America & Allies Are Screwed = Trump

Well America, Allies and Friends, welcome to our current global state of affairs – “We are all screwed!”

However – If you are a follower of the “Fake News” phenomenon, it is best you stop here and go elsewhere…

 

As many Americans already knew, Trump was not the person who should have won the White House nor should he continue to be the person sitting in the White house. It is still not 100% clear why so many of Trump’s base continue to support him.  But it does appear that more people now recognize that they should not have supported him, after they have suffered economically under the stewardship of this current president.

Is this Trump support borne out of ignorance, lack of intelligence, poor ethics, bad integrity, willingness to suppress other people just so they could be (or appear) superior….?  Some combination of those items?  All of those choices?

Why is it that with all of the content out there in the public spaces that so many people who “should” know better, do not know better…?  We have people like McConnell in the senate refusing to do the right thing, which is, removing the clear and present danger of a leader who wants to undertake illegal activities to ensure his own power. Then we have people like Giuliani who was kind of a hero when 9/11 happened – but look at him now, he ‘appears’ to be broken in so many ways and ethics seem to no longer matter to him.

If you, the reader, need to have a fact checking session here, it means you are not up to date with what is going on over the past several years or refuse to face reality with what is going on. Nothing so onerous as a bad leader (leader is purported in this case) can be ignored by a leader who constantly:

• lies on every topic,
• chooses to favor political friends instead of what is better and the right thing to do for the majority of people,
• chooses to favor authoritarian and dictatorial leaders of other countries (China, Russia, Philippines, Turkey, N. Korea – enough?) over leaders of democratic and progressive countries and the people of countries who are or trying to be democratic and progressive,
• makes outlandish claims to secure favor with many (talking about Trump’s base here) who are not thinking (or refuses to think) clearly or logically or unselfishly – and never follows through with those claims (think factories, think coal plants),
• uses foul language in public discourse,
• (we will not discuss nepotism here, okay?),
• tears down decades old trust between global allies,
• due to lack of action (or refusing to recognize it) on his part against hate crime, white supremacists and racism – allowing the hate to grow and fester and grow further,
• allows illegal activities to take place under their purview without saying a word or lifting a finger (well, okay Trump did say, “Oh this or that person did do a bad thing – I feel sorry for them and wish them well”) to put a stop to it and setting precedents for the next person who wants to attempt doing illegal activities

How does one gain or hold trust with a leader who has all of these characteristics?

How does one begin to trust a leader once someone becomes aware of those characteristics?

How does anyone want to follow a leader who should be a role model when that leader (Trump) is seen on international television shoving the Montenegro Prime Minister out of the way so he could be at the front of the crowd?

So, in going back to “being screwed”. With this current American president in place, we now have decades of global growth set back on its heels. And we appear to have opened the gates further for foreign governments doing heinous activities in multiple regions, setting the groundwork for ‘more’ nationalism and more dictatorial growth to happen.

Look at Russia’s continued attempted growth, such as setting up bases in the Arctic Circle and repression of choice and political parties (where opponents are arrested or killed). Look at China creating man-made islands in the South China Sea in order to grow their hegemony and sphere of influence and the disappearing act of Uighur villages/towns. Look at N. Koreas’ continued missile development and testing near Japan.

But what is America doing while all of this is going on? Not a bloody thing!!!!

This American president wants Turkey to be a favored friend because of Trump property in Turkey while Turkey invades Syria. Is genocide under way now in Syria – you tell us…

Trump wants Putin to best buds while Russia continues to make inroads in Ukraine and continues to with a death grip on oil into Ukraine and Europe.

Trump wants to be BFF with Mohammed bin Salman for buying weapons (and whatever else is going on between them), while bin Salman has this perpetual cloud hanging over him with the death of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

 

We could go on and on belaboring the following regarding Trump’s ‘lack of’:

• mental fitness,
• global awareness,
• strategic thinking capabilities,
• fiscal policy making,
• political acumen (unless it illegal then he gets an A+),
• logical thinking capabilities,
• empathy (such as with Heather Heyer, poverty in America, discrimination that is ongoing every day, genocide of Uighurs in Western China, genocide that is appearing to take place in Syria, inequality, well, the list can keep going),
• equality (alleged racist views),
• etc.,
• etc., etc…..

this list is endless but we have already lost a lot of readers already by this point.

The bottom line is, the American President (yes, a capital ‘P’ is used here because it is NOT talking about Trump) is SUPPOSED to be a global role model, someone that anyone and everyone is willing to follow and WANTS to follow. How does anyone in their right mind want to follow a person who talks about and revels in “grabbing a woman by the _ _ _ _ Y”!!!???? NO-ONE-SHOULD-BE-FOLLOWING-THAT-KIND-OF-PERSON at any time for any sane or moral reason. And all women (and most men) should have been appalled by that alone and put the person who said it on the trash heap without a second thought.

The only kind of person that follows a ‘leader’ like that is if that person already has a decrepit sense of self, with poor moral compasses and where lying, self-aggrandizement, selfishness and corruption are already the person’s bed rock foundation. To top that off, the person who is following that kind of leader may be highly educated as well, who should know better – yet they continue to follow that kind of leader out of a poor sense of direction, by becoming lost somewhere along the lines of their lives.

Because of this current president, in the past few years, how much time and money have we as a country spent trying to prove illegalities and uncover cover ups?

 

America, Allies and Friends – WE ARE SCREWED allowing leaders like Trump to remain in place. We are doomed to going backwards, reversing DECADES of hard-fought victories against racism and sexism and equality and growth.

We are screwed in lost opportunities of building better and even stronger alliances with partners around the world. Yet MONEY is becoming the driving force with leaders in position who care less about their people and more with lining their own pockets with GOLD.  Look at Erdogan, Putin and Xi – how does a country’s leader become that insanely rich in any legal and logical fashion?

