders as Comrade Stalin know what to do.
Posted by: guest from franconia | Jan 8 2025 15:45 utc | 29
As I pointed out in the previous thread, the last US land purchase was from Denmark, which is today the US Virgin Islands. Denmark wasn't doing anything with them, and they were a drain financially. Denmark needed the money due to WWI.
A simple purchase for Greenland will be in the works, or a large 100 year very cheap lease.
The Panama canal is NOT running out of fresh water. In 2023 it was, due to less than normal rainfall due to El Nino. That rainfall has been restored.
The fact is that there are now 2 sets of locks on either end (completed 2018) that doubled the shipping capacity, and require more water to operate. That makes years with less rainfall more critical than before. The new locks use 50% less water than the old ones, and the old locks need to be updated and expanded to the same system (along with new doors and controls) to guard against low rainfall again.
Does Panama have the funds to do that? Who would loan it to them? While the locks are being updated, shipping will decrease. For how long? That is where the "war" will be waged, bank loans and guarantees. (Note that Panama used a Chinese company to build their new cruise terminal port, with the design being done in Europe. Unfortunately for them, it was waylaid by COVID, and took 2 extra years to complete.
The alternative is of course to build a whole new canal, in Nicaragua. That was the preferred site by the US due to the French initial Panama (read Columbia) failure. The amount of material needed to be removed and reprocessed is not a huge obstacle today as it was in 1912. The leverage with Panama is to simply build a competitor. In fact it could be argued that both are required in the current market.
Posted by: BroncoBilly | Jan 8 2025 15:46 utc | 30
Oops sorry, I posted this on the previous thread, its place is here.
Greenland and Spain have something in common, not the weather of course but a Broken Arrow incident that almost wipes half our countries away, the same story, four thermonuclear bombs, B52 aircraft crashing and the conventional explosives of the thermonuclear bombs exploding, therefore rupturing the bombs and contaminating the soil with plutonium. Up till today, in what concerns the Palomares Broken Arrow incident, there are restricted areas contaminated and the US kicking the can, not cleaning nor properly compensating damages, never mind what would have happened if the reactive part of the bombs would have exploded, Madrid would be on the Mediterranean shore. So Greenlanders and Eurocrats, learn the lesson, man up and ask the occupier to leave, Putin can give us a hand if asked, Eurasia is it, the yankee is naked and the spectacle to behold c'est affreux. For more info; Thule, Palomares, Broken Arrow.
Posted by: Paco | Jan 8 2025 15:38 utc | 162
Posted by: Paco | Jan 8 2025 15:47 utc | 31
So, is colonialism going to end or not?
What does RoW think about this?
Is Brazil going to agree to become part of the fortress America empire zone? Maybe all of South America might be too big to bite off....
The shit show continues until it doesn't
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 8 2025 15:48 utc | 32
Hot [email protected] legends are great, but Tesla sent his most major work and papers to the University of Belgrade in the late 30s. He already knew, due to the lack of enforcement and outright theft of his patents and copyrights, that upon death his work would fall into the wrong hands. Most or all of his work was removed by the Soviets post WW2....anything the US got would have been mainly open source as after the outright thefts of his patents, he stopped filing them and just began giving away his ideas....dude was something else. A true Star Child.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 8 2025 15:52 utc | 33
Call me a cynic, but Trump has nothing to gain at this point in time (pre-Inauguration) by talking about the Gaza genocide. His best tactic, regardless of what his ultimate aims are, is to stay mum on this topic until he is firmly in the saddle and controls all the reins.
Posted by: Jane | Jan 8 2025 15:14 utc | 14
=============
Correction: Re Gaza, although Trump has not to my knowledge said anything about the genocide, he has made threatening noises to the effect that Hamas had better free the hostages by his Inauguration . . . or else . . . Or else, what?
This seems stupid to me. If Hamas ignores Trump until the inauguration it would seem to make Trump look silly.
What is Trump going to do on Day 1? Give Israel more bombs to drop on Gaza?
Yawn
That just makes Trump look ineffectual and lacking in ideas.
Maybe the Hamas threat is more theater to throw some read meat to domestic and foreign Zionists.
Posted by: Jane | Jan 8 2025 15:57 utc | 34
Posted by: JohnH | Jan 8 2025 15:36 utc | 25
"Few are talking about the origins of RussiaGate and Ukrainian involvement in it, which may have caused Trump to harbor a grudge against Ukraine and prompt a settlement on less than favorable terms."
So you think we haven't given Ukraine enough, maybe we owe them more?
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 16:02 utc | 35
Well I watched the press conference. First Drumpff video I seen for many years!
Why? To see his performance. It’s quite impressive compared to Biden and the EUrocrat muppets, not quite upto VVP/Lavrov levels of multi hour Q+A’s. It seems largely unscripted.
He looks a little tired (unsurprising), he looks a bit gaunt (on a diet and exercise regime); he concentrates on hearing questions and answers immediately (well prepped). He has stopped gurning and he is not backing down on the state apparatus that was deployed against him ( FBI and DoJ amongst others ).
Gaza? Hamas to release hostages by inauguration!
