If you believe this narrative, and it is a narrative, then you fit into an entirely new classification for “stupid”.

Elections are how “democracies” get to change direction, policies, laws and rules. There are no other formal ways aside from a Constitutional Convention. And every four years, the citizens of America look at their lives, and their leadership and vote to either continue on the current path or divert from it and go into new directions.

That’s how democracies work.

Yet, the media is flowing with all sorts of articles that says that Biden is going to be a real “war hawk” and that he is not only going to continue with his neocon polices, but become more aggressive with them (as if that is even possible). And this narrative is cropping up here and there, and it is really irritating to me.

Hell.

It makes me want to dust off the old turntable, and put some Lobo on and dream of what might have been. Let me off. This world has gone ape-shit.

.

For those of you who don't know, Lobo was an American music group from the early 1970's. The singer / songwriter was a Florida folk rocker kind of guy. His songs become rather well known with "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo". (travelin' and ah livin' off the land, how I love being a free man.)

.

Ever since it appeared that Biden might overtake Trump in the election, the entire propaganda machine inside of America (and England) has been spewing forth this narrative…

• ‘Biden to continue Trump’s U.S.-China policy’
• Nikki Haley urges Biden to continue Trump foreign policies
• How Biden will approach the U.S. battle with China
• Biden likely to continue Trump’s tough South China Sea …
• Biden to continue Trump’s US-China policy : Kogonuso: US …
• Biden must mobilize America to counter the China threat
• South China Sea: Biden ‘unlikely’ to stop Trump anti …
• To Balance China, Joe Biden Should Build Upon Trump’s …

Of course, this is the narrative that is being fed to the mindless masses; the “Joe Sixpack” in “Flyover country”.

Meanwhile, all the neocon war-loving publications inside of America are horrified that Biden might ease up on the war-stance and instead embrace the idea of co-existence…

• Biden’s Cabinet Nominees Are Weak on China | The …
• China Celebrates Return of ‘Old Friend’ Joe Biden to Power
• How China will try to play Joe Biden
• Biden needs reinforcement, not retrenchment, of Trump’s …
• Biden Administration: Hysterical Disavowal of Anything …

Ah yes… not going to war with China is “hysterical”. It is horrific, dangerous and inattentive.

Sure.

What ever you say.

.

Now we are going to talk about Trump

Ugh!

Hey! You just cannot avoid talking about this fellow, he has been President for the last four years, and has been very active in many areas. There are people who love him and who hate him. In fact, I will go as far as to say that he is the most polarizing figure since Hillary Clinton.

And she is VERY polarizing.

So, all you Trump supporters, don’t get all hot and bothered about bad things being said, and that goes double for the Biden supporters. Keep in mind that both Presidents, and all of their minions are but actors. Nothing more. The purpose of this post herein is to take a look at media manipulation of Americans. Just like we did in the earlier post of media manipulation of American views on China.

Just what is this particular neocon publication anyways?

The National Review is a right-leaning, semi-monthly magazine founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. in 1955. Buckley started the magazine with the goal of making conservative ideas respectable at a time in which he believed “literate America [had] rejected conservatism in favor of radical social experimentation.”

-National Review Media Bias | AllSides

Yeah. They are neocons. These are the folk that cheer on the eight simultaneous wars the USA is fighting today, and who push for mega-expensive military hardware. Fun fact, one “Hellfire” missile is the cost of a hospital. These guys think that having a hundreds of thousands of them…

…isn’t enough.

But boy, oh boy, do they HATE being referred to war-loving neocons…

• Neocons at National Review: ‘Stop Calling Us Neocons …
• Neocon Is An Outdated Term | National Review
• What Does It Mean to Be a Neocon? A … – National Review

Anyways…

I think I need a beer. If you, the reader were here with me, I’d buy you all a beer. That’s the truth, and that’s a fact Jack.

.

I am getting off the subject. Oh yes. So what is all this about? What is going on, why is the American media so geared up to convince Americans that Biden is going to be just like Trump on international matters?

Why?

Hold that thought.

Why do I (and others) defend China?

Yeah. I am swimming up river. It’s just a lone lonely voice out in the wilderness while hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-China articles are being cranked out of the American media machine daily. What the fuck is going on?

Here is a quote from Bill Brodenblock…

…concerning whether he was going to waste his time retorting to some bullshit from the Wall Street Journal.

Right. A well-argued rebuttal will take you much more than a day. There’s a lie, a half-truth or impeachment in every sentence.

No,  it is not worth the effort. They have the resources to produce every day another “article” or “report” on China, again bursting with lies and  fabrications.

They are stronger than we, they have almost unlimited resources and much more experience in making up lies than anyone else.

Their readership is thousands of times more than ours. 
 
A new Global Times poll  in China has shown that over 70 percent of respondents believe that the  "wolf warrior diplomacy" is the diplomatic attitude that China should  take, with 78 percent of interviewees believing that China's global  image has improved in recent years.

The outspoken example of the new Chinese wolf Warrior diplomacy is 赵立坚 (Zhào Lìjiān)  the one of the cartoon, showing the Australian hypocrisy on its war crimes in Afghanistan (Brereton report). 
 
I  became a “Wolf Warrior”, not in the first place because I was living in  China, also not because I feel I should defend China’s legitimate  viewpoints
but because I can’t stand lies. 

I  can’t stand it to see politicians, journalists, teachers or whoever  with some power lying to people, often people who’re helpless and unable  to defend themselves.
 
Both  my grandfathers were in politics; they knew and used all the famous  tricks as so common today in politics. I, as a little boy have seen them  developing their strategies at our kitchen table. My father was a  teacher and a deacon. He strongly disapproved the hypocrisy of his  father and father-in-law. My father taught me that lying is a sin. I  feel lying it is more than just a sin, it is a crime.

My pro-China stances are motivated by my disgust for lies.
 
