Category Archives: Politics – international

And then there’s that other leaked transcript

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MT’s phenomenal lack of political judgement and wholly misplaced arrogant self-confidence is nicely displayed in the contrast with the other leaked transcript, where Donald Trump is speaking with the president of Mexico, Peña Nieto. This is from Ann Althouse, no friend of Trump, who asks Why is there so little talk about the leaked transcripts of Trump’s phone conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia? Her answer is that it’s because both transcripts show PDT in a very good light. If you go to the transcript at the link – highly recommended – you will see Trump has three things on his mind: who will be seen to pay for the wall, trying to find some means to stop the flow of drugs and criminal gangs coming across the border, and international trade between the two countries. Both he and the Mexican president think through and negotiate about what to do and how to do it. Here’s her conclusion:

Now, what if anything is there in all of that to use against Trump? Really, the only thing is that he cares about his personal political success and doesn’t mind referring to it directly, even when the other guy insists that it’s all only about the public good. There’s nothing in there about Trump perhaps not really wanting to build a physical wall. He seems dedicated to that. You can’t see him conceding that Mexico won’t pay for the wall. What you see is some complicated, political structuring of a way to get the wall paid for that will probably satisfy the people who heard that promise and wanted it kept. But what can his antagonists grab onto? They can’t very well oppose crushing the drug gangs or better trade deals. So it’s no wonder they went big with Oh! He insulted New Hampshire! And that’s it for the transcripts. Don’t encourage people to actually read them. They might think Trump did just fine.

The notion that PDT is out of his depth and his agenda is anything other than to make the US a better place – while in the meantime saving Western Civilisation from itself – you should read Ann’s column. It really is a revelation. A master class in international relations.

AS A BONUS TRUMP’S PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: WYSIWYG as they used to say. From the intro:

In 1990, Donald Trump sat alone preparing for the below interview with Playboy magazine. There was no team of advisors shaping the future of what they believed would be the next president of the United States of America. He hadn’t slept in 48 hours. At 6:00 AM, perched high in the bronze coated jewel of his empire, Trump Tower, he was bent over a mammoth Brazilian-rosewood desk, scrutinizing spreadsheets. No insomnia, no gnawing worries.

I’m going to have to find a better class of fish wrap

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There I was wrapping the fish when this column by Greg Sheridan caught my eye: All credit to Turnbull for trying to seal deal with a troubled Trump. I gave you my view a couple of days ago but this is surreal. So let me take you to the end of the DT-MT transcript:

MT: You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.

DT: I have no choice to say that about it. Malcolm, I am going to say that I have no choice but to honour my predecessor’s deal. I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made. It is an embarrassment to the United States of America and you can say it just the way I said it. I will say it just that way. As far as I am concerned that is enough Malcolm. I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous.

So what does Sheridan say about the significance of this first-ever phone call between the PM and the new president:

A sensible prime minister goes into a conversation with a US president with two objectives in mind: to build a relationship and to secure one or more specific outcomes.

The fact of the matter is that the Australian-American alliance is crucial to both countries. But if you think MT came away with anything other than the most comprehensive disdain from PDT you are as out of the picture as Greg Sheridan himself seems to be.

The distractors are complaining about the distractions they have caused

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This story is almost beyond parody coming from the media, The Wall Street Journal in this case: Donald Trump: as Washington churns, world gets more dangerous. Listen to this loon:

When folks here in Washington end a summer filled with White House hijinks and an epic but inconclusive healthcare debate, they will look up and discover something unsettling: The world has become a more dangerous place while everybody has been distracted.

That’s most obviously true in North Korea, where its rogue weapons program has leapt so far forward that the nation now has a missile with the range to reach much of the US Pyongyang’s capabilities are advancing so quickly that the Defense Intelligence Agency has had to ratchet forward, to as early as next year, its estimate of when it will have an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

And etc. So let’s go to the comments at The Oz, from the top rated on down a bit with nothing left out.

The world is a more dangerous place than it was eight years ago primarily because of Obama, not Trump. Obama was a weak and indecisive leader who allowed all of America’s enemies to grow stronger.

You forgot to mention SSM in Australia, Gerald

But hey, we are getting (unaffordable) light rail in Canberra, (unaffordable) green energy in SA, (unaffordable) public service growth and increased debt in Qld and federally 99.9% of the population wont get a say on SSM. But hey, lets blame it all in Trump. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minute!!! Better add Abbott in there too.