Looks like he is happy to toss the hot potato of Syria into Erdo’s lap
That means that the illegal apartheid entity is not being given a free hand in its metastasis through the region, maybe. I’m not holding out more hope than that. We’ll soon see.
T minus 12
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jan 8 2025 16:07 utc | 36
Greenland with a population of around 56000 could declare independence and join US for an offer of like hundred thousand dollars per person and US passport. Musk could chip in. Better buy than twitter
Posted by: Michael J | Jan 8 2025 15:21 utc | 19
_______
$100K in exchange for environmental devastation. Sounds like a great deal.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2025 16:08 utc | 37
And rump doubles down on what I already mentioned in the previous conference
"... and the soldiers are killing each other at levels that haven't been seen since the Second World War."
Korea had 1.2-1.5 million soldiers killed (and close to that in maimed), maybe vietnam was in the same level.
So ... when I mention 250k kia for RF and 1.5 million for AFU kia, seems like I might be right.
Posted by: Newbie | Jan 8 2025 16:12 utc | 38
I imagine Trump’s plan for Gaza entails Trump-themed resorts built atop the ruins and corpses, with son-in-law Jared assisting in the planning and execution.
By the way, curious nobody is talking about Venezuela here.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2025 16:14 utc | 39
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2025 16:08 utc | 39
.
.
.
I hate to say it...but who really cares about the environment?
In Germany, for example, the Greens, with their bans and abolition of nuclear power plants and constant bans and whining AND embarrassments in the world...
have ensured that the topic of climate and the environment really pisses off the masses.
So...you can exaggerate it, especially with lies...in order to then buy billions of cm2 of freaking gas...the MB isn't that stupid...
Germany, for example, has turned into the biggest polluter in Europe by shutting down nuclear power plants and relying on gas and coal-fired power plants...despite the Greens in government....
AND NOBODY CARES...But the mob is supposed to buy electric cars...electric cars in a country with the highest electricity prices in the world...
And wonder why it doesn't work...
Greetings to the sand seller in the desert.
Posted by: ossi | Jan 8 2025 16:17 utc | 40
Quote
"Trump is unlikely to have a full term."
In other words, the Deep State psychos will assassinate him.
Sadly, that's probably true. I wonder how the American people will take that?
Posted by: William Gruff | "
Correct.
All the people and high politicians of USA who were not British vassal, were killed like Abraham Lincoln by British supported confederacy sympathiser, Irish John f.kennedy, etc
English pirates dislike trump because he is not too much supportive of funding Nato-an organisation created by British to bully Europe on back of American arms and moneyAll the people and high politicians of USA who were not British vassal, were killed like Abraham Lincoln by British supported confederacy sympathiser, Irish John f.kennedy, etc
English pirates dislike trump because he is not too much supportive of funding Nato-an organisation created by British to bully Europe on back of American arms and money
Posted by: Sam | Jan 8 2025 16:18 utc | 41
What did Trump accomplish in foreign policy last time around?
1. He installed large tariffs against China's exports to the US. The costs were absorbed by consumers and China wept crocodile tears all the way to the bank.
2. He withdrew from a nuclear treaty with Iran, applied more economic sanctions against Iran, and assassinated an Iranian general.
3. He applied further economic sanctions against Venezuela and Nicaragua, hurting the lives of Venezuelans and Nicaraguans but effecting no political change in either country.
4. He sent lots of weapons to Ukraine, helping it build up its army in advance of the late-2021 Donbas crisis that precipitated the Russian SMO in 2022.
5. He coordinated the "Abraham Accords" between Israel and Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, and the UAE, allowing diplomatic and trade relations between those countries and Israel.
In sum, he supported Israel, as expected. He aided Ukraine, damaging relations with Russia. He damaged relations with China, Iran, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Trump's bluster about Panama and Greenland and Canada is just him trolling for attention and basking in having the White House as his mansion. It's his way of saying to the media, "I can control your attention. I can make silly, absurd proposals and you'll analyze them as if they were substantial." And of course, he likes to speak as if everything in the world were transactional. Perhaps next week he'll offer to buy New Zealand.
With Trump, you can only believe what he actually does. His past behavior is the best predictor for his future behavior. So here's a prediction:
He will further damage economic relations with China, and will apply his "maximum pressure" sanctions against Iran, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. He will support Israel to the hilt in whatever madness Netanyahu & crew engage. And he will continue the current military madness in Ukraine, because at the end of the day his foreign policy will be just as neoconservative as Biden's.
Because, while the outward manifestations may vary, the essence of American foreign policy is to maintain (and if possible, extend) the hegemony of the American Empire. No policy will be allowed that goes against that. Because without its empire, America will crash and burn.
And by the same token, US foreign policy will continue to galvanize BRICS and other global movements to cast off the yoke of empire.
Posted by: Clever Dog | Jan 8 2025 16:19 utc | 42
Declining Empires are wise not to overextend. IMO, Trump has an idea of the resistance he'll face in trying to solve Ukraine since the only way out is to agree with Russian demands and Congress will have none of that. Furthermore, the Empire needs to shrink to a size it can fiscally support, although that need flies in the face of Deep State geopolitical plans. Alberta's massive bitumen resources one sees on paper are a chimera when one looks at the amount that can actually be mined as to make it semi-liquid and refinable scarce water and scarcer natural gas must be added. Greenland would be an economic sinkhole as would Panama.
