POLITICS

Ronald Reagan was a patriot. What would you call Trump?

Published

4 years ago

October 28, 2020

For a year and a half now, President Trump has managed to lead by misleading. For every rookie misstep, for every unstable declaration or outright lie the journalists gleefully report, the president offers some variation on a simple response:

Who are you going to believe — me or the media?

Elections, any good strategist will tell you, are choices, not referendums. And this is how Trump approaches the presidency, too. He understands — and this is no small insight — that however much people may question his veracity, they trust those of us who chronicle or criticize him even less.

The strategy was on full display for much of last week, as the president blustered and bungled his way across the European continent. Did Trump really say he wasn’t sure we needed NATO anymore? Fake news, the president said.

Did Trump tell the Sun that Prime Minister Theresa May didn’t listen to his advice and had botched Brexit? More fake news, even though you could hear the audio for yourself.

Just say the media made it all up or took it out of context, and the whole controversy becomes, at worst, a muddle of suspect narratives.

Which is why even a shaken Trump seemed to understand that his post-meeting performance with Vladimir Putin might be remembered, years from now, as a turning point in his presidency. This wasn’t just another anonymously sourced story he could completely deny, or some dimwitted comment he could say he never made.

This was right there for everyone to watch for themselves, live on all the channels. And unless you’re one of those 25 percent of Americans who would continue to support Trump even if he ripped off his face to reveal a lizard alien sent from some distant galaxy to subjugate humanity because, you know, even an insatiable carnivorous alien lizard is better than Obama, then what you saw had to leave you a little nauseated.

This was Trump presenting a united front with one of the world’s most repressive and deceitful leaders, throwing the men and women who quietly and bravely defend our country under the grinding wheels of a Russian limousine.

This was Trump, a disastrous 24 hours later, trying to undo the damage by claiming that when he had said he had no reason to think it would be Russia hacking our computers, what he meant was that he had no reason to think it wouldn’t be Russia.

“Seinfeld” fans might call this the “Opposite Day” defense. Trump was just doing his best George Costanza.

Watching this whole tragic spectacle, which John McCain rightly called “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory,” by which he must have meant the memory of Galápagos tortoises, sent me tumbling in my mind back to 1986.

That was the year I can clearly remember watching a stone-faced Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev get into their limousines and depart Reykjavik in a mournful silence.

Being a college freshman at the time, I thought Reagan had been foolishly stubborn to storm off from that summit — where the two leaders, we later learned, came pretty close to abolishing their nuclear stockpiles — just because Gorbachev insisted that Reagan give up his maniacal plan for shooting down missiles from space. (Thirty-two years later, Putin is still asking for the same thing.)

But here’s what I found myself contemplating this week: No matter how divisive a figure Reagan could be (and again, being a college kid, I was the proud owner of an inflatable punching bag in his likeness), none of us for a moment entertained the possibility that he didn’t have in mind what he genuinely thought best for the country.

Reagan was a patriot. His policies were open to debate, but his motives were not.

What’s unthinkable about Trump is that we actually have to wonder whose side he’s on and why. Just as we might have wondered about Harry Truman if, taking over for Franklin Roosevelt, he had stood next to Gen. Tojo and declared that Pearl Harbor was really no one’s fault and we were idiots for leaving our bases so vulnerable.

It may not have been, as the former CIA Director John Brennan said on Twitter, textbook treason for Trump to publicly ally himself with a foreign despot against his own government. That the question couldn’t be immediately dismissed, however, made clear that Trump had set a new low for the American presidency.

Personally, I’m not surprised that Trump, who permeated the popular culture as a high-stakes dealmaker, turns out to be, at a minimum, a terrible negotiator who doesn’t seem to grasp the strategy that adversaries are using to manipulate him.

The problem isn’t that Trump is compromised, necessarily. It’s that he is a man entirely without empathy. And if you lack the capacity to empathize, you can’t possibly negotiate effectively. You can’t guess at the other guy’s strategy or pick up on the lie.