“The world has become a more dangerous place while everybody has been distracted.” Who is “everybody”? The media badly needs an education away from their “Latte buddies”.

I’m not really sure what this journalist is concerned about, doesn’t he realise same sex marriage will be passed “sooner then we think?” Our politicians understand the importance of freeing us from cultural restraints, so never mind about North Korea/china/Russia/Iran. None of them are progressive enough to have ssm.

The most urgent problem is to resolve disputes with Russia. With the US and Russia on the same side, all the other problems can be solved. With the US and Russia throwing mud at each other, all the other problems will just keep accumulating until something goes bang. Russia under the Putin government is far from perfect but anyone who expects perfect partners needs to stay away from international politics.

The main danger is not in Washington but in New York in the fantasy mind of Gerald Seib at the Wall Street Journal who wrote this tosh.

The interesting thing is how little Trump pays attention to these flea bites and tries to get on with the main game.

Donald Trump is the President and that is a very good thing

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“Even his acolytes [?!] such as Steve Kates must be wondering what’s next from Donald J. Trump.

The quote is from LIQ whose 2000+ years mouldering in the grave have left him sorely out of touch with the modern world. He may even have missed the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which we, or our near descendants, may experience for ourselves about our own civilisation. This is not incidental to why DJT is president: Terrorist cell planned gas attack: police.

A family of suspected Islamist ­extremists allegedly plotted to bring down an Australian commercial jet by gassing the passengers, in what authorities believe was a major terrorist attack plan orchestrated by Islamic State milit­ants from within Syria.

Yet when I turned to The Oz online just now, these were the first two stories: Same-sex marriage vote: Tim Wilson hints at parliamentary vote and Anthony Scaramucci misses his son’s birth. Will the attempt to bring down an Australian plane mid-flight really become a one-day wonder? Meanwhile, this is given priority:

Anthony Scaramucci chose to accompany President Trump to an event in West Virginia last week rather than attend the birth of his child. The new White House communications director sent his estranged second wife a text after she gave birth to their son in New York. “Congratulations, I’ll pray for our child,” he wrote, but did not visit for four days, the New York Post reports. That behaviour may explain the collapse of Mr Scaramucci’s marriage as he begins his new life in the West Wing.

Deidre Scaramucci, 38, filed for divorce a few weeks before the 53-year-old former financier’s arrival in Washington despite being eight months pregnant.

You know, she may not even have wanted him at the birth. But if you are the kind of loon who thinks we should not be thankful that Trump is president because his Communications Director prioritises his work in the White House over attending the birth of his child then you should drop political commentary. Meanwhile over at Drudge:

 

 

And in the upper corner.

 

Personally, I would infinitely rather have PDT than PHC. I have no idea how to solve any of this, but I do believe that there is no one I’d rather have thinking these issues through than Donald Trump.

Who is Imran Awan and why is there not wall-to-wall coverage of his arrest?

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I mention this only because it is the kind of thing that you will be able to find only on blogs and will be largely unreported in the media: Imran Awan Scandal Shows Just How Much Dirt Dems Wanted to Hide By Focusing on Trump-Russia. The United States is being sold down the river by its political elites with PDT about the only obstacle in their way. From the story:

The Awan brothers worked for more than 30 House and Senate Democrats, as well as former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who only fired Imran Awan on Tuesday after his arrest. News of the investigation broke in February, but Schultz kept Awan on staff for five months before firing him. Schultz even threatened Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa about the investigation in May.

The family had repeated long-term financial struggles, despite extraordinarily high salaries for congressional IT aides. Jamal, who public records suggest is only 22 years old, was paid nearly $160,000 annually, three times the average House IT staff salary. Abid was paid $161,000 and Amran $165,000. Even so, the family has a history of massive debts and bankruptcy. . . .

Other House IT aides wondered whether the Awans were blackmailing the Democrats who waited so long to fire them. “I don’t know what they have, but they have something on someone. It’s been months at this point” with no arrests, Pat Sowers, a 12-year House IT aide told The Daily Caller.

“There’s no question about it: If I was accused of a tenth of what these guys are accused of, they’d take me out in handcuffs that same day, and I’d never work again,” said a manager at a tech-services company that works with Democratic House offices. He also reported offering his company’s services to Democrat offices for one-fourth the price of Awan and his brothers, but the Democrats declined.