Trump's biggest challenge is what to do to improve life at home, and not just for the top 10%, and IMO that's how the populace will judge his efforts and those of Congress. IMO, they have 16-18 months to show tangible results.
Till Trump can identify the Neocons, he's just grabbing at straws to understand. He still has yet to identify Dick Cheney's foreign policy team, blind ignorance won't save us
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 16:21 utc | 44
I'm looking forward to the day that he casts a beady eye over all of those tiny Caribbean islands and decides that the US needs them for their 'national security' - that would crinkle a few sphincters at Davos for sure.
Posted by: ChatNPC | Jan 8 2025 16:21 utc | 45
Posted by: Sam | Jan 8 2025 16:17 utc | 41
Russia should help Iran and Yemen to sink some UK and US ships. It's crazy that Nato didn't pay with a single sunk ship yet. Although yes, the Houthis drove off several US carriers but no warships actually sunk. The capability is there.
Posted by: unimperator | Jan 8 2025 16:21 utc | 46
B, this is your most gullible piece. The neocons will create a problem Trump will have to react to. He doesn't even know who they are
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 16:28 utc | 47
I suppose world realty auction beats global arms expo (somewhere near you), and has an old tradition pre-modern sense.
Ukraine must be settled and was not Trump's war anyway, his focus will be on rearranging the near east. EU could not look any dumber than already so no loss there for it, just some disapointment for some ultra, but a new territory fast tracked into the 'union' is already a victory for 'those concerned'.
There is no good reason to enter conflict with China, there it is just a continuous firming or testing of hold on regional allegiances and delimitations.
Trump doesn't have to 'do Iran', his stance has been mostly reserved to selective actions against. "Israel" would be the front used to directly attack normally, drawing in US. So he has no reason to up direct confrontation.
Russia is given justification, the US et al. re-orders the Levant, Hormuz stays open, new fault lines get drawn, a 'moderate Syria' dishes out an arrangement that allows large players face saving. At best. I don't say this is all right or fair, just 'better than' at a larger scale. Others will disagree, too much to disagree with in reality.
Sean+Mary => The forgotten Palestinians.
Posted by: Ornot | Jan 8 2025 16:28 utc | 48
Trump is a bully, and bullies pick on the weakest kids
Ghost of Zanon 10
Perhaps, but my take is that Trump is implicitly recognizing that the unipolar moment has passed and the world has indeed entered a time of shifting multipolarity among regional hegemons.
Posted by: Ciaran | Jan 8 2025 16:29 utc | 49
I hate to say it...but who really cares about the environment?
Posted by: ossi | Jan 8 2025 16:17 utc | 42
______
Well…yeah. Although I guess it remains to be seen whether the Greenlanders are as foolish as your countrymen.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2025 16:34 utc | 50
I hate to say it...but who really cares about the environment?
@ ossi | Jan 8 2025 16:17 utc | 42
"The environment" must be some kind of abstruse abstraction which has nothing to do with the fact my body is entirely speckled with pores, from the epidermis inward, through which molecules and microorganism constantly communicate. People think little electrical pulses of neurology comprising thought are all that matters. People think the things they'd rather not think about, such as innovative long-chain hydrocarbons taking up residence in our livers, will go away with a concerted enough effort to avoid thinking about this "environment" thing. Nothing to do with your beautiful mind. Have another beer before the fire gets here.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jan 8 2025 16:36 utc | 51
Will MSM now reverse the old meme "putin's unprovoked aggression/invasion" ?
We have a us president elect, on record, that understands that ukraine non nato condition was clear, understandable and known, but ignored by the previous executive.
Could zuckberg, just before dropping the fact checking, mark ALL publications using "unprovoked aggression/invasion" as fake? Just asking for a friend :D
Donald Trump 00:34:08-00:34:41 (33 sec)
So, you know, a big part of the problem was Russia for many, many years, long before Putin, said, you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. Now they've said that -- that's been like written in stone. And somewhere along the line Biden said no, they should be able to join NATO. Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep and I could understand their feeling about that.
Donald Trump 00:34:41-00:34:59 (18 sec)
But there were a lot of mistakes made in that negotiation. And when I heard the way that Biden was negotiating, I said you're going to end up in a war and it turned out to be a very bad war. And it could escalate -- that war could escalate to be much worse than it is right now.
Question 00:34:59-00:35:00 (1 sec)
[Inaudible] they can never join NATO.
Donald Trump 00:35:00-00:35:31 (31 sec)
Well, my view is that it was always understood. In fact, I believe that they had a deal and then Biden broke it. They had a deal which would have been a satisfactory deal to Ukraine and everybody else. But that Biden said, no, you have to be able to join NATO. And that's always been, and nobody knows more about NATO than I. You know, years ago when I first started this, I didn't know too much about NATO, but I got it right anyway.
Posted by: Newbie | Jan 8 2025 16:36 utc | 52
Interesting take on syria and turkey, the 2.000 years is a rounding issue but as the ottoman are probably close to the original huns, then close enough, in 395 AD they were there.
The last phrase is a good simple assessment.
