Embarrassment
I hope the 95% of the world’s population living outside the U.S. understands how deeply ashamed of our country most of us Americans are.
Before this nauseating trend, we had to embarrass ourselves by traveling around Europe with our gauche thoughtlessness and bad manners. Now we get it done without leaving our homes.
Craig,
Actually, apart from a a few of the chattering classes of leftist American elite and leftist media led by the New York Times, all the Americans I’ve ever met are extraordinarily proud of the US and deeply patriotic.
President Trump is winning considerable grudging respect from European leaders as they come to realize the President’s agenda.
Most European national leaders are pretty cynical and found Obama’s eagerness to impress at the expense of the US economy and US interests, pathetic.
As one European commentator observed, “”When Obama was the White House, he was such a European, we loved him to bits. But with President Trump, Europe is being forced to pay it’s own way without American acquiescence. ”
Initially it was the EU bureaucratic mice who roared defiance and disdain at President Trump’s pro American stance and refusal to pick up every tab. When the Europeans discovered the usual tactic’s of threatening retaliation, outrage, mobilization of leftist intellectuals and various elites were ineffective, it became necessary for individual European leaders to try and broker a deal with the American President.
It’s not easy for European leaders to be forced to accept President Trump is first and foremost an American President. He’s determined to gain the best deal for the US and is not an internationalist. The usual combination of flattery and sneering doesn’t work with a President who has no interest in being “the leader of the free world” if it comes at a cost to the US economy.
President Trump is forcing Europeans to address their massive current account surplus. For decades the Europeans have been able to to export their problems to the rest of the world, and rely on the US to pick up the bill.
Like China and the other Asian ‘tigers’, Europe is being forced to make concessions to the US as America pushes back, insisting on a fairer deal on real terms, not grand empty symbolic gestures.
For the first time in decades the rest of the world must start to consider the US a real competitor, not a simple giant whose pockets are to be easily picked.
‘Cometh the hour, Cometh the man ” President Trump may be loud, brash and crude, but he knows what he wants and is determined to put American interests first. Unlike President G.W. Bush, beneath all the bluster and seeming erratic behaviour, Donald trump is a cunning, shrewd operator. He’s used to negotiating with some of the toughest and most treacherous rivals and competitors on a global scale.
It’s this knowledge, and his lack of fear, that makes him effective when dealing with adversaries.
President Trump’s ability to dominate in a fight is completely misunderstood and under appreciated by his adversaries. His biggest strength is a lack of ideological commitment, and his ability to be surprisingly considerate, restrained, flexible and generous, if his primary objectives are met.
To understand Trump’s personality and effectiveness in dominating opposition, just think of the roster of strong, accomplished and even feared individuals he has crushed in such a short period. Not only did he destroy a pack of more experienced and formidable Republican rival politicians, but left the most formidable female politician in US history armed with a huge war chest, the most professional political machine and media support ever assembled in the history of US elections, wondering what brand of piano fell on her.
He’s proved unafraid to dispense with those supporters who have outlived their usefulness, often without much compassion or observation of the niceties.
His tactics are often likened to those of a smart bully, and not without justification. On the other hand, America is surrounded by rivals and enemies led by men with even worse agenda’s and personality flaws.
He may just be the sort of President America needs at this time to deal with the wolves surrounding the US. It’s just a shame he lacks a little more polish and inspiration……