As for the media, this is one of the comments at Instapundit where I picked this story up:

I was a bit taken back when I saw the New York Times last night reported on the Awan brothers and DWS. You could not make up a headline like this for the article: “Trump Fuels Intrigue Surrounding a Former I.T. Worker’s Arrest”. Somehow President Trump gets worked into the headline. I did read the article – total whitewash – plus it’s several minutes of my life I will never get back.

And so it goes.

Trump the Great Debate live blog

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At Freedomfest in LV again and today we have a debate on Donald Trump, pro and con, with DJT now PDT. [The original has now been edited six hours later when I finally got back to the room.] The contestants in the debate are:

PRO
Wayne Allan Root [WAR]
Juan Pablo Andrade [JBA]
Deneen Borelli [DB]

ANTI
Nick Gillespie [NG]
Roberto Salinas [RS]
Jeffery Tucker [JT]

When Trump was here in 2015 he drew a standing ovation. In 2016, the room was with Trump by around 90%. Huge room and a full house. So we shall see.

WAR: My grandfather was a Russian. Diff between Hillary and Trump immense so let me list some of the big reasons to be grateful. (1) Welfare dependent are not welcome. (2) Welfare costs being cut down. (3) Supreme Court conservative for the next 40 years. (4) Cutting regulations. (5) Understands how socialism kills economies. (6) Voter ID laws. Ilegal voting is massive. (7) Must lower taxes and kill Obamacare. RINO Repubs standing in the way. (8) Debt is being cut. (9) I love that he is driving Liberals insane.

NG: Not actually anti-Trump. Wishes to discuss Trump Derangement Syndrome on both sides. Syria – bombed Syria to make him acceptable. There are good things that are coming out of Trump but it is mostly inadvertently – like pulling out of the Paris Accords. Trump is an embarrassment to America. Trump is big government.

JT: Trump is good on some policies, such as tax cuts. Must do this. But what has he done to help his tax policies? Absolutely nothing. Spends most of the time on twitter. Been a disaster for his own policies.

JPA: He is attacking the media and CNN because the MSM will not show the county what he wishes to do.

NG: Why can’t Repubs pass anything?

WAR: Cannot blame Trump for Congress. Must get RINOs out of Congress.

RS: Wants walls. If there are to be walls they should also be doors in the walls as Reagan said.

WAR: Illegal immigrants are down and must be opposed.

DB: What about migrants who did it the right way?

NG: Immigrants add to the economy. Anyone who wants to come here and work should be allowed to enter. Poor Mexicans cannot enter USA legally.

WAR: You are a Democrat liberal.

JT: Immigration opposition is based on a belief in racial superiority.

WAR: Open immigration in a nation with a welfare state will bankrupt the economy.

NG: Defence spending costs more than immigration. Defence spending leads to war. Should cut to a minimum.

Moderator: What do you think about Russia as an issue?

Entire panel agrees it’s a distraction. Media is the difference since that is all they focus on.

JT: Hillary is also a distraction. Please stop bringing her up.

WAR: Mexico sends illegals to vote in American elections. Should illegals be allowed to vote? Democrats and media can say there has been no voter fraud because they turn a blind eye.

JPA: Lots of evidence. Provides some evidence from his own personal experience.

WAR: Voter ID needed and ballots only in English.

JT: Trump is the prime defender of health mandates. Trump’s approach has delayed repeal.

NG: Trump is an incompetent manager. Has not even nominated people for many positions. Trump is not uniquely awful but is awful. This is the fifth George Bush (the first) presidency.

DB: Congress has broken its promise.

WAR: DJT wished to drain the swamp. He has the entire establishment against him.

NG: What is pro-liberty about Jeff Sessions.

Moderator: Asks about the “Military Industrial Complex”?

NG: Tell the region to deal with NK. Nothing to do with the United States. NK is not a threat to the US.

FINAL WORD

RS: The danger is closing the border and angry white males.

VOTE: Measured by applause.

Pro-Trump: 80%

Anti-Trump: 20%

Wrap Up

Largely sloganising but no doubt about the sentiment in the room. The anti-side allowed perfection to be the enemy of the good. The pro-side knows what a disaster a different outcome would have been. There really is no resonating anti-Trump argument. A pleasure to finally be among so many Trump people all at once.