Donald Trump 00:40:07-00:40:28 (21 sec)
Well, I won't tell you that because it's part of a military strategy, but I will say it was Turkey. Turkey has been after that country in different names and different forms and shapes for 2,000 years. Those people that went in are from Turkey. And President Erdogan is a friend of mine. He's a guy I like, respect.
Donald Trump 00:40:28-00:40:45 (18 sec)
I think he respects me also. He's the one that didn't go after certain people after I requested that he not. You know who I'm talking about, the Kurds. I don't know how long that's going to -- because they're natural enemies. They hate each other, but he didn't do that yet and he didn't do it in the past also.
Donald Trump 00:40:45-00:41:07 (22 sec)
He started and I said, please don't do that, and he didn't do it. But if you look at what happened with Syria, Russia was weakened. Iran was weakened and he's a very smart guy and he sent his people in there through different forms and different names. And they went in and they took over, and that's the way it is.
Posted by: Newbie | Jan 8 2025 16:45 utc | 53
I knew that Trump's uncle was a scientist because I heard Trump talking about how when he was a little boy his uncle scared the hell out of him by talking about the horrors of nuclear war on human beings.
Trump has obviously never forgotten that. In 2016 he caused a great uproar among the talking heads when he answered a question about the "nuclear triad" by talking about how horrible an effect nuclear weapons have on the humans they are dropped upon, instead of obediently reciting the three parts.
What?! What kind of an answer was that? Hillary would certainly know that the US has three platforms for launching nuclear weapons, which she could recited on demand, and Hillary would never, ever spend two seconds thinking about the humans vaporized by them. Unless she cackled about it, "We came, we saw, they died, hahaha."
Sounds like Trump still isn't living up to the neocon standards. Why does he keep talking about all the needless death in Ukraine? Doesn't he understand that the plan is exactly for Ukraine to be depopulated for Blackrock, et.al.?
I don't think that he will actually attack Panama. The US killed thousands of Panamians, and burned down entire neighborhoods, under George The First, using the excuse that they wanted to arrest the president.
I doubt that Panama would hand over the canal to the US so easily.
Maybe Greenland. Annexing Canada is just him trolling.
Posted by: wagelaborer | Jan 8 2025 16:49 utc | 54
I doubt Trump has rejected 'conflict' with Iran. Coveting Iran's oil and strategic location are US war planners, Trump's, and Israel's goal. Trump is mum about the plans to make Iran another Gaza. No one asked Trump about Venezuela, which he also did not mention. Venezuela will also be a target of Trump's foreign policy aggression. The US is not able to go to war with either Russia or China yet. The next four years will be used to prepare for those goals.
Posted by: Keme | Jan 8 2025 16:51 utc | 55
It is so obvious what the point of the climate change agenda is.
The climate change narrative has been used to destroy the environmental movement. We used to care about air and water pollution, overfished oceans, razed forests, the 6th Mass Extinction, plastic in the oceans and in human bodies, aquifers going dry, topsoil depletion, pesticides and herbicides in our food, hunting of endangered animals, the affect of the military on marine mammals, and so much more.
Now it's All Climate Change, All The Time, and there are fierce arguments about carbon dioxide, while the rest of our planet is ignored.
Since 1996, when Al Gore led the US delegation to the Kyoto Accords, and pushed through turning the planet's ecosystem over to Wall Street, with Cap and Trade, (as well as exemption for the US military from any pollution controls), the destruction of the planet has gotten worse.
They are clearcutting forests in the US to ship to Norway and the UK to burn for electricity, under the Cap and Trade agreements which call this "carbon neutral".
And now we are told that switching to electric cars will save the atmosphere. Keep the highways, and the acres of parking lots, and the urban sprawl that spreads over farmland and requires individual transportation to function, but just switch to electric instead of ICE, and that will save the planet.
The entire thing is stupid, but it is working. I never see environmentalists talking about anything but carbon dioxide anymore.
Well played, ruling overlords.
Posted by: wagelaborer | Jan 8 2025 16:55 utc | 56
The US likes to see themselves as 'the policeman of the world'.
And they do resemble (the invariably corrupt) US cops.
Stealing, excessive violence and murder with impunity.
Real tough when they are many or against small victims but scared when they are confronted with a sizeable opponent.
Then they get frustrated and have their ego bruised.
Time to beat up their wives/partners and show the world that they are real men.
Posted by: Ed Bernays | Jan 8 2025 16:58 utc | 57
I doubt that Panama would hand over the canal to the US so easily.
Maybe Greenland. Annexing Canada is just him trolling.
Posted by: wagelaborer | Jan 8 2025 16:49 utc | 58
Panama... they might, would they be able to finance the works if the us decides to block ? And as a territory the elites would keep everything they have. (and if an agreement is reached with china/RF for an unimpeded nicaragua canal the us can keep panama)
Greenland, they dropped the EEC in the 80's, many are non danes, add a one off bonus and an alaskan fund stipend and you could probably get them in a jiffy (no color revolution needed)
Canada, not sure if its trolling, forcing the uk to increase defense spending and many to all english politicians would say sorry to king chuck and drop canada in the us's lap
Posted by: Newbie | Jan 8 2025 16:59 utc | 58
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2025 16:34 utc | 55
.