We are screwed in lifting up people from the bottom rungs of society and helping to make them better and crucial members of society but we cannot seem to make health care an affordable staple of their lives – OH, WAIT. We “DID” have that but certain members of our government parties (national to state level) want to continue to whittle away at it until it too is gone.

 

So, how much longer are people of America going to continue to side with people that only want to have power for themselves and their ‘buds’ while the majority of America continues to suffer with, well, everything…?

This is where you, fellow Americans have to raise your eyes in looking to the future and your voice to bring everyone along for the growth we should have already continued with after 2016.

Now is the time to put a stop to all of the illegal nonsense taking place in America’s government, bring back America’s allies, block and stop the growth of dictators and authoritarian leaders and invest in America’s future (infrastructure, education, the poor, the sickly, the folks of America’s mid-west who feel left out).  We, America, could have infrastructure projects like the old Tennessee Valley Authority to put people to work – roads, bridges, schools, society – if we come together with the same purpose and goal of growing EVERYBODY!!!

 

Otherwise, well, WE-ARE-SCREWED as a society if we continue to allow individuals like Trump, McConnell (he is added here due to his willingness to block anything and not speak up for what is right), Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Kim Jong Un, and on and on… That is, unless you are one of the “Fake News” followers (or purveyors).

    

Trump = NYET!!!

For those who do not know, “Nyet” means ‘No’ in Russian.

The current president in the White House, well, not an individual a fairly large number of us would ever want to protect or give our lives for or share a fox-hole with. However, in doffing our hats to the Secret Service, in protecting the position for whichever person is serving as president – YOU DO AN OUTSTANDING JOB!!!

Now, getting back to the current American president and NYET.

• N = Not a role model any person alive on the planet would want to emulate. Who in a sane state of mind would willingly emulate a known pathological liar (there are many documented incidents out there and the reason why he is desperately striving to hide his tax and all financial records from ‘anyone’ ever seeing those documents).
• N = Narcissistic – [Okay, okay, okay… I snuck in a second ‘N’ but saying N^2YET or double N,YET does not translate well….] Need we say more – this is beyond the pale in the lengths this individual goes to, to say “Hey, look at me, I am the best there has ever been. We had the largest turnout ever for when I was sworn in. I have had more progress in the first year, no, the first six months of being in office. Everyone loves me, it does not matter that they are all dictators and authoritarian leaders who suppress their own people – why, those leaders control the voters, sorry, the votes by means of controlling the media and military and law enforcement. Those leaders are doing a wonderful job in their countries.” — In the meantime, in as many countries as possible, humanity is trying our best to remove all dictators and authoritarian leaders from office and move to a democratic process – and yes, it includes, China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Rwanda, Chile, Brunei, Venezuela and more (do not forget N. Korea).
  
• Y = Yearning to be even more Narcissistic, to be the one in the spot light even if it means shoving a Prime Minister out of the way in a highly public venue (recall when our president did that to the Prime Minister of Montenegro back in May 2017 at that NATO meeting….?).
• E = Ethics – well, there ‘APPEARS‘ to be no ethics at all where it concerns this American president. All that ‘SEEMS‘ to matter to this person is whether he can line his pocket with more profits (allegedly of course) or not and how he can put in place more yes men/women who will kowtow to him regardless of what the subject matter is. It could be putting in place people who knowingly vote in favor of this president – without any foresight on their part as to the amount of damage, harm and financial cost will take place as a result of their caving in… Wait, it is also possible these individuals may not care about the future results and only want the instant gratification they gain right now – as willing sycophants…
• T = Transparency – Can anyone in America explicitly and without qualifiers say that this current president is transparent in all matters? In any matter? We have a president who seems to solely embrace obfuscation (i.e. excessive lying), opaqueness, deceit and ever constant misdirection (in our intelligence world, it would be considered a successful misinformation campaign…). 

What is it going to take for Americans to come to their senses and see through whatever facade this president seems to have thrown up to bedazzle (blind) people to his many negative faults.

This of course is aimed at the many people who blindly follow this president without thinking through the logic. Are these people following the president:

• through so much delusion because they cannot use logic and think about the strategic benefits of doing certain activities?
• because these followers want to return to the 1960s and back, where people of a certain ethnicity (we have faith that you can figure out what is being discussed in this bullet) and primarily male had control of everything and suppressed people of color and women and gay folks? Do these followers really want to return darker days of suppression and repression; forcing women into back alley abortions; causing disenfranchised minorities turn to violent means to get the right to vote and be put on the same playing field as others?
• because the filter bubbles they seem to have been ensnared in is so reinforcing due to its brainwashing effects – that they can no longer see the abundant truth that is out there and easily found (ask the anti-vaxxers who slowly discovered that the anti-vaxxer world is full of deceit and lies)?
• willing to forego civility and return to barbaric methods to force out people of color and immigrants from America? Originally, this land belonged to people of color (Native Americans and Mexicans) – the land was taken away from its rightful owners by force and forced those people at that time into subjugation as well as bringing over slaves to build “their empire” – please remember that

This country has spent a significant amount of money in slashing successfully working regulations and practices and reverting to older, harmful and damaging practices. We now allow the:

• oil industry to oversee their own safety program in the ocean drilling zones (think back to the massive oil leak from the ocean floor when the safety valve failed on that drilling rig).
• energy companies to dump toxic waste into rivers – if you believe this is incorrect, go check out the ‘current’ practices Duke Energy of N. Carolina is able to do now (and keep potash dumps in mind when you do your own research…).
• Dept of Education to implement programs that are geared towards private schools and vouchers – INSTEAD of focusing on ‘PUBLIC education‘ and improving it to where it should be, ACROSS the board, in all communities, in order to match other countries with better educational programs and successes.