What makes a politician like Reagan great at diplomacy is the inherent ability to read other leaders and understand the stories they’re telling themselves. Trump doesn’t read people. The only story he cares about is the one in his head.

So what does all this mean for Trump’s presidency?

I don’t know if Helsinki will cost Trump much of his public support in the short term. This isn’t the Cold War, and I suppose there are plenty of voters who don’t think it matters very much to their daily lives if Putin meddles in our election system or expands his influence in Europe and the Middle East.

But I would imagine that some of the Reagan-loving Republicans who have been integral to his presidency up to now will be rethinking their loyalties in the weeks to come. And they absolutely should.

There are a bunch of rationales that conservatives in the so-called establishment have employed to get themselves to sleep at night while pledging unconditional support for the president.

Some take the view that Trump’s various personality flaws are worth enduring for the policies his presidency makes possible — tax cuts, deregulation and of course Supreme Court justices who will take the court decisively rightward. Others see embracing Trump as the only way to hold off insurrection within the party. There’s probably plenty of overlap here.

But many of those who joined the administration or who have acted as advisers to Trump from the start will tell you that their service is an act of patriotism. Better to be on the bridge of the ship, subtly nudging the wheel and soothing the capricious captain, than down below in the brig, powerless to stop the drift.

Serious soldiers and public servants like John Kelly and James Mattis and Dan Coats, to name a few, have seen themselves as bulwarks against chaos, steady hands to guide the administration in a dangerous world.

But what Helsinki should have made clear — has to have made clear, really — is that no one is mitigating anything. You can play at being Henry Kissinger all you want, but at the moments that count, Trump is always going to be a lot more Nero than Nixon.

And in fact, it’s obvious now that you’re making things worse. By giving Trump the patina of credibility, by vouching for him with the public and the military and the intelligence establishment, you’re prolonging the charade, and you’re letting the rest of the world think that Trump represents a permanent retreat from sanity.

I can’t imagine that Reagan — a man who cleaved his party in order to purify its ideology — would have countenanced that.

Or maybe I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have. I always get those two words confused.

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POLITICS

Erdogan election defeat would be ‘revenge’ – Syrian Kurds

Published

2 years ago

May 23, 2023

The San Francisco Telegraph

The YPG claims the Turkish president failing to win another term would be payback for Ankara’s counter-terrorism operations in Syria

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s defeat in this month’s presidential election would serve as “revenge” for Türkiye’s military operations in Syria, a top official of the People’s Defense Units (YPG) has said.

Salih Muslim, one of the leaders of the YPG — a Syrian militant group affiliated with the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and designated by Ankara as a terrorist organization — said in an interview with Medya Haber Kurdish TV channel that his organization has grown frustrated with Türkiye’s counterterrorism operations ongoing in the northern part of Syria since 2016, Daily Sabah reported.

“Now, we have an opportunity in our hands,” Muslim said, stressing that the YPG is eager to see Erdogan unseated. “It’s the first time we have such a thing happening in elections.” He added that “If we can win at the ballot box, we will take all the revenge from [the defeat of] one person.”

Muslim’s statement comes as several members of the YPG and the PKK have openly expressed support for Erdogan’s main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, as the two head into a runoff election on May 28. In the previous round, held on May 14, both candidates failed to secure an outright majority with Erdogan gaining just over 49.4% of the vote while Kilicdaroglu received 44.96%.

Kilicdaroglu has vowed to mend Ankara’s relations with NATO and revive Türkiye’s EU membership talks, which have been effectively stalled since 2016. He has also accused Russia of spreading “conspiracies” and “deep fakes” apparently referring to footage circulating online purportedly linking him to the PKK, and told Moscow to get its “hands off the Turkish state.” Russia has rejected the accusations.

Somalis cheer on Türkiye’s Erdogan to win re-election

Erdogan has repeatedly accused his rival of “colluding with terrorists” and threatening to undo Türkiye’s achievements in its war on terror. He has also blasted Kilicdaroglu for trying to “detach” the country from Russia.