That’s why I am doing it, not in the first place to help China. 

Nevertheless,  I feel that China, the Chinese government or whoever with some  political power in China, should at least take the effort to send me a  “thank you” or to show some recognition for my efforts. That’s the least  they can do. 
 
Every  day at the local social media, I get the full load of shit over me. In  my meetings at business associations and service-clubs (now often  on-line), there are people who start scolding, some even yelling at me,  just because they know my China viewpoints. Last year, during a  speech/presentation, someone was trying to prevent me from finishing my  presentation. 

It’s not just Bill, don’t you know.

I hate being lied to as well.

And when I think about all the lies, and the deceptions, and the tricks, and “the rug getting pulled out from under my feet” I get really angry. I just want, no NEED, to go out and get a beer.

.

And I hate it even more when others actually believe the lies. Hey! Have you died from “Mad Cow Disease” yet? What about Y2K? What about “Back Masking” on Rock and Roll music? How has that “Domino Theory” panned out?

Domino Theory

The domino theory was a theory prominent in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s that posited that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world.

Wikipedia

I hate it when the government is lying so obviously and so blatantly. It just riles up my skivvies.

It makes me want to go to the fridge, pop open a beer and watch some Golden Girls. Anything to get my mind off this bullshit.

The Golden Girls

NBC was already a monster by 1985 thanks to programs like "The Cosby Show", "Cheers" and "L.A. Law" (all part of that unbeatable Thursday lineup). In 1985 it appeared that Beatrice Arthur (who struck gold with "Maude", a spin-off of "All in the Family") was going back to television in a new show called "The Golden Girls". 

Along with Arthur (a smart-mouthed Brooklyn native) was her old-world Sicilian mother (Estelle Getty), a bubble-headed Minnesota native (Betty White) and a sex-crazed belle from Georgia (Rue McClanahan). This quartet of actresses would create the finest core of performers to ever star in a television series. 

"The Golden Girls", unlike "Cheers", was a hit from its first episode. 

It dominated with vigor and spunk on Saturday nights. NBC was worried that the show would never find an audience big enough to make a dent in the ratings, but for a time "The Golden Girls" was as excellent as anything else the networks had to offer. 

The four women, all obviously over 50, lived, laughed and cried together in Miami for nearly a decade from 1985 to 1992. 

The series pushed the envelope on everything that dominated headlines during its run (AIDS, homosexuality, sexism, ageism, political unrest, abortion and an endless list of other topics too long to go into at length). The episodes went for comedy, but usually almost always had a deep meaning to them about love and friendship. 

All four actresses shared the spotlight equally for the most part. 

Arthur and McClanahan had hit gold with "Maude" and White had been along seemingly at the advent of television programming. Getty was relatively unknown, but fit in well with more-established performers immediately (her character got away with more than the others as she was written as a lady who had suffered a major stroke which affected the relationship between what she said and thought). 

Herb Edelman (who made a name for himself in "The Odd Couple") was always a consistent element as Arthur's two-timing ex-husband and Harold Gould (who was a key player in "The Sting") also became a fixture during the series' latter episodes as White's love interest. 

The great thing about this show is that it took a chance by starring four actresses in their mid 50s to 60s and showed that just because you're old, it doesn't mean that life is over and you can't have fun anymore. The humor reaches to all age demographics and the characters each have such distinct, hilarious traits that watching them try to get along is a hoot.
 
If you're a boy or adult man that feels embarrassed to watch this show, DON'T. It's a pure classic that will never be forgotten in my life and will always be one of my favorite shows! This show proves that hilarity doesn't just come from younger folks, but that it can come from older people just as much!!! Long live The Golden Girls!!! 10 out of 10 EASILY!!!

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Yeah. I get it. I’m too old a fogy to appreciate the new understandings about how Mr. Trump ran things. For he was brilliant.

• He brought factories back to America… …almost.
• He built a wall… almost.
• He put Hillary Clinton in jail … almost.
• He lowered taxes … not quite, he actually raised them.
• He balanced the budget … nope. He sent the debit into orbit.
• He protected the USA… we see how well that is panning out with COVID-19.
• He made America respected around the world … absolutely NOT.

Not.

Not. Not. Not.

Jeeze Man!

I need a beer.

.

America today is terribly disrespected around the world. And I attribute it to Donald Trump and his inability to master the prerequisite laws of power necessary for his position as President of the United States.

What do I mean?

I mean this…

The 48 Laws of Power

To best understand my point of view as to why his international policies stank you need to learn the basics of the laws of power. This is especially true in global politics. Consider the following laws that Trump routinely violated.

For starters, he violated Law #3.

3. Conceal your intentions.

Keep people  off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your  actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a  defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in  enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be  too late.

I: Use decoyed objects of desire and red herrings to throw people off the scent:

If  at any point in the deception you practice people have the slightest  suspicions to your intentions, all is lost. Do not give them the chance  to sense what you are up to: Throw them off the scent by dragging red  herrings across the path. Use false sincerity, send ambiguous signals,  set up misleading objects of desire. Unable to distinguish the genuine  from the false, they cannot pick out your real goal.

Hide your intentions not by closing up, but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals - just false ones.

II: Use smoke screens to disguise your actions:

Deception  is always the best strategy, but the best deceptions require a screen  of smoke to distract people attention from your real purpose. The bland  exterior—like the unreadable poker face—is often the perfect smoke  screen, hiding your intentions behind the comfortable and familiar. If  you lead the sucker down a familiar path, he won’t catch on when you  lead him into a trap.

A helpful or honest gesture can divert from a deception.
Patterns will also help mask a deception.
Often the key to deception is being bland and acting with humility.

When you conceal your intentions, you can allow others to drop down their guard. They don’t groan and say “oh, it’s that Donald Trump again”. You don’t say “I demand that you do this or I will bloody well blow the shit out of you”.

