This post signals a partial return of my blog. It is only a partial return. I have had several health issues that have interfered with my maintaining this blog.
For those in Europe and other places who have felt a great deal of discomfort due to Teumpˋs actions and/or rhetoric, I have a message for you from America: Welcome to our world. Since Trumpˋs reelection, myself and many others have felt an unrelenting anguish and anxiety. Our anguish is due to the suffering he inflicts on others, and our anxiety is due to what may com our way. Trumpˋs demeanor and behavior have us singing an adaptation of a song from Wicked: Where will he strike next?
Of course we Americans only have ourselves to blame. As George Carlin used to say, selfish, ignorant people elect selfish, ignorant officials. And we should note that many of us, especially those who share my faith, have enthusiastically joined the ranks of those people. For we have pursued not only authoritarianism, but ignorance with a passion. Many of us have locked ourselves up in conservative echos chambers, some of which I suspect are heavily influenced by Vlad Putin, since our authoritarianism has controlled whom we listen to and whom we donˋt by telling us to automatically accept or reject what a source says by who who source is.
We Americans are at fault also because we have passionately embraced a corporate narcissism regarding our nation--such as proclaiming that we are the greatest nation in the history of the world. And it was America that produced Donald Trump. As Carlin noted about our politicians, their parents, schools, the society they grew up in, and its economic system was, and still are, American.
Trumpˋs American experience taught him that domination and acquisition are leading criteria that measure greatness. And so note that Trump reduces America to be an extension of himself. That is why He called the British move to relinquish land on Diego Garcia 'stupid' rather than recognizing how principled a move that was. That is why Trumpˋs false claim that our giving Greenland back to Denmark after WW II was 'stupid.' And that is the reason why Trump saw America under Biden as a complete failure even though Biden brought down inflation and unemployment rates to low levels and that America still had the strongest economy in the world.
Trumpˋs reduction of America to an extension of himself also includes his ego. This is why Trump sees America as the leader and rest of the West, if not the world, as followers, and why his view of America being that 'city on the hill' as being totally self-sufficient while the world flocks to us for our products.
BTW, there is another reason why we see Trumpˋs grasp for unrestrained power. Try as he did, he could not grab that kind of power domestically. That is due to the remnants of our judicial branch and that there were just enough non-authoritarian Americans.
But enough about us. And so, Trump has turned his sights on the Western Hemisphere. And his Blitzkrieg abduction of Maduro and hostile takeover of Venezuela have had the same effect on him that tasting blood has on some animals. And instead of considering wider issues, Trump and his gang tried to focus solely on the results rather than the means. That focus implies 'the ends justify the means' ethic.
A while back ago, a former MI6 boss, Sir Alex Younger, stated on a BBC show that with Trump, the world has descended into a world of strongman leaders. It's not that there were no such leaders before. For there was already Putin, Jinping, and Netanyahu. What each of these leaders have in common is that they feel entitled to obtaining their respective targets. And so here we should note that trying to negotiate with those who feel cheated out of what they perceive is legitimately theirs is almost an impossible dream.
What is new now is that a sitting U.S. President has brazenly joined the gang of such leaders. And what else should we expect from an authoritarian leader like Donald Trump. Such leaders want their followers to automatically accept or reject what is said depending on who said it. Here we should note the felt need that such leaders have for such followers. Along with his narcissism, that should reveal to us why such leaders are so offended by dissent and challenges.
And so while the Greenland deal has yet to be accepted, we find ourselves in the new world that was accurately depicted by Prime Minister Mark Carneyˋs landmark speech at the World Economic Forum. As for Trump, his sense of urgency to obtain Greenland could be revelatory. Was his urgency due to his Nobel Peace Prize snubbery or does he know something about his health that we donˋt know? Or is Trump trying divert European attention and resources away from Ukraine? Or is there another possible explanation for his current focus on Greenland? Remember that from almost day 1 of his 2nd term, he made obtaining Greenland, and Canada a priority for his Presidency.
Finally, while Trump apologists, including at least some Christian ones, focus their attention on what Trump accomplishes and away from his means. His threat to use force in obtaining Greenland might tell us that Trump's ways of getting what he wants may not always be innocent. For example, compare Trump's threat of using force, especially on the heels Trump's attack on Venezuela, with the U.S. Army's definition of terrorism:
the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological. This definition emphasizes the targeting of noncombatants and critical infrastructure to influence policy
As to how close Trump's threat to take Greenland by force is an example of that definition, you be the judge.
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