.
.
I hope so.
But what does "your countrymen" mean?
Does that mean Germany?
Well, in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria, etc., the artificially inflated topic of climate and the environment has long been a topic that only a few percent are interested in...In Germany, as I said, the Greens have taken it too far...nobody wants to hear the rubbish anymore except for a few percent, and there are still a few percent who make money from it.
Basically: the worse things are for people, the more they can do without such nonsense...environmental protection has been almost normal up to now and should remain so...
As my grandfather said... "Because people are doing too well...they need war again" to come to their senses.
If an event were to take away these people's energy (electricity), 85% of people, especially in cities, would quickly starve to death. And not giving a damn about the environment, people today are incapable of living alone, without a cell phone, without energy, without a compass, without food in the supermarket...
Posted by: ossi | Jan 8 2025 17:01 utc | 59
Quote
"Trump is unlikely to have a full term."
In other words, the Deep State psychos will assassinate him.
Sadly, that's probably true. I wonder how the American people will take that?
Posted by: William Gruff | "
It's not like they haven't tried. Trump does appear to be the Deep State's prime target, and I maintain that his survival against all odds is due to Divine Intervention. If Trump survives and accomplishes any of his agenda it will be due to God's plan trumping the plans of man, pun intended (Psalm 2:4, Psalm 146:9) You can't outwit God.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 17:03 utc | 60
Thanks for the post b.
I think the orange man is realizing, too, that the empire is dead.
I said this in the week in review open thread, but fits better here. Sorry for re-post.
5 years on...
As is customary around this time of the year, I mourn and rejoice the death of the empire.
Yes, it was five years ago, today, that the said death occurred. Autopsy later showed the cause of death: nakedness of the empire's forces in west Asia. The date was confirmed as 8th, January 2020, the place: Ein-al-Asad, Iraq, the day the empire received a reply for assassination of the good general. The rest is, as they say, history, and what we are left with are the foul gases emanating from the dead-remains.
My favorite story from then is, when an empire's soldier [I think he was suffering from head-trauma, many did] was interviewed on TV, and said: no one should be treated like this, not realizing that 'this' IS how he and his buddies treat others.
RIP the good general. RIP the inherited empire.
Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Jan 8 2025 17:04 utc | 61
Trump also rejected to talk about Iran:Q: The last time you were here, you were asked a question about the US possibly launching a preemptive strike on Iran. You said you wouldn't answer that question.
Trump: And I said I don't talk about -- it's a military strategy. ... Look, it's a military strategy and I'm not answering your questions on military strategy. All right. One more. Brian, go ahead. Brian.
I'm sorry but refusing to talk about Iran because it is a question of military strategy is not rejecting war with Iran. Answering the question with the answer, no, we will not resort to a military attack on Iran, that is what rejecting war with Iran would look like. This is the God Trump reserving the option and refusing to even discuss the possibility of rejecting war because, well, He's God. Our host's commitment to Trumpery has led merely to hopium and copium, blatant falsification.
It is really bizarre that anyone would think Trump is thinking clearly about Ukraine when Trump doesn't even know that the war began in 2014, not 2022. Trump had his time to stop the Ukrainian war when he was president. He didn't, he didn't even try. This analysis of how clever Trump is in distracting the filthy masses doesn't even explain why Trump would need to! What's the goal, other than a mentally diminished old fool wanting to whine about his enemies. True, he didn't win any mandate, even skipping over the fact that no one, not even his worshippers knows what he really stands for.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Jan 8 2025 17:04 utc | 62
The task of president is to distract and absolutely not to run the country.
B you know this. I don’t understand why you so often repeat the worthless words of naked emperors.
Posted by: Rae | Jan 8 2025 17:04 utc | 63
But what does "your countrymen" mean?
Does that mean Germany?
Posted by: ossi | Jan 8 2025 17:01 utc | 60
______
I believe you’ve made it abundantly clear on this site that you’re German?
Whereby I don’t mean to imply that Germans are alone in embracing bad or pointless environmental “solutions”.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 8 2025 17:06 utc | 64
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 15:31 utc | 22
"It is not Biden who refused the negotiation in 2022 - it was uninvited British pm Johnson who arm twisted Ukraine to wage war on Russia at a time when Ukraine was all ready to negotiate in good faith ."Of course, I mean the people who were animating the Biden persona."
Recall someone interviewing Nuland who smirked as she related how Johnson was instructed to disrupt the peace deal.
It would be worth a prison sentence to smack that smirk off Nuland's face.
but hell, at my age, a prison sentence is not much of a threat.
Posted by: Errata | Jan 8 2025 17:06 utc | 65
Should Canada join the Union it would need at least 13 states bring the state total to 63 .
Why not Mexico too - another 32 states bringing in a total of 45 new states into the US. Panama brings the total to 55 new states and 5 for Greenland for a grand total of 60 new states.