Geeze!

I really do need a beer.

He violated Law #4.

4. Always say less than necessary. 

When  you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more  common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying  something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended,  and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.  The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Silence generally makes people uncomfortable - they will jump in and nervously fill the silence.

Generally saying less makes you appear more profound and mysterious.
Be particularly careful with sarcasm - rarely is it valuable.
Be careful with arousing suspicion or insecurity by being silent.  At times it is easier to blend by playing the jester.

Donald Trump was never the one to keep his mouth shut. I think that many Americans grew weary (though obviously not everyone) and tired of the 70 tweets per night, and the horror of waking up to find yet another contract torn up and more discord and chaos.

He violated law #18.

18. Do not build fortresses to protect yourself - isolation is dangerous.

The  world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere—everyone has to protect  themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to  more dangers than it Protects you from—it cuts you off from valuable  information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to  circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your  enemies by the crowd.

Retreat to a fortress and you lose contact with your sources of power, and your knowledge of what is going on.
If you need time to think, then choose isolation as a last resort, and only in small doses.

That was the sole primary element in the MAGA plan; to Make America Great Again; it was to isolate America from all foreign trade, build a wall around it, and then just attack all non-Americans everywhere. In addition, kick all Chinese out of the country, ban all Chinese applications, and if possible sink all Chinese ships.

I mean when you are on a roll… you are on a roll.

He violated Law #19.

19. Know who you’re dealing with - do not offend the wrong person.

There  are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never  assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way.  Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their  lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your  victims and opponents carefully, then—never of fend or deceive the wrong  person.

Being able to recognize the type of person you’re dealing with is critical. Here are the five most dangerous:

The Arrogant and Proud Man: any perceived slight will invite vengeance.  Flee these people.

The Hopelessly Insecure Man: similar  to the proud man, but will take revenge in smaller bites over time.  Do  not stay around him if you have harmed or deceived him.

Mr. Suspicion: sees the worst in others and imagines that everyone is after him.  Easy to deceive - get him to turn on others.

The Serpent with a Long Memory: if  hurt, he will show no anger, but will calculate and wait. Recognize by  his calculation and cunning in other areas of life - he is usually cold  and unaffectionate.  Crush him completely or flee.

The Plain, Unassuming, and Often Unintelligent Man: this  man will not take the bait because he does not recognize it. Do not  waste your resources trying to deceive him.  Have a test ready for a  mark - a joke, a story. If reaction is literal, this is the type you are  dealing with.
Never rely on instincts when judging someone; instead gather concrete knowledge.  Also never trust appearances.

.

He violated law #24.

24. Play the perfect courtier.

The  perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around  power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection;  he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the  most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of  courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the  court.

The Laws of Court Politics

Avoid Ostentation: modesty is always preferable.

Practice Nonchalance: never  appear to be working too hard; your talent must appear to flow  naturally, with ease.  Showing your blood and toil is a form of  ostentation.

Be Frugal with Flattery: flatter indirectly by being modest.

Arrange to be Noticed: pay attention to your appearance, and find a way to create a subtly distinctive style and image.

Alter Your Style and Language According to the Person You’re Dealing With: acting the same with all will be seen as condescension by those below you, and offend those above you.

Never Be the Bearer of Bad News: the messenger is always killed.  Bring only glad news.

Never Affect Friendliness and Intimacy with Your Master: he does not want a friend for a subordinate.

Never Criticize Those Above You Directly: err on the side of subtlety and gentleness.

Be Frugal in Asking Those Above You for Favours: it is always better to earn your favours.  Do not ask for favours on another person’s behalf.

Never Joke About Appearances or Taste

Do Not Be the Court Cynic: express admiration for the good work of others.

Be Self-Observant: you must train yourself to evaluate your own actions.

Master Your Emotions

Fit the Spirit of the Times: your spirit and way of thinking must keep up with the times, even if the times offend your sensibilities.

Be a Source of Pleasure: if you cannot be the life of the party, at least obscure your less desirable qualities.‍

Yes. Like him, love him or hate him, Mr. Trump was certainly unique. Most Americans, trapped within the media and informational bubble there, were never given insight to his faults. Only endless praises and glory. He, in a way, had a following that rivaled both Bill Clinton, and Barrack Obama, and at that you MUST give him credit.

You just MUST.

He, like Bill Clinton, is a master manipulator.

.

He violated law #43.

43. Work on the hearts and minds of others.

Coercion  creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must  seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have  seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to  operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the  resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear  and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will  grow to hate you.

Remember: The key to  persuasion is softening people up and breaking them down, gently. Seduce  them with a two-pronged approach: Work on their emotions and play on  their intellectual weaknesses. Be alert to both what separates them from  everyone else (their individual psychology) and what they share with  everyone else (their basic emotional responses). Aim at the primary  emotions—love, hate, jealousy. Once you move their emotions you have  reduced their control, making them more vulnerable to persuasion.

Play  on contrasts: push people to despair, then give them relief. If they  expect pain and you give them pleasure, you win their hearts.

Symbolic gestures of self-sacrifice can win sympathy and goodwill.

The quickest way to secure people’s minds is by demonstrating, as simply as possible, how an action will benefit them.

All this talk about politics, manipulation and likes makes me want to drink. And drinking makes me hungry.

And the laws that he actually used…

To be fair, President Trump DID actually follow certain rules of power. And he does deserve full credit for that. Don’t you know.

His entire presidency was Law #17.

17. Keep others in suspended terror: cultivate an air of unpredictability.

Humans  are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in  other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of  control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that  seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and  they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an  extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.

Unsettle those around you and keep the initiative by being unpredictable.
Predictability and patterns can be used as a tool when deceiving.

As well as… Law #27.

27. Play on people’s need to believe to create a cult like following.

People  have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal  point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow.  Keep your words vague but full of promise ; emphasize enthusiasm over  rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to  perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of  organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring  you untold power.