And you know what else that is even scarier?

It is going to take America decades to recover from the wasted efforts and revenue lost in the 2016 – 2020 time frame. From:

• tracking down and proving all the illegal activities (by this individual and those that this person put in place around him) prior to getting into the White House and since getting there,
• bad social and economic programs,
• poor diplomatic relationships with other countries – explicitly our long time allies to poor economic associations with our N. American neighbors and other prospering and suffering countries around the globe.

Think about it, health care, financial reform (in the public / private sectors as well as in politics), economic growth.

And let’s not forget the amount of incivility introduced into the world of politics and public discourse as of 2016 when this president brought gutter level conversation, interaction and thinking with him to the world stage. What sane, forward thinking leader would ever utter the words “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and not lose votes“? The worse of the worse came out of the wood works across America with other bad world leaders uttering the same garbage.

It is going to take us a long time to start bringing civility, where more people care about each other instead of reverting to denying them rights and space. It will take time for growth, for all, to take off again in America.

Do we have time…?  Look at the current lack of progress and thinking on Climate Change in America…. that should be the canary in the coal mine as to the path this country is on… We have a leader that has no path forward with regards to; diplomacy, military superiority in the in the name of peace and not fear, economic prosperity for all and a strategy as to how America and the world can grow – together.

 

Oh! And yes, this is the person that others refer to as the “Orange Man” and other ignominious titles/handles…

The Voices of Women – Meaningless? And the Erosion of Democracy…

Apologies to the length of this writing (this is TL;DR for some) but Trump, Kavanaugh, McConnell, Flake, Collins, Hatch, Graham, Manchin and injustice is making life, well, Topsy-turvy to be polite…

Well. It appears that the voices of women mean nothing where it is most important – in sexual assaults (and in every day life to be fair). Even if an event happened 30+ years ago, the voice and statements of a woman are still important.

As of today, Saturday – Oct 6, 2018, America has voted onto the Supreme Court an individual with more divisiveness; with a more controversial background than Clarence Thomas had.

I’m a guy and what women say IS important, always!

That is, until it is proven it is not true. But, where it is ambiguous and no concrete evidence can be found, many of us will side with the woman – not just give lip service and say ‘we believe her’ as certain members of Congress have done (so the congressional members can retain their positions of power in their home state/district). What a woman says can make a difference. In many of the sexual assaults it is primarily a crime not witnessed by others and that is why the victim does not come forth and the guy gets away with it. (Sometimes, sometimes, yes indeed – there are women who also commit sexual assaults, it is just not that many.) And Trump – making an outlandish tweet that young men should be scared is ridiculous. No young men should be assaulting women in the first place (that goes for older men as well).

In America, or rather parts of America – certain Americans have decided that a man with a blemished background and temperament can be put into a position of significant influence and power. Certain Americans have placed an individual with what appears to be a highly tainted past onto the highest court, a court which now will be looked at for every decision it makes for the next 30 years with a jaundiced eye.

All because an individual who was put into the White House due to many electoral college members deciding that this person was the best choice for America in 2016. Trump.

If this Supreme Court vote turned your stomach, you had best “get your butt off the couch and go vote” in the NEXT SEVERAL voting turnouts, for the next couple of decades! The mid-terms, primaries, all of them. This will be the only way to restore some semblance of sanity to America.

Because if you do not, we, America, will be doomed and damned!  Are you one of the people looking to return to the ‘Dark Days’ of yesterday when only the males of one race had the power to lord over everyone else of a different color and all women? Do you really want to return to the days of suppression and repression…?

More and more pieces of democracy (not talking about the democratic party here, just democracy) will be chipped away as they are being done today. More “socialist” programs will be lost for years, if not decades until we can return to the path of growth and equality that we were on until Trump was put into the White House. And what I mean by socialist programs are:

• fire departments (think you don’t need this socialist program when your home catches fire)
• libraries (not everyone has high speed internet or even computers at home)
• police departments (what happens when your local police department is gone and you need law enforcement)
• schools (everyone needs to seriously consider removing Betsy D. from the dept of education…)
• hospitals
• social security (what are you going to do when you are older and have no money to rely on)
• should I go on….?

Socialist programs, today, in 2018, are meant to help everyone, not just the poor and downtrodden – the programs are meant to make the lives of everyone easier,  better and safer.

This is how Hitler grew into power. Think about that – think long and hard – do your ‘own’ thinking. Over several years, Hitler and the people around him whittled away at more and more programs until they gained power – a vise grip on EVERYTHING! (There are some who say this erosion actually started right before Hitler came into the picture – but we all know for fact, Hitler destroyed democracy in Germany.) And what was the result of that, guess! Extermination of massive numbers of the Jewish race, in multiple countries (Poland, Germany, France, Austria and more). The Holocaust was the ultimate disgrace to democracy. Things started out small in Germany and many of the Germanic race were happy and fine that Hitler was looking out for them. Hitler was going to “Make Germany Great Again!” But then when it was too late to do anything, such as removing Hitler, Himmler, Goering and others of the SS and the Nazi party – it was far, far too late.

