As baseball season begins, I'm reminded of the old adage, "You can't tell a player without a program" and it seems there are more players than we can count and we don't have a program.
The Russians are certainly involved, but whether it is official Kremlin policy or simply turning a blind eye, I can't say. Putin's a clever guy and I imagine he has mastered plausible deniability and his ass is well covered. To say that Putin hated Hillary is a stretch, I think. Hate implies an emotional component and Putin is too pragmatic, too cool and calculating, for that sort of thing. Matter of fact, I don't recall ever seeing Putin in the kind of blustering rant that our own president is well known for. He has ice in his veins, can tolerate collateral damage, and as long as the political situation in the US is disrupted I don't think he really cared who won the presidency but the "useful idiot" in the White House makes his job much easier. It''s no wonder that Trump has expressed admiration for Vlad; the man is in control and Trump isn't.
Disruption in the US is only part of the plan; look at what's happening in Europe. Brexit, the elections in France, there are Russian fingerprints everywhere, even if they're not Putin's. There's a new beef developing between Britain and Spain regarding the fate of Gibraltar; I've even seen the word war mentioned. A collapse of the European Union is in Russia's best interest but I don't know the endgame. Economic dominance? Winning hearts and minds?
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Then there's the other big player, China. It will be interesting to see what transpires at Mar-A-Lago later this week. But Xi Jinping will be visiting Finland before arriving in Florida, and I wonder why. To bolster the EU, perhaps, and cut some kind of trade deals to help the EU overcome any Russian influence? There are many prickly issues between the US and China. Trade, of course, but also North Korea and Taiwan, and I don't think Trump is in a strong position to negotiate anything. If Xi Jinping is unhappy with Trump's handshake he could tell him to go fuck himself and stop all trade between China and the US; they have enough of the global market as it is and may be able to weather any temporary shortfall caused by a trade ban. And then what, besides no more cheap consumer goods from Walmart, Harbor Freight, or Ivanka's line of fine clothing? Also, a lot of products "made in America" are comprised of Chinese components; electronics, motors, plastics, and metal parts. US manufacturing, such as it is, will take a tremendous hit and I can't think of any US exports that China can't get elsewhere. There were some agreements recently that kept China in line regarding intellectual property, but they could throw those out and start stealing stuff again. Who's going to stop them? Americans have grown to love their inexpensive products and that may put us over a barrel, trade-wise.
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We don't need more reminders of the ineptitude of the White House, but this is a gem. Last week there was a ceremony in the Oval Office for the signing of two executive orders, and Trump walked out of the ceremony without signing them. Great optics!
Speaking of executive orders, remember those orders that rescinded some of the clean air regulations by the EPA? The saga of strange bedfellows continues, with ExxonMobil and General Electric having misgivings about those orders. From Vanity Fair: Even the nation’s most notorious polluters are uncomfortable with Donald Trump’s new executive action rolling back Barack Obama’s policies to reduce carbon emissions, protect the environment, and restrict the construction of new coal plants. At least some big corporations are not in denial, and can see the writing on the wall; perhaps others will follow.
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Have either of the dawgs watched Dancing with the Stars?
Sorry, no. "Reality programs" seldom resonate with me, as they are mostly scripted and seldom real. I understand they have good entertainment value for many regular folks, though. Just about all of my reality TV input comes from YouTube these days, but a lot of those videos are fake, too. The recent Nobel Laureate once proclaimed in a song, "Propaganda, all is phony," and he nailed it.
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Twill is a funny word; I always think of Tweety Bird being "twilled" to witness Sylvester's failed efforts.
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