Posted by: Cheryl | Jan 8 2025 17:06 utc | 66
PS I will once again point out that the 25th amendment has provisions for removing a president.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Jan 8 2025 17:07 utc | 67
I think Karlof1 makes the most succinct point on this and we should all encourage Trump etc. to buy (and run! LOL) Greenland and Panama and Canada and hell why not Mexico and some parts of Africa and Brazil and... :D
Spend! Spend! Spend! Don't be cheap, give every person in every place a million USD, a passport, and free McDonalds for life and it's easy peasy. Wouldn't be a blip on the budget :)
Should buy Denmark too! And Sweden and Finland and the UK :D
Buying is better than "renting" ;) :P
(Could buy Palestine and "Israel" too, maybe that's the "peace plan"?).
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 8 2025 17:11 utc | 68
trump = circus act...
look over here ( canada, greenland, panama ) while you ignore over here - ukraine, china, nordstream... i agree with scott in dallas - b is being overly optimistic here on trumps capabilities and yes - as william gruff notes, they could take him out still..
look what he did in his first term - thanks clever dog... skip the inflated bullshit talk... i want to think positively about trump, but he has a huge uphill battle with the leeches inside the usa running things... i can't see him pulling off much of anything, other then some unknown hookers panties - and even that - doubtful at this point..
Posted by: james | Jan 8 2025 17:16 utc | 69
As a Canadian, I do not relish the prospect of becoming the 51st state of America. On the other hand, I do feel some obligation to support the fledgling Russian Empire, and thus may be persuaded to give up my Canadian citizenship if it will help.
Posted by: Mike Adamson | Jan 8 2025 17:22 utc | 70
@w #27
Todd has some interesting ideas, but his ability to understand Americans is zero.
Furthermore: no normal Americans care what Europeans think - only the PMC/wannabe aristocracy care.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 8 2025 17:23 utc | 71
Wagelaborer, 57, you realize that clear cutting the forests is a great way to sequester carbon. In fact, if CO2 is the problem, we should clear cut all our forests globally, send the wood into space. The new forests will sequester more carbon and all the wood that we send off is sequestered Carbon. The theory goes that with CO2 so reduced we'll appreciate all the sunshine cause we'll be so chilly.
Interesting theory that AGW is used to discredit climate activism. I'm an organic gardener by trade and care about natives, efficiency, reduction of waste... There is so much low hanging fruit we all agree on, that gets politicized by the Green movement.
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 17:23 utc | 72
BRINGING DOWN INFLATION.
Posted by: Fortuna | Jan 8 2025 14:58 utc | 7
Lol OK. What else did Mr. Rogers talk about with his neighbors in today's episode?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:24 utc | 73
Posted by: james | Jan 8 2025 17:16 utc | 71
No plandemic this time...so it's going to have to be a new 9/11.
I'll be very, very happy if I'm right about the first one and wrong about the second.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:27 utc | 74
@BroncoBilly #31
Does Panama have the funds to do that? Who would loan it to them?
The Panama Canal generated nearly $5 billion in revenue in 2024. How much of that is operating costs? Probably a pretty small fraction.
In light of this, I can't imagine it would be hard at all for Panama to get a loan collateralized by its Canal revenues...if Panama were not a sad sack of a state that needs every cent of Canal revenue to subsidize its citizens.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 8 2025 17:28 utc | 75
@Scottindallas #46,48
Trump knows very well who the neocons are - they were in his administration.
What you clearly don't understand is that Trump is not a senile Biden.
The Trump Cabinet and other people chosen, are not chosen for their mind-cloning with Trump's view (whatever they are), they are chosen because he believes their loyalty trumps (ha ha) their personal views.
Only a simpleton thinks that someone like Trump can find an entire Plum Book's worth of like-minded, experienced and capable people to bring into this new administration.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 8 2025 17:32 utc | 77
Sam 18
BoJo is a man of very limited intelligence. He gets the gist of Capitalism , that the people in power get to cream off the main share of State Projects.
He gets the gist of Atlantacism . Pleasing the US will probably get you elected , even if you are a bungling idiot.
Fortunately for us Brits his overwhelming stupidity inspired us to chuck the evil , Empire2 Tories out after 14 years of cheating the electoral process by teaming up with Liberal Nick Clegg.
Empire2 Tories are like Japanese Knotweed and Covid, easy to catch , but extremely difficult to get rid of.
Posted by: Giyane | Jan 8 2025 17:33 utc | 78
@YogitheYankeeBear #69
Apparently you are unaware that Trump ordered the US military out of Syria, but was ignored.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 8 2025 17:35 utc | 79
The new forests will sequester more carbon and all the wood that we send off is sequestered Carbon. . .
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 17:23 utc | 74
=======
Old-growth forests sequester more carbon than new forests.
I expect that the corollary is that they produce more oxygen.
Not that it matters, though, since the whole CO2 hysteria is not supported by agenda-lacking scientists, including many Nobel laureates. Please see Climate: The Film.
Posted by: Jane | Jan 8 2025 17:37 utc | 80
No plandemic this time...so it's going to have to be a new 9/11.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:27 utc | 76
Tom, when is the last time you've been to America? Iran could detonate a dirty bomb inside the NYSE and half of America would be cheering them on. For that matter, you don't even have to go as far as Larry Johnson to see skepticism about the Cybertruck bombing. Tucker Carlson and Breitbart are equally cynical about it- mind you, this is for a false flag attack under a friendly regime!