Now, this is not saying Trump is a Nazi but – he is providing a helping hand in the destruction of the American way of life and all of its democracies. Trump has enabled the worse of the worst to come forth (recall the nighttime ‘Tiki Torch’ parade). Trump has unleashed the hounds of hell, to put it mildly, to come out of the wood-works and raise pure hell. Look at:

• early February 2017 where the House and Senate voted to repeal the so-called “stream protection rule”- Coal companies now have a freer hand in dumping mining pollutants into streams
• the white nationalist rally incident in Charlottesville, VA where Heather Heyer was killed
• Chris Collins and his insider trading on the lawn of the White House – how brazen was that?
• Many of the cabinet members Trump installed and the self-aggrandizement these individuals did while in power – sound-proof phone booth in his office (guess who that was);
• Expensive furniture, what was it, ~$31,000 for his office – you know who this was, the man qualified to run HUD because he grew up in the projects (I grew up in the projects too)…
• Zinke of the Interior Department and his sell off of federal lands
• The black protestor who was sucker-punched by a white man in the stands at a Trump rally in Fayetteville (and trump said he would pay the legal fees for the puncher)
• we could go on and on with this list…

The point is, if Americans do not come to their senses and stop this extreme political partisanship, we will continue going down the rabbit hole of more:

• hate crimes – racially & religiously motivated
• individuals like Michael Gerard Grimm, former congressman & former FBI, who threatened to throw a reporter off the balcony – a reporter who was doing his job (after his prison term for that, Grimm had the audacity to try running again for public office)
• corruption – how can people follow the law when the law makers and peace keepers are the ones causing this corruption and excess to continue – so they can feel powerful and make money in many cases for doing so
• erosion of public lands for corporate revenue – oil exploitation, so that oil companies can continue to make large pools of revenue before the clean energy wave really kicks in and fossil fuel use will be a money pit
• inequalities – women and racial – women and those of different skin colors doing the same job as men of a certain color “SHOULD BE PAID EQUALLY” for doing the same job
• anti-discrimination against new immigrants to America – and we all know this is how America started
• to name a few….

What do we need to do people? You all have to use your head and think!!!!

You have to perform research and think and talk about your actions before you do them! You cannot just listen to unqualified individuals who spout hate and conspiracy theories. You must do your own thinking, it is what makes you “you”!

So, what are you thinking? Are you thinking things in the political environment are going in the right direction?

Are you thinking Trump is making America great – when he raises tariffs, the ultimate cost is on you, the American citizen because you will be the one paying more for the products with the tariffs. 

Do you think the tax cut he instituted was wonderful? Well – continue thinking about that when your local services (any or all of them) are cut or eliminated due to your city budget does not have enough revenue – ‘because of that tax cut’.

What about clean air and clean water? Think your kids are going to be able to run around as you did years ago but now the air and water are more polluted (remember, the coal mine dumping above and the Trump administrations’ attempt to relax car emissions letting car makers off the hook…)

Use your brains. Think about the future. You cannot just think about yourself because you do not like gays or dark skinned people. You cannot say “hey, my religion is the foremost important thing in the world” when other people believe in a different religion. Do not make a mistake, as an American and a global citizen – I. DO. NOT. WANT Sharia Law anywhere near America.

Ultimately, what is being stated here is that Americans need to be better.

• Give women their voices – it is hard enough to come forward publicly as it is
• Think about unity, amongst all Americans (i.e. why do we still have Sundown towns in parts of America? Why do we still have so many skinhead/white nationalist/white supremacist groups around the country?)
  

Because America has to come together again and be a “United States” and grow stronger and be better as a country for itself. As well as in the face of rising problems with:

• Russia’s Putin doing the meddling he is doing globally and
• China doing what they are doing – attempting to force people / countries to kowtow to them; giving China hemispheric power to do what they wish, such as build man-made islands in the South China Seas and claim more of the region as belonging to them (we could discuss the Uighurs and the police state they are living under as well as the great firewall of China as well as internet and public censorship so the Chinese citizens have no voice and are unable to vote politicians out of power – these are big stories on their own…)

We are losing the luster of being a world leader because we do not have any serious diplomatic power. Who do we have that is a shining star in the world of diplomacy? Our ‘leader’ in the White House is not one who has great powers of diplomacy. He is continually causing America to devolve into a laughing stock of the world every time he utters a sentence or disseminates a tweet.

We are a country where it is now up to the states to institute clean air and clean water and equality for all. That is, those states with a forward looking mindset for the next 10 – 30 years…

 

 

Ukraine, Putin, Russia, UN, NATO, Diplomacy & Military, Supreme Dictator = Impending Disaster?

 

Ukraine and bad, BAD boy Putin

So what do we have at this point in time in regards to the state of mind of Putin – psychotic break with reality? Yearnings of one man to be the Supreme (Dictatorial) leader of a country, to return to a time past that is long gone?

What the heck is going on in that man’s head, does anyone really know?

Yes, Putin may be smart but he appears to be very far over the line as a leader of a modern large country. You will notice that the previous sentence did not state ‘super power’ and it was deliberately left that way.

Do we have a crazy man as head of a large country? Or one who is becoming unhinged…? 

Diplomacy and communication does not appear to be working with Putin.

It is time for the developed countries and developing countries to band together and show some very serious solidarity against what Putin and Russia are doing.

Aiding and abetting rebels in “ANOTHER” country is not alright and it should never be! Putin and Lavrov are not fooling anyone in the civilized world by playing stupid – “What, what are we doing? It is not us; it is the rebels in Ukrainia doing all the fighting.”

 SANCTIONS

Firstly, the U.S., along with Germany and France must take the lead and insist on even more crippling sanctions because Putin thinks that the sanctions will let up soon and he can go about his business. Yes, it will harm the citizens of Russia but if they are affected, they will vociferously and adamantly act out against Putin – maybe physically remove him from office (and I’m sure some of the suffering military will join in).

Yes, this may affect Europe because of Russia cutting off the flow of oil/gas but some little sacrifice must be done now, while there is time. The rest of the world can help make up some of the oil shortfall to Europe.

United Nations

The leading countries of the world need to stand up NOW and band together and grant the UN some teeth, even if Russia vetoes any vote in the Security Council. The UN needs to join in on piling on more diplomatic sanctions against Russia – WITHIN the week via an emergency session.

Okay, now, if that does not work, then authorize UN Peace Keepers to go into harms’ way, into eastern Ukraine. This is what the UN Peace Keepers are for, to stop this kind of activity. And yes, they have been ineffectual in the past but it is time to change all that.

