He wanted to be a Nixon. He ended up being a Mr. Magoo.
Trump’s Helsinki Summit was a disaster in so many ways and it shouldn’t have been. The only reason for that is because Trump was the focal point. Like Clinton was the only person in America who could lose to Trump, Trump is the only ‘leader’ in America who could have fucked up this summit.
Liberals, the DNC, the media, including to a degree Fox, have all condemned his actions. He went to the ‘enemy’ and paid homage to their President, almost reverently. He attacked his own people, his own intelligence agencies and praised Russia’s. Trump reversed his opinion on whether Russia was involved in interfering in our elections when the blistering attacks wouldn’t let up, which is very unusual for him to do. And now he is inviting Putin, during our election season, for round two in DC, when Putin is the bogeyman behind Clinton’s loss and the destruction of American democracy. All this is being done without even Dan Coates’s, Director of National Intelligence, awareness. Are we cueing up for a Marvel comic intervention?
Trump did a good job of weathering the storm of criticism leading up to the summit. For many of his supporters, that is one of his greatest strengths, knowing that he’s right and following through on his position. Here he is about to meet the newest Hitler, Great Satan, Communist thug, enemy of American values and hot dogs. Although we live in much more compressed times, when Nixon went to China, it was preceded by ping pong diplomacy and full awareness of corporations and intelligence agencies, with their support, and full coverage, mostly positive, by the media. Trump went in blindly. Like his visit to North Korea, very few were in the know.
George W. Bush had looked into Putin’s eye and saw good in his soul. He was criticized for such a stupid remark but not condemned for attempting to find peace with him. Trump comes off as completely smitten by Mr. Putin, and please, not in a homoerotic way. Trump believes in authoritarianism and respects that in others.
Finally there is the secrecy surrounding the visit, a characteristic of such an authoritarian figure. He alone was to make the call on how to proceed with Putin. He alone has the intelligence to understand all the nuances of dealing with a world leader, tête à tête. He alone could trust only the Russian side in the conversation. In spite of all that could have been positively achieved, he set himself up beautifully for ridicule and condemnation. Nixon, like Trump, was devious. But he was no idiot.
This summit could have been successful under ‘normal’ circumstances, but of course, nothing is normal today. The main stream media lives for controversy, scandal and war. Trump is such a perfect foil for them. Hyperbolic language, some with merit, has replaced normal discourse: impeachment, treason, fucking moron, etc. But we are engaged in a new McCarthyism. While Edward R. Murrow ended each program with ‘Good night and good luck’, it is now the media that is leading the charge of McCarthyism, as directed by either the ‘Deep State’ or their DNC handlers. Where Fox had its Goebbels like Hannity, O’Reilly, Glen Beck, etc., the ‘liberal’ media has its Rachel Maddow, Wolf Blitzer, Cuomo, and others. Like pushing for war at every turn, by going to their rolodex of former generals now working for the war industries, MSM is on a roll with its never-ending attacks on Trump, at every possible turn of events, finding every conceivable nut job or acknowledged perjurers to pontificate on why American democracy is not only at its nadir, which it is, but do it in a way to keep it there. Promoting real democracy, like fair election laws, ending corporate money in elections, stopping the endless wars, providing decent standards of living, including safe drinking water for Flint and elsewhere, etc. That is not their concern.
Trump should have been successful. Russia is not communist and neither is Putin. They are a potential major trading partner, at least with our allies in Europe. Tensions have been incredibly revved up, especially during Obama’s second term when it overthrew the elected government of Ukraine and put in a neo-Nazi regime right on Russia’s border. Putin’s family suffered horribly during the Siege of Leningrad by the Nazis. No wonder they fear a Nazi regime on their border. What Russia allegedly did to our election was very small potatoes compared to what the US has consistently done all over the world, as it even connived to re-elect Yeltsin in 96, as highlighted by Time Magazine’s front cover. You talk with your adversaries to lessen the tensions. You do it in the open, and at least as equals.
Rex Tillerson, former Trump Secretary of State, was right when he called Trump a ‘fucking moron’. Trump is a near-genius at marketing but dumb as shit when it comes to being a CEO of a nation. Perhaps his constant firing of cabinet secretaries fits well in a corporate setting, and the US is a corporate entity, but like in a business, confidence needs to be there to make any drastic moves look forward moving. Being the embodiment of a corporation improves its standing. Col. Sanders, Ronald McDonald, Energizer Bunny, Chef Boyardee and Uncle Ben were the product. We also had Lincoln, FDR, and Ronald Reagan. They were symbols of America, for good and bad. Trump, too. And look where we are.