So no, a new 9/11 will only work if Iran is staggeringly stupid and obvious. True, no government is perfect, but complete retardation tends to end in total collapse.
Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Jan 8 2025 17:39 utc | 81
These « incorporation » ideas brought by Trump on the table may also be seen as some form of recognition that
A) The US is becoming small compared to the Brics, particularly to its Growing Asiatic component and the China-Russia alliance
B) Eurasia may logically become an integrated continent.
Hence the appeal of a more integrated North America
Posted by: Dany | Jan 8 2025 17:41 utc | 82
Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 8 2025 16:20 utc | 47
"Trump's biggest challenge is what to do to improve life at home, and not just for the top 10%, and IMO that's how the populace will judge his efforts and those of Congress. IMO, they have 16-18 months to show tangible results."
In Trump's first term he turbocharged the economy by turning the US into a net oil exporter, loosening regulatory burdens on small business, offering incentives for businesses bringing back jobs from overseas and threats to businesses planning to offshore American jobs, and using threats of tariffs to level out foreign trade imbalance due to unfair trade practices. We are starting out from a worse position this time, but I expect Trump will begin with many of the same policies and add on from there. This time he will have Musk and Ramaswamy working to chop down the unsustainable 6 trillion per year that is being mostly wasted on ridiculous foreign aid, DEI policy that is universally hated and mocked, grift and graft, senseless warmongering and green energy scams that never become self sustaining. If they can get rid of a third of it we can start to recover.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 17:43 utc | 83
@ Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:27 utc | 76
we'll see what comes... as it stands, the usa is a declining empire and a dangerous one because of this..they are run by the intel and military establishment too, so there is always a possibility of some stupid shit happening during trumps reign...
@ w | Jan 8 2025 15:41 utc | 27
thanks...i'm watching it now..
Posted by: james | Jan 8 2025 17:44 utc | 84
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 8 2025 17:28 utc | 77
A sad sack like every other nation-state literally created by Uncle Scam.
Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Jan 8 2025 17:39 utc | 83
What were Iraq or Afghanistan able to do about it when Israel and rogue factions of the US & Saudi intelligence services pulled off 9/11 the last time?
I live in Texas. When is the last time you visited the United States? Also what's this "America" you speak of?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:46 utc | 85
We are starting out from a worse position this time, but I expect Trump will begin with many of the same policies and add on from there.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 17:43 utc | 85
Don't forget arresting/ purging malcontent federal employees. The easiest way to get a boot off your throat is to deal with the person it's attached to. Yes, some oligarchs will be motivated to try a reset/ collapse, but such things are a massive threat to their own health.
Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Jan 8 2025 17:46 utc | 86
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 17:43 utc | 85
What restrictions on small businesses?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:47 utc | 87
No Jane, you're mistaken. Old growth are carbon neutral only New forests are carbon sinks. This is the theory anyway. Composting releases CO2 so it's bad, according to the theory. I think CO2 is a way to measure industrial emissions of one sort, but it's not as useful to focus on through the ecosystem, as it results in absurd claims and policies.
Conservation and efficiency, pollution reduction and capture are all good and responsible on their own right, this shouldn't be debatable nor politicized over a policy that has yet to make accurate predictions about the climate or environment. There are other factors and variables that we don't understand and the clearly don't understand their relative contribution to the whole. It's not a simple question and shouldn't be so lightly dismissed. But the advocates overstep too, and we'd be better served focusing on lower hanging fruit, or more obvious improvements
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 17:51 utc | 88
"This time he will have Musk and Ramaswamy working to chop down the unsustainable 6 trillion per year that is being mostly wasted on ridiculous foreign aid, DEI policy that is universally hated and mocked, grift and graft..."
Talk to us when the "Defense" department budget is slashed. Can't wait to see how big the NEW increase allocated to Elonicus the First will be.
Magical thinking is fun but there's 80+ years of history that says otherwise.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:52 utc | 89
What were Iraq or Afghanistan able to do about it when Israel and rogue factions of the US & Saudi intelligence services pulled off 9/11 the last time?
I live in Texas. When is the last time you visited the United States? Also what's this "America" you speak of?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2025 17:46 utc | 87
Tom, there's a difference between wars against impoverished countries and whatever America will do against Iran. Or so I suppose- maybe there isn't. Anyways, you're forgetting President Trump's reaction to the Syrian war in his last term. A full scale war against Iran would be much more demanding of public opinion, and would rely on people he doesn't trust at all.
I left last year. I'd be quite careful about coming back now. Although many Americans are quite aware of the difference between the American nation and the USG. I've met precious few white Americans who insist on correcting mentions of America.
Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Jan 8 2025 17:54 utc | 90
@wagelaborer #57
The environmental agenda was always a stalking horse for various interests. This latest iteration is more egregious because there is huge profit to be made selling hugely subsidized garbage tech that is supposed to "save the planet" but does anything but.
The EV is a fantastic example of this. EVs, as well as steam vehicles, failed at the onset of the car because it is simply bad tech. The latest generation is not much better.
Some ugly facts about EVs:
1) The 1000 pound battery in a Tesla requires 500,000 pounds of rock to be moved and processed. ALL of this processing involves fossil fuels.