 European Union

Next, the EU (European Union) will need to accelerate the timetable and bring Ukraine into the fold. This will cause more turmoil and bring the rabid dog (Putin) to a full-fledged tantrum BUT IT NEEDS TO BE DONE! Unless we show Putin more solidarity, he will continue to do what he is doing.

   Yes, I did call Putin a rabid dog and I really did not want to but this is just getting out of hand as to what is happening to the INNOCENT civilians who are indiscriminately being killed in the various bombings and shootings.

 NATO

The next step, or in conjunction, NATO will also need to accelerate the timetable of brining Ukraine into the NATO umbrella. And yes again, this will cause no little consternation on Putin’s part. NATO troops will need to be expeditiously brought into Ukraine – IT CANNOT BE HALF-ASSED, there is too much to at stake to do a slow buildup, allowing for a simmering situation.

And yes, the U.S. and western allies will need to supply Ukraine with advanced weaponry and detection capabilities to find and destroy the weaponry of the “rebels” so the Ukrainian soldiers at least have a fighting chance.

 China???

You will also note that China was not mentioned in any of this. China, while they purport to be spending money around the world, to build up infrastructures and build mines and other industries – they are not willing to have democracy in the world. They are sure not making it known if they are. I mean, c’mon, the Chinese government controls the media and the Internet, trapping their people into a bubble of brainwashing content.

Scientists, Academicians, students, journalists and the curious are all becoming completely unable to search the ‘Net and learn new things or to see the truth of what is actually happening in other corners of the globe.

The Chinese government still wants to manipulate their citizens with, well, mind control as to what the average citizen can say, read and talk about. It is completely stifling.

China would not be of any assistance in joining efforts from democratic countries that want to prevent another country from performing land grabs (Crimea and really, eastern Ukraine). Why? Because China also wants to do their own land grab in the South/East China seas, stating “these disputed lands/islands have always historically belonged to China.”

How do you fight that? So no, China was not mentioned as joining in because they are not yet a democratic country – A FULLY DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY. Do not just listen to the ramblings of just one person (me), do your own research. DO A BROAD AND DEEP LEVEL OF RESEARCH! There is PLENTY of data out there in all kinds of medium (‘Net, magazines, YouTube, Netflix, newspapers, other blogs). Go to democratic, conservative and independent organizations, then cobble it all together and actually think on that content. Then, MAKE YOUR OWN INFORMED decision.

 

At any rate, the world has to come together and stop any country from annexing parts of other countries. That time is long gone, at least I hope it is and we not on the cusp of reverting to the dark ages.

 

SHAME! ISIS & WEAK Support from Congress, Senate, EU & mid-East allies

Shame on our American Congress and Senate! I will come back to that.

It is sad to see the growth and atrocities of the terrorist oriented group known as ISIS (or ISIL or IS) continue, not unabated, but slowed down. It is not just Americans being beheaded; it is Brits and other mid-Eastern citizens too.

It is Syrians, Iraqis, Yazidis and Kurds being, not murdered, but exterminated!

Okay, back to that shame comment. Here we are with many of our Congress and Senate unwilling to make a sincere, heartfelt move to vote for allowing America to make strongER moves against ISIS. WAIT! I do apologize; let me revise that last statement.

It appears that many in our Congress and Senate want to “wait” until after this fall’s election cycle is over. In this manner, those who are reticent to vote for a move against ISIS can first survive their election race. This way, they would not have to worry about their vote being recorded on the books.

This, to me mind you, seems highly “un-American” that those affected (or afflicted) individuals continue to put themselves before anything else, inclusive of a better:

• Health care system for all
• Educational system for our children
• Highway and bridge infrastructure system for all
• Clean, green energy infrastructure to wean us off of gas and oil (not just from abroad but from within the US as well)
• Etc. – it is a very long list that our Congress and Senate can work on.

But, those are episodes for other writings. 

What I currently understand is that these folks really are ready to fully engage – ‘after the elections, once they are voted in again.’

The problem here is, many constituents are very short sighted and selfish and do not look long term, down the road, for the country as a whole. So, we wind up with people in congress and the senate who are also narrowly focused on the short term…

In the meantime, ISIS goes on – very, very sad. 

Now, our EU and mid-Eastern ‘allies’ and “partners” should be even more ashamed. The U.S. did not single handedly create a growing ISIS, even though some snarky hot head will say we did.

This is a conflict of religion. A religious conflict of one extremely radical element with a desire to transform the entire region, if not the world, into what they envision the world should be – a strict adherence to Islam and Sharia law, no exceptions and with the death of all infidels, us. ISIS only wants one thing, a Caliphate.

 

Has diplomacy and communication failed America? Is force truly the ‘only’ answer and best method to curtail this type of situation? 

Maybe now is the time for us to pull back U.S. interests from the mid-East and possibly the EU, letting ISIS flourish and spread throughout the mid-East and into Europe and possibly even the western front of Russia?

If our EU allies and more specifically, our mid-East partners are unwilling to help quash this extremist brand of Islamists, should the U.S. realistically undertake so much of this fight any longer? We simply cannot be the primary force or the leading force in that region… 

Should we become the isolationists we once were prior to the beginning of the Great War (WWI)?

If we pull back all of our forces and much of our American interests as possible and resort to being isolationist again – we can focus on rebuilding America. We can help our own people to grow. We can stop dumping billions of dollars into the Middle East where centuries old tribal factions and sectarian consternation (or mayhem) continues on and on and on. And in the background, some mid-East countries (or leaders) continue to support the radicals.

