Patriots Play for Super Bowl: Moscow Cheers for Trump: Trump Moves Embassy and Lifts Sanctions

moscow paintingI saw this photograph and read an article in the Economist that brought chills to me. It is a triptych painting featuring Mr Trump, Vladimir Putin and the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen. It was in the middle of a room in Moscow.

The article noted that “many in Moscow herald [Trump’s] populist, isolationist message as a sign that an era of American global leadership is ending. “Cracks have appeared in the globalist world,” Leonid Reshetnikov, a retired general from Russia’s foreign intelligence service, told the crowd at the inauguration party. “Now the main thing is to widen them.””

Today the Boston Patriots play the Pittsburgh team to see which team will go on to the Super Bowl. Take a moment as you put the TV on mute or lower the volume to think of what is happening. The world mourns while Russia cheers. Who would ever have thought?

And while you do that I want you to recall the words that Trump spoke in his inauguration speech: “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first.”

Now tell me how moving the American embassy to Jerusalem which I predict will be one of Trump’s first acts puts America first.

It doesn’t. It endangers America by turning the whole Muslim world against us. The Jerusalem Post wrote about it here.

According to Michael Koplaw, policy director of the Israel Policy Forum, the Jordanian government has even called moving the embassy a redline – and that, he told The Jerusalem Post, “is something that should not be taken lightly. We can’t assume that the embassy will be moved, but if it does get moved, you have to assume that there will be violence and protests of some sort, whether it be ‘officially’ sanctioned by groups or if there will be protests against American embassies.”

By moving the embassy, the United States risks losing any hope to portray itself an as honest broker or negotiator between Israel and Palestinians, and risks sending a message to the Palestinians that Washington is no longer interested in a twostate solution, despite Trump saying that he would work to bring forth a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

While Trump has already indicated several departures from traditional American foreign policy, his pledge to move the US Embassy has alarmed many, and has led to the Palestinians warning that “the gates of hell will be opened in the region and the world.”

“Moving the embassy would have all sorts of consequences for Israeli security, and I hope the incoming [Trump] administration will take them seriously,” Koplow told thePost. “It’s not just moving the embassy and be done with it. People need to consider if it’s worth one Israeli, Palestinian or American life to move the embassy to Jerusalem.”

It is more than that.

You can also expect that Trump will also undo the most recent sanctions that Obama imposed on Russia that were designed to punish it for interfering in our election. The day the sanctions were imposed Trump’s top intelligence adviser Flynn engaged in five telephone conversations with the Russian ambassador. One can reasonably infer that he gave assurances that Trump would quickly remove the sanctions which accounts for Putin’s decision not to retaliate as is normally done when people are expelled from the country. It also sends a message to Putin that what he did is fine. Who would ever have thought?

Neither relocating the embassy or giving the Russians a pass on their activities against us is putting America first. But then again we know that Trump often will do the opposite of what he says.

Enjoy the game!

 

9 Comments

  1. Matt,

    On your January 18th post, I noticed you made a negative comment regarding Glen Greenwald. Greenwald’s views are shared by many people. The Deep State is as dangerous as any Trump appointee. Dwight Eisenhower thought enough of it that he warned against it as he was leaving office in ’61. I highly suggest Mike Lofgren’s book, “The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of the Shadow Government.”

    However, I think the divide between the intelligence community and the Trump administration is a good thing. I akin it to the divide between the generals within the Wehrmact, who weren’t necessarily Nazis, but considered themselves professional solders, and the hardcore fanatics of the SS and the Nazi Party. Those generals against Hitler were from the old guard Prussian “establishment,” while most of the hardcore Nazis were relatively new to the scene. I don’t throw comparisons to Nazis around lightly, but at this point it is hard to ignore the similarities between our current politics and Germany in 30s.

    An even scarier proposition is a Deep State and Trump administration alliance. Handing Trump the reigns to an all powerful surveillance and assassination apparatus is terrifying to say the least. While the Deep State may not serve the interests of the People, it at least is attempting to maintain the status quo that would have remained should Hillary have been elected. Obama’s greatest failure was his failure to dismantle this system. Instead he built it up and allowed it to fall into the hands of a true psychopath.

    Trump’s victory is awful for the country due to his admin’s nationalist-fascist tendencies (we are already seeing Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer act as Trump’s propagandists by denying the facts regarding inauguration crowds and suggesting “alternative facts”). The fact that Steve Bannon, the nationalist/fascist fake news peddler of Breitbart.com, is in the White House cabinet is shocking and disgusting. Jeff Sessions for AG will be the enforcer of these policies (or lack of enforcement if you heard his comments on not believing in the existence of anti-female and anti-gay discrimination).

    Trump’s other cabinet picks are filled with a bunch of billionaires. I read somewhere (while not verified) that the combined wealth of his cabinet exceeds 1/3 of the rest of the U.S. population. This means that we will still be subjected to the debunked theory of trickle-down economics while fascists suppress our rights on social issues. While Trump is an isolationist by nature, he has stated time and time again we need to build up our military even more (highly unnecessary),and go after ISIS with more force (presumably boots on the ground). He will also feel political pressure from Bush era neocons in Congress to be hawkish towards Iran. We are living in a national nightmare.

    The media and the Democrats have done the country a terrible disservice. Because their collusion was exposed, the media and the establishment Dems have lost all legitimacy in the eyes of many citizens. This means that even if they are reporting facts and attempting to expose Trump’s lies, they will be shouted down with the examples of their past transgressions during the election. This is very troubling because the media and the Dems are the only ones who can stem the tide of this insane and irrational movement.

    I am still torn on whether the Wikileaks revelations about the Democratic party were a good thing or not. While I am thrilled that the corruption between Clinton, big money, and the media has finally been exposed, I think it led to the greater evil winning the election. I voted for HRC because I knew that while she stood for big $$, she would at least maintain the status quo until a true progressive could get into office and make real, positive changes in this country. Now I just hope and pray that the rights afforded to us in our Constitution will still remain in 2020.

    It is a scary time to be alive.

  2. John King McDonald

    I believe it was the BRAVO H-BOMB test in the Bikini Atoll late 50:s : The 6-7 Megaton yield chain reacted to 15 Megatons. Observers stationed …. 200 miles … away, could read the fine print of a newspaper during this nightime test … for several minutes. HELLO DADDY 🙂

  3. Bill Clinton and the second Bush both promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem. There is a law on the books mandating the move. It is of disputed constitutionality. To my lights it is a bad move. Still, to complain that a politician is keeping his word is a weak argument.

  4. “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.”

    Psalm 137:5

  5. Good analysis, Matt. Let’s hope President Trump thinks long and hard before he makes any fateful decisions.