2) Between the commodity costs above and the manufacturing costs, the range of emissions for an EV actually vary enormously. The scammer proponents focus on the theoretically low end, but there is plenty of reason to believe that the actual emissions are closer to the high end - not least because China is the largest battery maker and that China burns A LOT of coal.
3) Fools and policy makers think electricity is cheaper to move than fossil fuels. Actually, the opposite is true. Electricity costs 5x to 10x more than say, oil or gasoline, to move because of massive capital and overhead costs.
4) EV "exponential adoption" is bullshit. The adoption of sports cars, started by the Mustang, was 100x faster. Ditto the mini-van. And then the SUV. And all of these were accomplished without massive subsidies.
5) Subsidies for EVs going primarily to rich people driving them as second (or third or fourth) cars - is stupid.
10% of the drivers, drive 30% of the overall miles. The vast, vast majority of these are not rich people, they are the tradespeople and salespeople. They drive enough that EVs would never work for them. How about finding ways to subsidise these people into more fuel efficient cars that still meet their needs?
6) 6 months of war in Ukraine - the tanks and other vehicles emit more CO2 than all of the EVs in the entire world "save" in 1 year.
That's just one example of the sad state of "technology" today.
It isn't Edison and the light bulb/electricity - it is Rube Goldberg with billions of dollars.
Posted by: c1ue | Jan 8 2025 17:58 utc | 91
1984 here we come. United Oceanian States consisted of the whole of North and South America, Southern Africa, Australia and the Antarctic, so it included Canada and Greenland. Eurasia consisted of Russia and Europe, while poor EastAsia only consisted of China, Korea and Japan. The rest of the globe is disputed territory.
Lebensraum is the new in thing. Putin even gave Syria and Lebanon to Israel and Turkey to ensure those guys have more lebensraum. And of course genocide goes hand in hand with lebensraum.
But since the 1984 book was written in 1949 George Orwell didn't know that China would become so powerful that China can control Australia with ease. George also never knew that Apartheid would collapse in South Africa and Communism collapse with the USSR, so now Russia doesn't want more territory and just wants to be left alone to drink in peace.
Posted by: gT | Jan 8 2025 18:01 utc | 92
Paranese, Trump did nothing of the sort. It was a sugar high. Biden got the headache. COVID and Trump's COVID spending made the sugar party prolong. You're delusional and swing from Trump's nuts like a cuck. Stop it. In fact we're producing more oil now than under Biden. You believe the partisan charade, you believe Trump is Midas. He's a poor student of economics and history. He has a basic appreciation of libertarian trade over war theory, that's as deep as those waters run.
ClUe, Trump doesn't know who the neocons are. He could have destroyed in the debate by pointing out, "why Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala/Biden, it's because Hillary brought Dick Cheney's foreign policy team into the State department and it's those very neocons who perpetuated the Iraq disaster, the Libyan fiasco, the ISIS Syrian snafu and the Maidan massacre and the Ukraine debacle."
That would have gotten Trump votes up and down the ticket all across the 50 states. He didn't. He doesn't even know who they are, like most Democrats and Republicans
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 18:06 utc | 93
Re Trumps foreign policies; Dont forget the Caesar Act that turned Syria in to a basket case. And that he approved a plan to provide first lethal weapons to Ukraine (Javelins etc).
Posted by: blueswede | Jan 8 2025 18:07 utc | 94
Posted by: steven t johnson | Jan 8 2025 17:04 utc | 63
"True, he didn't win any mandate, even skipping over the fact that no one, not even his worshippers knows what he really stands for."
Fifty-two percent popular vote, 312 electoral votes, no mandate? You sound like one of those election deniers!
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 18:07 utc | 95
@63
Don't know how many people are familiar with the phrase, "Commander in Chief".
This is what the politicos in the US call the president when they want them to act "presidential". Did Trump get the memo? Will he act presidential enough for the neo cons? He hasn't talked about anything that he didn't bring up during the elections.
One thing that cretin won't talk about is what is happening state side.
Immigration? Wild fires ? Mass killings? Social security?
Command in chief my ass.
Posted by: Ronnie James | Jan 8 2025 18:09 utc | 96
Our host: "Trump said that he understood the position of Russia with regards to NATO membership of Ukraine. He thus seems to be genuinely intended to end that conflict"
If Trump actually accomplishes that, then the TDS people will go absolutely berserk. Be prepared for the CIA to try to play spoiler with some assassinations like they did with Soleimani.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 8 2025 18:17 utc | 97
Don't feed the trolls, that's what Trump and Musk are.
Posted by: mecano | Jan 8 2025 18:19 utc | 98
TDS is rife among his supporters and his detractors.
Posted by: Scottindallas | Jan 8 2025 18:19 utc | 99
Posted by: They Call Me Mister | Jan 8 2025 17:39 utc | 83
"Iran could detonate a dirty bomb inside the NYSE and half of America would be cheering them on."
I remember on 9/11 the only people cheering here were some Pakistanis on rooftops in New York. If it happened again you'd probably get parts of Dearborn and south Minneapolis. I don't think you're going to see 50 percent.
Posted by: Paranaense | Jan 8 2025 18:21 utc | 100
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