How to create a cult in 5 easy steps:

Keep It Vague, Keep it Simple: use  words to attract attention, with great enthusiasm.  Fancy titles for  simple things are helpful, as are the use of numbers and the creation of  new words for vague concepts.  All of these create the impression of  specialized knowledge. People want to hear there is a simple solution to  their problems.

Emphasize the Visual and the Sensual over the Intellectual: Boredom  and skepticism are two dangers you must counter.  The best way to do  this is through theatre, creating a spectacle.  Appeal to all the  senses, and use the exotic.

Borrow the Forms of Organized Religion to Structure the Group: create  rituals, organize followers into hierarchy, rank them in grades of  sanctity, give them names and titles, ask them for sacrifices that fill  your coffers and increase your power.  Talk and act like a prophet.

Disguise Your Source of Income: make your wealth seem to come from the truth of your methods.

Set Up an Us-Versus-Them Dynamic: first  make sure your followers believe they are part of an exclusive club,  unified by common goals.  Then, manufacture the notion of a devious  enemy out to ruin you.

People are not interested in the truth  about change - that it requires hard work - but rather they are dying to  believe something romantic, otherworldly.
The most effective cults mix religion with science.

I’m out of beer, and I need to drain the lizard.

Hold on.

Doesn’t all this make you hungry? It does me. That’s for certain.

Where he has indeed… Law #32.

32. Play to people’s fantasies.

The  truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal  to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes  from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who  can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the  desert: 

Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into  the fantasies of the masses.

Never promise a  gradual improvement through hard work; rather, promise the moon, the  great and sudden transformation, the pot of gold.

The key to  fantasy is distance - the distance has allure and promise, seems simple  and problem free.  What you are offering, then, should be ungraspable.  Never let it become oppressively familiar.

.

And who can forget his amazing MAGA rallies? Law #32.

37. Create compelling spectacles.

Striking  imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power—everyone  responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then, full of  arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence.  Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Words often go astray, but symbols and the visual strike with emotional power and immediacy.

Find an associate yourself with powerful images and symbols to gain power.
Most  effective of all is a new combination - a fusion of images and symbols  that have not been seen together before, but that clearly demonstrate  your new idea, message, religion.

Um…

Brilliant?

Hardly.

Like I said. I need a beer.

.

Let’s pause on the “why is the news media so focused on Biden continuing Trumps policies”, and take a look at what I mean when I say that his international polices stink.

For after all NO ONE in the USA thinks that his international policies were bad.

Americans gleefully accepted a 25% increase in the price of almost all manufactured products. Not a peep from the serfs. And of course, FOX and El’ Rushbo were absolutely gleeful in every action that he took.

But functionally… yeah. His international policies stank.

Trumps international policies

Yes his international policies stunk. No, I take that back, they were an unmitigated disaster. But you all don’t need to believe me. Check out this opinion…

He has cozied up to right-wing nationalist dictators and autocrats at  a moment when citizens of faltering democracies and the many peoples  around the world aspiring to freedom most need an advocate on the  international stage.

He has rejected  the honorable American presidential tradition of seeking unity and  instead has indulged in the politics of division, willfully alienating a  large segment of the American electorate while among his own supporters  drumming up hatred for and suspicion of others.

He has  transformed the White House, which should promote policies based on  reality, into the world capital of ignorance, dishonesty and  misinformation by reciting verifiable falsehoods, from the size of his  inauguration crowd to the direction of a hurricane to the (disproven)  prevalence of election fraud.

He has been a particular antagonist  to California, seeking to undermine this state’s forward-looking  policies on auto emissions and environmental preservation, spreading  falsehoods about the causes of its deadly wildfires, disparaging its  rational and humane approach to immigration challenges, demeaning it for  its struggles to deal with homelessness, and offering instead purported  solutions that are unworkable, nonsensical or cruel.

He has denied the existential challenge of climate change and has  promulgated policies that weaken the nation’s role in fighting it and  scuttle the nation’s ability to take economic leadership in low-emission  and carbon-capturing technology.

He has made the United States  unreliable, erratic and foolish in international affairs by disparaging  its diplomatic corps, engaging in frequent and jarring changes in  foreign affairs and defense advisors and repudiating international  allies and partners.
                            
Trump has cheapened his office, instilled  distrust in essential institutions of justice and democracy and replaced  knowledge and professionalism with ignorance and amateurism.                
 
He has made light of verified Russian assaults on U.S. elections, and  at his notorious and shameful Helsinki news conference last year said  he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own nation’s  intelligence agencies. 

He failed to elicit from the Russian leader an  apology for past intervention or a promise not to intervene in other  elections. In so doing, he invited further, more comprehensive attacks —  and failed in the most basic duty of any U.S. president, which is to  protect and defend the United States.

He has reduced or eliminated independent science advisory panels in a  quest to remove fact from policymaking when it collides with damaging  policies he wishes to pursue.

He has demeaned the presidency with  foul, angry language hurled at his political adversaries, replacing  fireside chats and presidential addresses with  cable-TV-fueled,  stream-of-consciousness tweets that attack his critics and stoke fear  and outrage in his supporters.

He has undercut the nation’s moral  standing by his shrugging response to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at  the hands of Saudi operatives.

He has sullied the office of the  presidency by using it to express his personal contempt for people he  does not like or who do not support him. The most egregious example may  be his treatment of Sen. John McCain, a much-decorated former Vietnam  War prisoner whose honor Trump questioned even after McCain’s passing.