If we pull back and become isolationists, we can focus on beefing up our airports, shipping ports, borders and coastal defenses to pre-empt any wannabe terrorist from entering the country, our home – where people supposedly stand together, for the American people…

And since there is only tepid overarching support from multiple coalition parties, should the U.S. just stand back in the distance and watch the Wahabis (or Wahhabis) kill off the Sunnis or watch the Shia kill off the Sunnis and Wahabis or some other configuration?

If we pull back, we can rebuild our currency coffers and reduce our national debt load. We can focus on making America great and wonderful!

 

Oh. Yes. You were saying, “What about the spread of ISIS and all the mass killings of men, women and children – and don’t forget the atrocities undertaken on the defenseless – and the wanton destruction of priceless historical artifacts?”

Well…. We can take the tack of Turkey, where they stated the U.S. would not be allowed to use any Turkish sites to launch American airstrikes. We could say in turn when ISIS becomes a bigger problem for Turkey that we prefer not to put U.S. troops in harms’ way by having them in Turkey, Turkey can fend for itself.

Or, we could take the tack of Egypt where they stated that they have their own terrorist problems to deal with. In that case, we could say that the U.S. has our own demons back at home to focus on, such as unhinged KKK members/groups, extreme sovereign citizens, out of control militias, etc.

As for Germany and France, shucks, I am not sure what to say about them. Maybe, we could just stand back and state we have our own problems as German/French ISIS members sneak back into those countries and cause mass casualties. Maybe the U.S. should just let Israel unload on Syria since Assad is unwilling to be a leader and step down from his dictatorial position.

I dunno….

 

In the meantime, tens of thousands of people will needlessly die or be forced to convert to that extreme religion. Along the way, women and young girls will be sold off and/or given away as unwilling brides. Or worse… 

Of course, our backing off and reverting to isolationist will not transpire. It will not happen because of oil in the mid-East and the great many U.S. interests throughout the EU.

Until we, the U.S., actually get to a clean, green energy economy and get people into congress and the senate who “want” to do the right thing instead of listening to the wild, vocal minority of their respective parties, well, we’re screwed basically and will continue playing a massive role of world policemen.

 

If other coalition partners are unwilling to do more to stop this heinous and cancerous growth of ISIS, it is only going to get worse and become costlier over time – in lives and the very, very tight budgets of all countries in the current state of global economy.

The biggest fly in the ointment is Syria, where everyone seems to agree is the nerve center for ISIS. If Assad is unwilling to allow strikes against ISIS and with Putin opening his yap (being Assad’s buddy and all) stating that any strikes into Syria is an act of war – then how will that region of the world ever get to a state of less terror???

 

We, the global community, are at a serious crossroad. How do we solve this ISIS problem if diplomacy has seemingly failed and religious differences continue to fester…?

Because it boils down to this, how does one deal with an unbalanced, unhinged person or group (ISIS)?

 

Putin = Hitler… Is Appeasement Next?

 

Okay, Putin. Is anyone else out there equating Putin to Hitler yet?

The reason for the question is, is that he is acting like Hitler did back in the ‘30s. Putin seems to be making a pretense at or game of diplomacy, much like Hitler did. Saying one thing but in actuality doing another such as, talking about not invading Czechoslovakia but in March 1939 Hitler moves his forces into Czechoslovakia…

Putin is doing nearly the same thing. Putin: “No, no, there are no Russian troops and equipment in Ukraine or near the border.”

It is highly surprising that Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister, is not being vocal against this invasive move. Unless that is, Medvedev is attempting to save his own skin? Because we know what happens to people with large voices speak up against anything Russian – i.e. two individuals who died from Polonium-210, former KGB/FSB and then journalist Alexander Litvinenko (Nov 2006) and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya (Oct 2006)… 

The rest of the Western, Asian AND developing world needs to wake up and come together in stopping a country from doing what Putin is doing – invading another country for territory, allegedly to help protect Russian citizens in eastern Ukraine. Land grab is not the way to grow in the 21^st century.

Remember, Ukraine is a sovereign country and the rebel separatists in eastern Ukraine ARE in Ukraine… These same rebels were content to be proud Ukrainians when there was a Russian leaning Ukrainian President. Next, the majority of the Ukrainian people voted to become part of the E.U. And remember, the Ukrainian government was and is not out to harm innocent law-abiding Russians living in eastern Ukraine. No one was being harmed until the rebel separatists starting protesting and shooting government forces.

Sooo, how does this justify a leader of one country forcefully (military and financial support) interfering with another country’s political affairs?

 

When I indicated other countries, Western and Asian, should rise up to stop this type of advancement, I was specifically not including China. China has no interest in being party to a land grab or invasion by another country, especially when it does not affect them. At least they are not showing anything either way, for or against. China appears to be standoffish and isolationist, much as America was during the early part of The Great War.

Japan, S. Korea, India, countries of Southeast Asia, mid-eastern countries and Scandinavian countries – all of these countries need to join in on sanctions against Russia. Sanctions could include items such as; denying overflights out of Russia over their country, sanctions against Russian products, financial sanctions, etc. 

Now, yes, sanctions are going to be painful for a lot of countries and their people. Prices are likely to rise around the world for some things. Some of us cannot afford additional price hikes for certain staples, but this might be the price to pay for democracy and freedom around the world.

We must consolidate democracy and freedom, not see it slip away piecemeal, a slice at a time. Putin is currently attempting to make a play at getting statehood for eastern Ukraine, a ploy at creating a land bridge to a territory he illegally took as well as gaining the minerals in eastern Ukraine. 

Does the world allow for the appeasement of Putin as Chamberlain did with Hitler (Munich Agreement)? Hitler conned Neville Chamberlain into believing that Germany had limited intentions regarding the Germans living in Czechoslovakia in 1938… [1]

 

Here are two strong moves that may make Putin sit up and take notice. The E.U. and NATO bilaterally allow Ukraine to join both, NATO and the E.U. if they wish – as long as Ukraine, in the next year or two meets all E.U. and NATO member requirements.

