There’s an old expression, don’t bullshit a bullshitter. Extending that idea, don’t try to bluff a politician who has been around much longer than you have and who has forgotten more about politics than you’ll ever learn — if you’re Donald Trump. Trump has taken his fantasy character from television and parlayed it into two presidential administrations. Quite an amazing feat, considering he’s a play actor and a fraud but American standards have devolved to such a level that people prefer circus over circumspection, and goofiness over governance. So be it. The electorate will get their fill soon enough because the international community already knows the score and they’re using this situation to their advantage. Trump is the anti-Teddy Roosevelt, “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Instead he bellows and carries a twig.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum quickly responded to Trump’s tariff threats by threatening retaliatory tariffs of her own and strongly asserting Mexico’s sovereignty. She responded to Trump from a position of strength. Trump rushed back to social media and pretended he struck a deal with her that never even happened.
Even the Prime Minister of the Bahamas publicly responded to Trump’s threats of dumping migrants into the Bahamas. The Bahamian Prime Minister told Trump, absolutely not. […]
Trump’s pathology is easy to exploit, and it’s already being plucked at by world leaders.
The biggest winner in all of this is China.
China gets to act like the grown-up in international affairs and pursue an actual “big stick” policy. While Trump posts angry and erratic social media rants, behaving like a petulant schoolyard bully and wavering with inconsistent positions depending on the flattery or threats from world leaders, China is making major investments in countries across the world as part of its One Belt One Road initiative—sometimes referred to as “the new Silk Road.”
Trump’s small stick is China’s biggest dream.
With each social media post by Trump, China responds with a meticulously crafted diplomatic message designed to curry favor with the nations Trump is bullying or disrespecting. Some Sun Tzu quotes come to mind here, like:
• “Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake.”
• “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”
• “If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.”
China smells weakness.
It smells weakness and everybody who gets around Trump smells his unique cologne of hair product and body odor. There’s some misplaced great expectations of what Trump will do in the near future. The savvy people in the world have already seen quite enough to know what he will do and ones who can take advantage of Trump are already doing so and the rest of us are sitting here watching this political Kabuki play which will begin in January.
He will be played to our detriment.
If only tRump’s own party could see what a paper tiger he is and smell the fear and weakness coming off of him, along with “his unique cologne of hair product and body odor.” I am praying daily that the GQP will literally wake up and see they needn’t be afraid if this petulant child and his Lord of the Flies group of immature, needy, screaming banshees that seem to be standing in line to populate his mis-administration! Yuk!
They will. Just wait for the mid-terms. Then wait for the next Democratic President.
The MAGA part of the GQP will not wake up. They are not really afraid of him anyway, they just suck up to him 24/7 because they know that’s the way he likes it, so it’s also the way to get ahead. But the others … I think they already know the score in more or less the same way the foreign leaders do. But yeah, keep praying.
While looking for a radio station with a football game today, I wandered on to Fox News just in time to hear someone opine that, with all the drama going on in the world, it was nice to see Trump taking over again, because the world really needs “Moral Clarity” from the US President!
It’s a whole alternate world isn’t it?
And also why he won.
You can fool some people all of the time.