He has appealed to the basest part of our culture, lifting into the  mainstream chords and currents of racism that had long been left to  fester in only our darkest corners. He commented on the deadly white  nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., with an equivocating speech  that shrank from condemning violent racism and promoted false  equivalency among demonstrators for and against white supremacy. He put  in place a program to deny visas to visitors from majority Muslim  nations. He disparaged Latinos; called Haiti, El Salvador and African  nations “shithole countries”; and expressed his preference for  immigrants from Norway. He promoted the notion that one’s American-ness  is a function of descent and not birth or naturalization, by saying  U.S.-born members of Congress should “go back” to the countries “from  which they came.” He has issued statements that in the aggregate define  an America united not by law, the Constitution, liberty or justice but  by racial heritage.

More than any president in living memory,  Trump has cheapened his office, instilled distrust in essential  institutions of justice and democracy and replaced knowledge and  professionalism with ignorance and amateurism. This partial list  represents a mere slice of what makes Donald Trump unacceptable as  president of the United States and what makes it of utmost importance  that Americans of all political parties and positions reject and replace  him.

-LA Times

Of course, that is just someone’s opinion.

I like to think that he meant well. That he tried, he really tried.

It’s just that his ideas are from another time, an outdated time, when nations ruled by paper and separated by cultural differences fought over swatches of rock and desert. But that age is long gone. This is a new age, and for the human species to propagate and grow we need to discard those childish ideas behind and accept that we are all biologically the same. That we are not different. And that fighting over territory, or advantage is a undesirable pursuit.

.

For one thing, I was fighting for Trump. I really wanted him to stop that Obama trademark of non-stop progressive social re-engineering. I was tired of all the bullshit, and the people being forced to bake cakes against their beliefs, and other such nonsense. I wanted it to STOP. And you know what?

It did.

What’s more, I wanted factories to return to America, and people to start working again, and all that nonsense about HR Diversity officers to go away, and cheaper affordable health care to return (yes, return to pre-1980 levels).

They didn’t.

But you know, I wasn’t inside of America when he was the reigning head honcho. I was outside of America. I was sitting on the front row watching him represent the United States to the rest of the world. And precious little of what he did was covered by the American domestic press.

He was a God-damn train wreck.

In hindsight, it is no wonder that Trump was gloating that 2020 would be a “banner year” for America, and that there would be victories abound. His plans, were they to manifest would have put America back on top, and the rest of the world opposition crippled for decades to come. Even though…

• US economists expect recession in 2020 or 2021: Survey …
• What to Expect in 2020: Five Predictions | RealClearPolitics

People! 2020 was the year that the USA was to destroy China, first by starvation and internal revolution, then by biological weapons, and finally by military confrontation on the Chinese shores. The only reason why American cites are not radioactive ruins right now is because the Chief of Staff of the Defense department disobeyed his orders to attack China in the Summer of 2020 with the mega-flotilla of aircraft carriers.

Ah, but no one is talking about that.

Nor are they talking about his plan to destroy China through starvation with eight (x8) types of selective biological weapons targeting crops and livestock, some of which (in the more remote areas) were deployed by drones, and then a full-on assault on the Chinese people (a nation four times larger than the United States) by COVID-19B, and having Americans get “herd Immunity” though COVID-19A. With a follow up with the far more lethal vomit-to-death virus unleashed in October 2020. No wonder Trump pretended to get sick while scurrying to the airborne command post when the Chinese PLA discovered and isolated the virus..

How’s that all working out you-all?

No one is talking about that.

Of course not.

Americans know (after four years of propaganda) that China is vile and evil, and that 5G technology is bad, and that the world would be a better place if China were completely and utterly destroyed due to the superiority of American “democracy”.

American NEEDS the rest of the world to adopt the “great American way of life“. So that everyone can enjoy that great delicious, lip-smacking “democracy” and American “way of life” like this lithe young lass does.

But, seriously, how has President Trump’s international policies been?

Well, if you read the conservative websites, Trump has been almost God-like. He has single-handedly made America strong (again), stopped terrorism in it’s tracks, built walls around America to keep out bad guys, and almost put Hillary Clinton in Jail. To some, his tenure as President has been a resounding success.

• President Trump’s Growing List of Foreign Policy Successes
• One-Hundred-Twenty-Five Amazing Accomplishments of …
• Trump’s biggest accomplishments, failures from his 1-term …

But to others, his international actions have been a fiasco. Most people don’t want to hear about it. But it is true…

• Trump’s Foreign Policy Proves To Be An Unmitigated Disaster
• Trump’s foreign policy is a disaster-—commentary
• Trump’s Foreign Policy Is A Disaster | HuffPost
• Current US Foreign Policy a ‘Disaster,’ Trump Says | Voice …
• Trump has created his biggest foreign policy crisis yet …

Climate

Most conservatives do not believe in “climate change” or that humans have a responsibility to shepherd and manage our natural resources. Instead, they believe that while there are limits, they are near infinite in practicality, and thus all the issues about care for the earth is yet another way to skim money out of the pockets of Americans.

Well, both sides are right and both sides are wrong. But that doesn’t matter. What we are talking about here is the Trump policies concerning climate regarding international treaties.

Since the Trump administration took office, it has been fighting what they call an “anti-growth” agenda put in place by the Obama administration. Regulations that required businesses to spend time and money to meet the former administration’s environmental standards were swiftly reviewed and, in many cases, rolled back.

States, municipalities, and NGOs have responded to these changes by filing lawsuits to block the administration. Some, like lawsuits against the Keystone XL pipeline, have successfully kept public land closed to additional development.

This aspect of his policies has been covered substantially by National Geographic Magazine.

Clean air

1. U.S. pulls out of Paris Climate Agreement

This is perhaps the decision that set the tone for the Trump administration’s approach to the environment: when he moved to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement in June of 2017. To many, it signaled less U.S. leadership in international climate change agreements. (Read more about this decision.)

2. Trump EPA poised to scrap clean power plan

The Clean Power Plan was one of the Obama’s signature environmental policies. It required the energy sector to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030, but in October 2017 it was rolled back by Trump’s EPA. Among the reasons cited were unfair burdens on the power sector and a “war on coal.” (Read more on why Trump can’t make coal great again.)