 

Diplomacy has to be the answer, not military force – no one wants a regional or global war again. In addition to this diplomacy, vigorous finance and trade sanctions must be instituted against Russia. The rest of the free world will need to figure out a way to make up for the energy and other shortfalls that E.U. and other affected countries will face.

It appears that being tough is all that Putin understands…

 

 

 

 

References

1 – Chamberlain and Hitler 1938, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/chamberlain-and-hitler/, retrieved 10 Sept 2014

 

Putin – Lunatic or Just Jumpstarting a War for Russia’s Economy…?

Putin, wait, first let’s look at Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister.

Lavrov is either:

a) trying to appease his leader, his boss (Putin) in making a statement that the NATO satellite images of Russian troops within Ukraine “must be from a computer game” or,

b) Lavrov is also infected with some form of idiocy or mind altering lunacy and does not deserve to be a leader in making such an outlandish claim.

What Lavrov is stating is akin to what some individuals in the U.S. are stating that in the recent past of human’s (within 6,000 years ago) dinosaurs were domesticated to do farm work (please do your own research to verify that info for yourself).

So, is Putin also an idiot, a lunatic who might need to be put into a “Looney bin” or somewhere else, stripped of the billions of rubles he has hidden away (so far no one can prove an accurate amount)…?  

Or, is Putin attempting to undertake a land grab and furthering Russia’s territory, while trying to regain Russia’s “glorious” past?

Putin has stated that Russia is aiding the Russian citizens in eastern Ukraine to protect them…!!! “To protect them” was (and is) quite a statement that Putin made months ago. No one was trying to harm any of the Russians in eastern Ukraine.  The Ukrainian government only started harming the militant separatists when those separatists became physically violent, in shooting Ukrainians and taking over Ukrainian police stations, government offices and military bases. This could be seen as China invading Tibet to protect any Chinese citizens there to keep them safe from harm… In this case, it would be Chinese/Tibetan citizens living in Tibet where no one is outright attacking Chinese citizens (if I recall correctly?).

Putin is physically meddling in another sovereign country’s political situation – he has no legal right to do so.  Putin invaded Crimea and took that territory from Ukraine, annexing it and stating it was what the people wanted. The problem here is, that area of land “was given” to Ukraine in 1954 by a former Soviet President (Nikita Khrushchev). So now, Putin wants to take it back…??? 

Crimea is only a strategic regional gateway for Putin and he only wanted it for the naval base at Sevastopol.

With the current incursion (read as invasion) of Russian troops into eastern Ukraine, is Putin attempting to ignite a regional war (or worse, a global war) in trying to get the Russian economy moving faster.

Or does Putin really want to take more land to create a bigger buffer to protect Russia from the evil, encroaching West?

The thing is, who wants to invade Russia? No one! No one in their right mind wants to invade another country for any reason. It would be madness for a Western country to invade any other country because in doing so, it would destroy that country’s grasp on democracy.

Countries like Ukraine want to join NATO and the E.U. because they want to enjoy the Western democratic way of life. They do not want any part of a communistic society – that is it, nothing more. Ukraine does not want to threaten or invade Russia, the majority of people in Ukraine simply want a better way of life and they have chosen the E.U. version…

 

Further, Putin recently made a blatant statement that included a reminder to the world that Russia has nuclear weapons. Who, in their right mind – unencumbered of any mental deficiencies, would make a veiled statement like that – in the 21st century.

Countries are rallying to Ukraine’s side because that country wants to be a part of the free Western democratic world. No one wants to harm Russian citizens or to invade Russia. And certainly, no one wants to start a nuclear war, except maybe Putin it seems… It is very, VERY sad that the leader of a powerful country wants to commit troops to fight in another country’s democratic political problems instead of diplomatically trying to solve the problem.

Putin made the claim that Ukraine is pulling a Nazi type move when in actuality; he is the one doing the Nazi like move – that of making calming motions while troops are being put in place…  Remember his past statements, “oh no, there are no Russian troops in Ukraine, you must all be mistaken and the photos showing Russian troops and equipment were made up”?

 

Diplomacy & Communication

Diplomacy

Note, this writing is not on national and international diplomacy but rather on the ‘use’ of diplomacy in any setting, any engagement – from business settings to team building (work or sports), even to relationship settings (man and woman, boy and girl, man and man or woman and woman). This is a small attempt in discussing how the use in any of those settings (an incomplete set listed) can and should be successful.

Make no mistake; diplomacy is not a Sunday drive. Diplomacy takes a massive effort on the part of everyone involved. Diplomacy is not a one-way street nor can it be construed only as my way or nothing at all.

We need good people, not the richest people, or the most attractive people, or those who might have gone to the best schools (ala the “ole boy network”). We need good people who can be level headed and look at all sides of a problem or issue at hand.

Money and looks should not play any part whatsoever in diplomacy, just the earnest and honest use of working or being with someone (yes, I am looking through rose colored glasses but there you have it).

We need good people who are:

• Intelligent – not necessarily a Brainiac but is aware of what he or she knows and does not know,
• Measured,
• Studied,
• Able to display Commonsense and
• Collaborative – a word I use a great deal because it should be a requisite for everyone at all times,

We do “not” need nor want people who are:

• Combative,
• Constantly seeking the limelight,
• Full of One-upmanship and
• In your face

Being diplomatic in dealings with others does not always necessitate going through a formal school teaching diplomacy. Do you believe that everyone who has ever been successfully diplomatic in dealing with others always received formal training through some sanctioned institution…? I am not discussing how to have a proper place setting or who should stand where or who should enter / leave a room first. I am simply discussing how people should be interacting with each other to successful outcomes.

