John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PAT BUCHANAN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
Trump's Enemies Are Hysterical Because He's Out-Maneuvering Them
"Trump is edging toward the defining battle of his presidency: a reshaping of U.S. foreign policy to avoid clashes and conflicts with Russia, and the shedding of Cold War commitments no longer rooted in the national interests of this country."
I'm totally in favor of good Russian-American relations, and I want Russia to come to enjoy her time in the sun, but I am sorry to say that I don't for a minute believe there is any way Trump is going to establish those relations or give Russia her opportunity.
He does not have any leverage over the power players in Washington’s establishment. He is a loud outsider with a minority constituency in trailer parks and Walmarts across America, and those are not influential people. The truth is, if the Democrats hadn’t insisted on running the repulsive Hillary, he would never have won.
But even in winning, he was supported only by a minority. It was the antiquated Electoral College system that handed him victory, a fluke that happens every once in a while. Despite his political base, he is not popular in the United States.
Everywhere he goes abroad, he makes enemies with his rash, unguarded tongue. And he has nothing to “horse trade” with the Congress in Washington. He cannot even get his beloved wall with Mexico built.
With each passing day, we see Trump for what he really is, a bizarre clown or village idiot who, every once in a while, happens to blurt out some truth or sharp observation along with great quantities of rubbish.
His truths almost resemble random events, not the kind of thing you can put much stock into.
Just because he says the odd line with which I agree, as about relations with Russia, does not change my opinion of him.
By the way, besides all of his other poor qualities – poor understanding of many things, not listening to others, immense arrogance, and very little couth - Trump has no sense of loyalty to anyone, a fact we can observe in everything from his behavior towards associates to his marriage. Add to that is tendency to lie and exaggerate almost continuously, and you do not see a politician who inspires confidence in other politicians with whom he must work.
I think he will achieve little.
But Putin is using Trump skillfully to achieve his own limited goals, which very much include striking any jabs possible against Washington's anti-Russian establishment, shaking up their sense of unity and self-confidence.
What better tool than a man like Trump whose immense ego lets him think he can play in the big leagues? He is a gift to Putin.
Of course, the more successful Putin is in his maneuvers, the worse things become for Trump. The more the powers in Washington can choose to see him as being a Russian tool.
Trump's legions of opponents in Washington - including important parts of his own party, something many observers keep missing as they consistently accuse Democrats - are only going to have more motive for getting rid of him, more motive for incapacitating him, more motive for making life difficult for him.
If he isn’t impeached before his term is out (I would have completely discounted the possibility before, but facts about Trump’s ex-lawyer and the Special Prosecutor are starting to sound more threatening), he will be defeated in 2020, and in the meantime, the 2018 Congressional elections will likely make him a “lame duck” President, one unable to get anything done. In the American system, a President with little or no Congressional support gets nothing done.
I doubt Putin cares much about Trump’s fate because I'm sure that clever and subtle man sees Trump for just what he is, but right now, he has some use for him. It seems Putin has little to lose in the effort, unless he overplays his hand, which is unlikely with such a skillful player. He can make some gain, risking little loss. Washington’s Russophobia is already at epidemic proportions, and backlash against Trump will give great satisfaction to Trump’s enemies, perhaps serving almost as a kind of general pressure valve release.
As a measure of how completely off-the-tracks Trump is, just consider his economic and trade initiatives, if I may use that word, "initiatives,' for such utterly destructive, chaotic behavior. Does anyone think that a man who behaves like that in one vital sphere is somehow able to perform miracles in another?
Just read this brief article from Russia Today as one measure of things:
https://www.rt.com/business/433854-trade-war-to-accelerate-decline/