3. EPA loosens regulations on toxic air pollution

This regulation revolved around a complicated rule referred to as “once in, always in” or OIAI. Essentially, OIAI said that if a company polluted over the legal limit, they would have to match the lowest levels set by their industry peers and they would have to match them indefinitely. By dropping OIAI, the Trump EPA forces companies to innovate ways to decrease their emissions, but once those lower targets are met, they’re no longer required to keep using those innovations. (Read more about air pollution.)

4. Rescinding methane-flaring rules

Under the Affordable Clean Energy rule issued in August 2018, states were given more power over regulating emissions. In states like California, that means regulations would likely be stricter, whereas states that produce fossil fuels are likely to weaken regulations. The following month, the EPA announced they would relax rules around releasing methane flares, inspecting equipment, and repairing leaks. (Read more about methane.)

5. Trump announces plan to weaken Obama-era fuel economy rules

Under the Obama administration’s fuel economy targets, cars made after 2012 would, on average, have to get 54 miles per gallon by 2025. In August 2018, the Trump Department of Transportation and EPA capped that target at 34 miles per gallon by 2021. The decision created legal conflict with states like California that have higher emission caps. (Read more about speed bumps in the way of super-efficient cars.)

Water

6. Trump revokes flood standards accounting for sea-level rise

In August 2017, President Trump revoked an Obama-era executive order that required federally funded projects to factor rising sea levels into construction. However, in 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development required buildings constructed with disaster relief grants do just that. (Read more about how rising sea levels may imperil the internet.)

7. Waters of the U.S. Rule revocation

What are the “waters of the U.S.?” President Trump issued an executive order in 2017 ordering the EPA to formally review what waters fell under the jurisdiction of the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers according to the 1972 Clean Water Act. The proposed change narrowed the definition of what’s considered a federally protected river or wetland. (Read more about Trump’s plans to roll back the Clean Water Act.)

Wildlife

8. NOAA green lights seismic airgun blasts for oil and gas drilling

Five companies were approved to use seismic air gun blasts to search for underwater oil and gas deposits. Debate over the deafening blasts stem from concerns that they disorient marine mammals that use sonar to communicate and kill plankton. The blasts were shot down by the Bureau of Energy Management in 2017 but approved after NOAA found they would not violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act. (Read more about how scientists think seismic air guns will harm marine life.)

9. Interior Department relaxes sage grouse protection

The uniquely American sage grouse, a bird resembling a turkey with spiked feathers, has become the face of the debate between land developers and conservationists. In both 2017 and 2018, the Trump administration Department of Interior eased restrictions on activities like mining and drilling that had been restricted to protect the endangered bird. (Read more about how the sage grouse become caught in the fight over who owns America’s west.)

10. Trump officials propose changes to handling the Endangered Species Act

In July of 2018, the Trump administration announced its intention to change the way the Endangered Species Act is administered, saying more weight would be put on economic considerations when designating an endangered animal’s habitat. (Read more about the rollbacks facing endangered animals.)

11. Migratory Bird Treaty Act reinterpretation

Companies installing large wind turbines, constructing power lines, or leaving oil exposed are no longer violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act if their activities kill birds. This controversial change was declared by the Trump administration in December of 2017. (Read more about why legally protecting birds is important.)

Opening public lands for business

12. Trump unveils plan to dramatically downsize two national monuments

Unlike national parks, which have to be approved by Congress, national monuments can be created by an executive order, which the president said means they can be dismantled just as easily. Such was the case for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, which President Trump reduced and opened for mining and drilling companies in 2017. Tribes and environmental groups are challenging that interpretation in court. (Read more about the impacts of downsizing these two monuments.)

13. Executive order calls for sharp logging increase on public lands

Just a day before the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, President Trump issued an executive order that called for a 30 percent increase in logging on public lands. The decision was billed as wildfire prevention, though environmental groups say it ignores the role climate change plays in starting wildfires. (Read more about California’s historic wildfires.)

Security & Enforcement

14. Trump drops climate change from list of national security threats

The Trump administration’s decision to delist climate change from national security threats in December of 2017 meant less Department of Defense research funding and a nationalistic viewpoint on the potential impacts of wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. (Read more about how climate change is forcing migration in Guatemala.)

15. EPA criminal enforcement hits 30-year low

The size and influence of the EPA has shrunk under the Trump administration, and it’s illustrated by their diminished prosecuting power. Criminal prosecutions are at a 30-year low, and many violations that would have been prosecuted in the past are now being negotiated with companies. The administration says this is streamlining its work, but environmentalists have warned it could lead to more pollution. (Read more about the scientists pushing back against President Trump’s environment agenda.)

But it’s more than that…

Donald Trump does not have a foreign policy; he has moods regarding international affairs. Underneath the volatility of his moods, however, are some convictions:

• That other countries are robbing the U.S. through trade;
• U.S. allies are at best incapable of defending themselves.
• Our allies are unwilling to spend resources in order to do so;
• multilateralism is for the weak.

In many respects, these convictions are fundamentally wrong: over the long term, the U.S. has benefited enormously from …

• A commitment to open trade,
• From alliances beyond immediate transactional quid-pro-quo,
• A multilateral international order,
• U.S. global power projection.

The real tragedy of Trump’s inability to recognize these facts is the negative consequences that his failed foreign affairs beliefs and choices frequently have for those affected by them.

It makes me want to eat, and drink…

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Trump simply makes a lot of bad foreign policy decisions that hurt everyone from U.S. domestic consumers to businesses with international supply chains to leaders of U.S. allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

And for some foreign policy decisions—such as the abrogation of the Iran deal, or engagement with North Korea—the jury is still out. We still do not know how those decisions will pan out, and whether or not they are good or bad.