Even in DC there are Trump supporters

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Sebastian Gorka is his name and he has been doing the rounds defending PDT because it does seem no one else is doing it, not even PDT. Trump himself probably thinks his critics are complete buffoons and cannot imagine they get any traction. My own view is any port in a storm for the left who rally around the most ridiculous ideas since there really is nothing else for them to say. This is Ace of Spade defending Gorka against Jake Tapper who had unbelievably argued in re Ben Rhodes v Gorka that “I’m sure he would put his graduate degree up against yours any day of the week.” This is Ace:

We must assume that Gorka put down Ben Rhodes as not having any advanced training in any political field, or for being a would-be novelist (or a very good post-modern novelist who used American Foreign Policy as his medium) which are… true.

For a comparison of Gorka v Rhodes, go to the link. Ben Rhodes remains my ultra favourite example of the disgusting level of deceit and anti-Western malevolence of the Obama White House, and a further reminder of what we have been spared with the US having elected Donald Trump. But what I especially like about Gorka is his wish to get out and attack the media and the left. Meanwhile the headline at the top of this morning’s Washington Post is “Lobbyist attended Trump Jr. meeting” although Trump in Paris is there as well – a full colour picture too.

And I am happy to say that the last two days have been entirely in the company of some among the 6% in DC who did not vote for Hillary.

Washington diary

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Since I have arrived in North America almost every first conversation with everyone we met was some form of declaration of their disdain of President Trump. None of them knew my own beliefs or what I have been writing. It just seems to be the present-day version of talking about the weather. The most strange was my first ever meeting with my eight-year old cousin who showed me her aquarium with her Siamese fighting fish, strewn with plastic chairs and a desk, with the fish called “Donald Trump in his Office”. She had no particular political views but her parents did, and so has everyone else.

Here in Washington I have been at a series of right-side meetings which have been quite fascinating, and I have listened to Republican legislators on a number of occasions, but not one has said so much as a positive word about PDT. Meanwhile there is no story but Donald Trump Jr having met for a quarter of an hour with a Russian lawyer. Meanwhile the president has himself been in France where he apparently did or said something to the French President’s wife that has led to further frenzy. If anything else happened, I haven’t seen what it is.

But I did come across a black man in a coffee shop with a Trump-Pence sticker on his laptop. So I asked him if he was dinkum so he showed me his Trump cufflinks! So we shook hands and I moved on.

Will also note that the Washington Post sells for $2 and the Washington Times – if you can find one – for only $1.

Anyway, cannot delay. Off to GMU today – the RMIT of the north.

ONE MORE THING: Should also mention the gift shop in the National Gallery on the Mall. They had postcards of Obama but none of PDT so I asked them why. And the answer was that the Donald Trump post cards had all sold out. Everything is possible, but somethings are more possible than others.

And how was your week?

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All from Drudge today:

U.S. bombers challenge China in South China Sea flyover . . .

US, Russia reach deal on Syria cease-fire . . .

Explosions in sky as Pyongyang celebrates ICBM launch . . .

Iran Still on the Hunt for Nuclear Weapons Technology Across Germany

PARIS EVACUATES NEARLY 2,800 MIGRANTS AS ARRIVALS SURGE . . .

Violent G20 protests as Hamburg police call for backup

Well, tomorrow is another day.

“If we fail to preserve it, it will never, ever exist again”

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Dinner with the family tonight, our last before moving on. And as a going away present, I have bought each of the youngest cousins a copy of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty which had come up in an earlier conversation. And perhaps strangely to others but not to myself, I was reminded of Mill in listening to Trump’s speech in Poland. He was here discussing what we too easily take for granted.

We are the fastest and the greatest community. There is nothing like our community of nations. The world has never known anything like our community of nations.

We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers.

We reward brilliance, we strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression.

We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success.

We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives.

And we debate everything. We challenge everything. We seek to know everything, so that we can better know ourselves.

And above all, we value the dignity of every human life, protect the rights of every person and share the hope of every soul to live in freedom.

That is who we are. Those are the priceless ties that bind us together as nations, as allies and as a civilization.

What we have, what we inherited from our — and — and you know this better than anybody and you see it today, with this incredible group of people — what we’ve inherited from our ancestors has never existed to this extent before. And if we fail to preserve it, it will never, ever exist again. So we cannot fail.

I agree with every word he said. Mill is unreadable today. His nineteenth century prose is too difficult but his ideas are not. They are the core values of the West. The cultural-Marxism that pervades so much has made Trump, like Mill, incomprehensible across much of the world in which we live. This is the great tragedy of our times, but there may yet be worse to come.