You do not need formal diplomatic training for that role…

Being diplomatic in life and work can stem from being aware of a situation, being able to communicate – to talk to others at a decent and respectable level (not condescending or patronizing) and experience in different walks of life. Note, the aforementioned is not a complete list.

Sometimes, those coming from humble beginnings are enough of a jump start to their being a successful diplomatic person life and work.

 

Communication

Communication skills are a prized aspect of anyone and something every person walking the planet should work on – daily and hourly. These skills will open the door to multiple successful engagements and will never let you down.

Successful communicators attempt to:

• Talk to people at their levels,
• See themselves, looking through the other persons’ shoes, to see the other’s perspective,
• See, not just look, but to really see what is going on, right in front of them

Collaboration and Coalition

Having a good to great person in a position of diplomacy should boil down to who can honestly, intelligently, critically and judiciously work with one or more parties to an issue and talk it out, collaborating and compromising on a quality outcome for everyone. The outcome should not end up being a goal insidiously beneficial to one party. The outcome(s) should never favor one group more than the majority. The majority plays a significant role in society.

However, yes, the majority should normally win but there are a fair number of situations where a minority needs to have their voice heard and their rights looked after. Examples of those situations are Gay rights, Minority rights, the poor and workplace gender discrimination.

These few examples, to this day, still require their minority voices raised above those of the majority who:

• Only see through tunnel vision,
• Are myopic and/or
• Narrow minded

and often times believe their way is the only and best way (i.e. religion).

You want more illustrations? Take racial / gender inequality or choices of sexual preferences:

• Slavery,
• Suffragettes,
• People like Harvey Milk (former San Francisco mayor) and / or
• Chinese who were also used as slave labor in the past.

These groupings have been pushed to the back or swept under the rug for decades or centuries. Just because the majority, of the past (and today), may not want men and women of those groups to enjoy full equality and full happiness – it is wrong to deny them the simple pleasures of life that those in the majority enjoy and quite likely take for granted…

If you look back at any era of history, the oppressors were always the ones in power, dictating life’s outcomes – that is a fact. The SOLE reason to oppress or suppress people is the will to remain in power with the adjunct reason of gaining ever more power (and money).

Oppressors and Suppressors have sought to control:

• The thoughts of the people for centuries (i.e. the Church and slave owners)
• What people could access for knowledge (i.e. again, the Church and slave owners)
• Who could meet who and where and when (i.e. during the days of slavery)
• Who had the right to vote and work and to marry (i.e. Women and Blacks and Asians) 

We need more people who are consciously willing to speak for all in collaborative settings. But, in talking about being collaborative and building coalitions to work within, I am not talking about Machiavellian machinations. We do not need someone to work in that manner behind our backs in secretive sessions.

So, be aware, even if the majority does prefer some viewpoint, they may not necessarily gain that viewpoint.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a topic that I have brought up multiple times in other writings. Critical thinking is a significantly necessary side of anyone, not just the leaders in any group, but of everyone in many situations. We desperately need more people in all walks of life, not just government (where they are sorely, sorely needed) but in military, business, education and health care.

One must be able to take in as many variables as they can about the situation at hand; what happened, who were the people involved, what were the various reasoning’s for their individual actions, where did it occur, was money involved, was politics or religion driving factors, was it racially motivated, was it greed or jealousy, etc., etc., etc.

One has to be able to logically, objectively and critically think through a situation and no two situations are alike.

Problem Solving

This is another topic that I believe anyone and everyone should have or strive to obtain. Gaining the capability or capacity to do a good job at problem solving should be the top of everyone’s list of things to do.

Another prized aspect of problem solving (as well as in critical thinking) is the ability to extrapolate out into the future multiple realistic scenarios of what might and could occur, rather than dreamy possibilities.

Cognitive Diversity

This is another area that more people need to develop better skills in, cognitive diversity.

Having more and varied life and work experiences to draw from will aid in your being successful in your daily dealings with anyone and everyone.

Having a varied educational background will help you in being a better person. Look at Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton or Madeleine Albright; these individuals all had varied backgrounds to draw from and did not have formal diplomatic training before they entered their jobs of being diplomats. Of course, they did obtain formal training after taking over their role of Secretary of State, you know – who stands where, who leaves the room first, who to talk to the most or the least, etc., etc.

Successful individuals in any area using diplomacy (not just international diplomacy) are those who are able to communicate clearly and succinctly, without the babble and mumble jumbo of being duplicitous.

These same individuals also should have the capacity to deal with the internal demon of cognitive dissonance. If individuals, or you, should encounter a situation, which causes discomfort or tension due to conflicting beliefs on the issue at hand – we all hope that the winning belief is the right one for all concerned.

Dignity & Respect

Everyone everywhere deserves dignity and respect in life and please note I am certainly not including criminals (war or just breaking the law) here. A diplomatic person, in their travels, should strive to honour even the poor and uneducated with dignity, just as they do with the very educated and the wealthy and powerful.

As to respect, everyone deserves to be respected – until they no longer prove that they do not deserve that respect. It should not matter how old, young, senior or junior the other person is.

It should not matter if the other person is male, female, poor, rich or what race they are nor should it matter if they are straight or gay – everyone deserves respect.

And if the other person loses your respect, you ‘still’ need to successfully do your job – see it through to fruition and then move on.

Honesty

Do I really need to embellish on this topic…?

 

Conclusion:

We need to have in place, in more organizations, in more government agencies and in the military, individuals who are willing to lead the way and do so in a fashion that all people can understand and follow – with open eyes and mindset.

We need to have in place individuals who can be or become successful change agents, who are willing to be in the midst of getting something done for what is right, not just because there is a vocal minority or a majority who is not more educated on the issue at hand.

Individuals who are successful diplomats and communicators, in any endeavor, should be ones with heart and honor in order to aid anyone and everyone, anywhere.