Nonetheless, occasionally, Trump’s convictions feed instincts leading him to decisions that are fundamentally right. Ironically, however, even when Trump makes ostensibly good foreign policy choices, he executes them so badly, or approaches them from such a chaotic and skewed vantage point, that even those who normally would support the policy in question end up obliged to reject it.

A cursory examination of three of Trump’s major international priorities— [1] relationships with allies, [2] the war in Syria, and [3] U.S.-China trade relations—is indicative of this incongruous dynamic.

[1] Trump’s Treatment of Allies

Arguably, the most enduring of Trump’s foreign policy blunders will be his alienation of U.S. allies, particularly in Europe. He has alienated everyone.

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It’s one thing to raise some long-overdue points about the commitment of allies, but it is another thing to be insulting to them, to cause them to lose face, and to create havoc . His rhetorical antagonism and extortionate attempts to compel their increased defense spending (both on burden-sharing and purchases of U.S. technology) portend a change to less cohesion and more conflict between the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

This behavior is pushing forward a new normal in which the U.S. and its allies consider themselves to have different approaches to international affairs and fewer overlapping interests.

This is dangerous for U.S. security, as the U.S. National Defense Strategy identifies the U.S. alliance network as an asymmetric strategic advantage vis-à-vis competitors such as China or Russia.

If abandonment fears on the part of the U.S.’s European and Indo-Pacific allies could be leveraged for greater alliance investment and strengthening in the long run, then some pressure would make sense.

But Trump has undermined this potential outcome by going too far:

• By stoking right-wing, illiberal nationalism in European states’ domestic politics;
• Fundamentally calling into question NATO,
• And questioning the EU, and U.S. commitment to Indo-Pacific hub-and-spoke allies;
• Browbeating and humiliating European and Asian allies.
• And failing to acknowledge the strategic advantages that U.S. basing rights overseas represent for U.S. global power projection.

Moreover, Trump seems to misunderstand basic facts about alliance burden-sharing (both multilateral and bilateral) and couples his distaste for alliances with a general destabilization of the international order.

Yet, for all that, his instinct that U.S. allies—particularly in NATO—should meet their defense funding obligations (such as the 2% of GDP threshold for NATO countries) is a good one…

… it is one that is supported by many defense and security experts both in the U.S. and internationally.

The open hostility of his rhetoric and the malformed reasoning behind extortionate demands (such as the recently unveiled “Cost plus 50” concept) weaken the persuasiveness of the serious voices who have pushed (and continue to push) for greater commitment from U.S. allies.

At the very least, it makes allied advocates for greater defense spending seem aligned with a U.S. president who apparently does not care about the interests of allied states.

This dynamic hurts their public credibility.

At worst, it undermines these voices’ ability to broker political deals necessary to overcome headwinds on an issue that is sensitive throughout Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

[2] Trump’s Withdrawal Decision

If you want to withdraw from the world stage, then do it. And initially it looked like that was exactly what Trump was doing. And then he started to expand the global military presence. It was confusing and confounding.

There are many good arguments for why the U.S. should not have an armed forces presence in Syria, and thus why Trump should withdraw U.S. troops from that war-ravaged land. To begin with, Trump campaigned on the promise to leave Syria, and a (small) majority of the U.S. population supports the withdrawal policy.

There is also little evidence that the U.S. military role in the country has led to better security outcomes for Syria.

.

As many have argued from the political right, left, and center (as well as from both realist and institutionalist perspectives), U.S. military participation in the Syrian conflict [1] arguably violates international law, [2] is unconstitutional under U.S. law, [3] remains hampered by undefined goals, and [4] has not successfully advanced core U.S. strategic interests (indeed there are legitimate arguments that it undermines U.S. security).

A cynic might even argue that the best strategy for the U.S. in Syria would simply be to let U.S.’s enemies—Iran, the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, Islamic State and sundry terrorist organizations, Russia, etc.—kill each other. And yet, despite there being a relatively sizable group against the U.S. presence in Syria, Trump botched the withdrawal decision.

The announcement was precipitous and made without either U.S. inter-agency review or meaningful consultation with U.S. allies.

• Nor was the decision supported by sound strategic or political reasoning; rather, it was sold on the basis of patent lies about the status of defeat of the Islamic State. Indeed, ISIS carried out a lethal attack shortly after Trump’s announcement of the organization’s defeat.

• As if these self-inflicted wounds to Washington’s reliability and credibility weren’t bad enough, Trump apparently reached the decision after being dubiously convinced by discussions over the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A man whose ulterior motive is clearly not to finish off elements of remaining terrorist groups in the region (thereby aiding the U.S. in the war on terror)…

… and much less to provide for regional stability…

… but rather to weaken, and, if possible, destroy the U.S.’s Kurdish allies.

• To boot, Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria cost him his Defense Secretary, James Mattis, for whom the policy changes were the last straw.

Given their deteriorated relationship, Trump probably considered Mattis’s resignation a blessing. 

But for most experts and allied governments, it was unsettling to see him leave, not only because of his reputation as the last, preeminent “adult at the table” in Trump’s cabinet, but also because, of all things, Mattis left in protest of a failed policy, thus slightly tarnishing his sterling image as the wise warrior-monk.

In the end, this group even undermined partially the withdrawal decision, as both National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walked back parts of the withdrawal commitment during their visits to the Middle East in early 2019.

Regarding Syria, rather than a well thought-out planned withdraw, the decision was conducted on a whim and implemented without any foresight. This kind of decision is what has historically caused nations to collapse, invasions to occur, and people to riot.

[3] The Trade War fiasco

I have written about this in great depth.

As for China, Trump’s instinct to confront it as a strategic competitor is an overdue corrective to the West’s negligence in realizing that China is a rising power.

But how he has dealt with this matter has been catastrophic.

Yet, a trade war, which Trump imagines will solve the U.S.-China trade imbalance, is not the right answer to these issues.