Türkiye has been waging low-intensity warfare against Kurdish militias along its Syrian and Iraqi borders for four decades, in a back-and-forth campaign that has claimed the lives of over 40,000 people.

The PKK and its affiliates have been waging an insurgency since 1984 demanding political and cultural autonomy with the final goal of establishing an independent Kurdish State, laying claim to territories in southeast Türkiye and northern parts of Iraq and Syria.

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POLITICS

Chinese special envoy meets with Zelensky

Published

2 years ago

May 19, 2023

The San Francisco Telegraph

Li Hui visited Kiev to share Beijing’s views on a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has met with China’s newly appointed special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, who traveled to Kiev to convey Beijing’s views on a diplomatic resolution to Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.

According to a statement published on Thursday by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Li held talks with Zelensky as well as the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Andrey Yermak, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, and representatives from several other ministries.

Beijing said both sides had agreed that the recent phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Zelensky had outlined the direction for future relations between their two nations, which it stated should be built on mutual respect and sincerity.

During his trip, Li reiterated that Beijing is willing to serve as a peace broker to help reach a political resolution to the conflict with Russia, based on the principles outlined in a 12-point roadmap published by China in late February.

“There is no panacea in resolving the crisis. All parties need to start from themselves, accumulate mutual trust, and create conditions for ending the war and engaging in peace talks,” Li said, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement.

The special envoy’s two-day trip to Ukraine is the first leg of a wider European tour, during which he is expected to visit Poland, France, Germany, and Russia. Beijing has explained that the trip aims to promote communication toward “a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”

Hungary backs Chinese plan for Ukraine

China’s peace efforts have been welcomed by Russia as well as some European nations such as Hungary, and have been praised for acknowledging the national interests of both parties.

The roadmap, however, has been criticized by some in the West. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg claimed that China lacked “credibility” as it has refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted that “the only thing that can be called a peace plan is Zelensky’s proposal.”

The Ukrainian president has demanded that Russia must withdraw from territories that Kiev claims as its own, as well as pay war reparations and face an international tribunal. The Kremlin has dismissed the initiative, claiming it does not take into consideration “the realities on the ground,” including the new status of four former Ukrainian regions as part of Russia.

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POLITICS

Pakistan’s top court orders release of former PM Imran Khan

Published

2 years ago

May 12, 2023

The San Francisco Telegraph

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, whose arrest earlier this week triggered deadly protests across the country, Geo TV news channel has reported.

The court considered an appeal by Khan’s legal team on Thursday, ruling that the arrest of the opposition figure was illegal, according to the broadcaster.

The leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was detained on an order from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday as soon as he arrived at a lower court in connection with a graft case against him. He has been held at a police compound in the capital, Islamabad, since then.

Khan’s spokesperson told Al Jazeera that the 70-year-old was apprehended in court before he could even appear before the judges, which was “in violation of all laws.” The PTI party claimed that it was not an arrest, but “an abduction,” and called on its supporters to take the streets.

Pakistan deploys army after Imran Khan’s arrest

Pakistan has been gripped by violent protests for the last three days, with demonstrators clashing with security forces and setting government buildings on fire in major cities across the country. The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has deployed the military in an attempt to curb the unrest.

Some 2,500 of Khan’s supporters, including some top figures in his party, have been arrested so far. Local media have reported at least 11 protesters killed and hundreds of police officers wounded.

Numerous criminal cases have been launched against Khan since his removal from office after a no-confidence vote in April 2022. The PTI leader, who remains highly popular in the country, denies all accusations against him.

The politician claimed a year ago that he had been deposed as a result of a US-led “international conspiracy” and accused his opponents of receiving money from foreign forces.

Khan has been making active attempts to return to power since then, staging massive rallies across the country. The former premier survived an assassination attempt last November, escaping with a non-life-threatening leg wound after several bullets were fired at him.

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