John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MOHAMED EL-ERIAN IN THE GUARDIAN
"The G7 has not been dealt a fatal blow..."
Well, not quite so fast.
It takes a while to feel the full impact of something like Trump's G-7 performance.
It was nothing less than frightening.
And Trump's every step and word since has been equally frightening, I think it possible the G-7 will come to mark something of an historical watershed.
You see, already Europe eats a great deal of American crap - everything from politely accepting its rampage through the Middle East, which has directly hurt Europe through masses of piteous refugees, to supporting America’s massive assault on Russia, which costs Europe literally billions in trade and impedes cooperation of every description for no rational cause.
Those needlessly destructive things could be accepted for a while from an old ally whom Europe knows is suffering from internal problems and having doubts about its future identity, but can they continue to be accepted from the extended nightmare America rapidly is becoming?
Who really is more dangerous to Europe's long-term interests, a Russia wanting to cooperate and be a productive partner or an America taking every possible opportunity to oppose, to argue, to call names, and to pile on still more demands for eating crap?
Whether it is caging children at its border or quitting United Nations’ organizations like UNESCO and the Human Rights Council or killing legally-innocent people with drones on an industrial scale or slapping down European sensibilities in everything from the environment to telling them from whom they may buy commodities or ripping-up valid, working international agreements, we see a steady march towards a kind of international nihilism from America.
It is very unsettling, and there appears to be no end in sight. In the serious American efforts now underway to start a massive international trade war, openly boasting about something that will hurt the entire planet and possibly contribute to toppling an already weak international economic system into depression, it is hard to believe that traditional Western alignments can remain unaffected.
As in an old marriage where one of the partners suddenly turns abusive and intolerably demanding, the old friendly ties of alliance cannot be stretched to accept just anything.
Some very dangerous and unpleasant people now are running American policy, and Trump is just the ugliest big-mouth among them. A spokesperson from hell. He certainly is not alone in determining the nation’s course. Indeed, American government doesn’t work that way. Presidential powers are quite limited except in the role of commander-in-chief in a war. America may not be terribly democratic, but power is divided among established elite groups – the Senate, the House, powerful lobbies, the major security services, and the Pentagon - and some consensus is absolutely required for extreme policies and acts.
Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/john-chuckman-essay-hurtling-into-darkness-americas-great-leap-towards-global-tyranny/
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/john-chuckman-essay-dangerous-flailing-and-bellowing-of-the-beast/
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/decline-of-the-american-empire/