• The fact that many economists do not believe the U.S. trade deficit with China is a problem in the first place.
• In fact, trade wars to repair trade deficits do not lead to progress on structural issues.

Economists disagree about many items of their discipline. However, they are almost uniformly united in the belief that trade wars cause deadweight losses that make all belligerents poorer.

• The tariff-based trade war with China only acts as a tax on U.S. businesses and consumers.
• It has also caused disruption in global supply and production chains.
• It has caused instability in global markets.
• It has fundamentally created a weakening of the free trade norm that underpinned U.S. economic strength.

And so far, China has hardly budged on “structural reform“, as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recently conceded. But they don’t need to implement any changes to their government, their society or their inherent way of life. China is not what the neocons think it is, much to America’s chagrin. China is doing splendidly.

Why throw away your cut of prime steak and eat dog food instead?

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It’s not a popular view point, but that is because 99% of Americans haven’t a clue as to how backwards, and repressed that they have become. Further that they have absolutely no idea of what China is, how it works, or what the Chinese people think.

• Americans think that the Chinese are poor, downtrodden and living in a repressive / suppressive horrible dark and gloomy place. And that America represents the best place in the world.

But…

• The Chinese are happy with their government, their way of life, and view America as a crazy place that is fat, unhealthy and rather dumbed down.

Anyone who counters with the crazy (well, insane) idea that China NEEDS to make substantive changes to their government; “structural reform“, a very successful one at that, seriously needs their fucking head fixed.

If you are driving a Porsche 911, you aren’t going to trade it in for forty year old Pacer.

.

• Chinese trust government more than Americans do – …
• Why Chinese people don’t hate their government – SupChina
• These numbers show why U.S. policy makers are misjudging popular support for China’s government

American policy makers often draw a sharp distinction between what the historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom has termed “big bad China and the good Chinese people,” stressing that today’s more hawkish China policy is directed against the CCP and not the ordinary people who “dream of freedom.” 

Yet China contains multitudes — not just dissidents, democrats, and  human rights defenders — and many Chinese are vocal supporters of their  government.
 Indeed, various multinational opinion surveys consistently find a “high level of regime support”  in China, even after factoring in the possibility that some people hide  their dissatisfaction for fear of political repercussions. In 2014, Pew  Global Research found that a staggering 92% of respondents had “confidence” in their country’s leader, Xi Jinping.

In addition, Trump is a poor, untrustworthy messenger, the optics of the trade war rollout—such as using dubious national security grounds to justify tariffs—have allowed China to plausibly appear a victim of U.S. economic aggression in general and Trump’s bad faith in particular.

This is a universal opinion.

• Trump issues orders banning TikTok and WeChat from …

As with the other examples above, the whole U.S.-China trade war situation undermines the voices of those who advocate dealing with the problem through more targeted and effective measures.

Ironically, remaining locked into a trade war with negative spillover effects to other countries, especially allies, potentially pushes them away from the U.S.’s position. Indeed, the U.S. is having difficulty convincing allies—including France and Germany—not to purchase Huawei’s 5G technology, despite the unproved security risks that Washington says they have.

In the end, the consequences of Trump’s poor foreign policy choices go beyond the irony that analysts, pundits, and policymakers are compelled to abjure policy directions that they otherwise support.

Good policy choices need solid execution and messaging to have their intended effects.

Unfortunately, even Trump’s good ideas—increased allied financial commitment to security and defense burden-sharing, extricating the U.S. from some of the messiest and most hopeless aspects of Middle East conflict, and pushing back against Beijing’s violations of trade norms—are undermined by his approach to concretizing policy.

Trump is the anti-Midas—even the gold he accidentally touches turns to dirt. This warps debate about future policy choices and will restrict future options because we will have “tried that before.”

Global nuclear conflict was avoided in 2020 just narrowly. There is no doubt in the halls of MM that that would have been the result of the planned “hot war” in the South China Sea by Trump.

How can you believe anything out of the American media?

So why all this propaganda directed towards Americans that Biden will be “tough on China”?

I have identified numerous reasons.

Keep in mind that the "President" has limited powers and range of abilities. That they are all playing a role and are puppets controlled by higher forces hiding behind the scenes.

• To convince the donors who funded the Trump campaign, that their investments will not be wasted.
• To convince the American citizenry to keep on hating China, until a new villain can be established, and the anger and disgust siphoned away and redirected towards it.
• To keep Wall Street positive and in the black.

And my thoughts on the media narrative…

While limited war, using nuclear weapons, was avoided. The (8 +1) bio-weapon assaults were not, and the globe is now dealing with the spillover from the bio-weapons attacks on China by the Trump administration.

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That being said, MM anticipates a Biden Presidency to right some wrongs and correct some of the damage that the Trump administration inflicted on the global stage. But it will not be complete. There is much that remains raw and that will boil and fester into other issues down the road in the future.

Trump has completed his role. He has successfully isolated America from the global stage, and much of the internal discord and turmoil that will occur in the next five years will be geographically limited to the North American continent.

Biden can do anything, but I anticipate a redirection of hostilities towards Russia. This is a very dangerous turn of events. But if you know the whole and real story it makes sense.

Were Trump to actually successfully enact a “hot war” with China, it would have been a Waterloo moment (for America) with a minimum of three aircraft carrier groups sinking in internal Chernobyl fires, and uncountable submarines as well.

At that, you can pretty much expect a limited nuclear response and all of the top 20 largest American cities would be in radioactive ruins today. New York, Washington, LA, Chicago, Houston, Boston, San Francisco… all would be gone.

But this world-line did not run this way, did it?

Now…

You can say “phew” and wipe your forehead. Yay!

But…

…like I have stated in regards to [1] start, [2] end and [3] signposts on a person’s lifeline, the same is true for groups of people and societies. The end of the USA was not prevented.

It was only postponed.

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