Donald Trump sucks up to China
John Bolton has lots to say about the worst president in US history:
Mr Bolton wrote that Mr Trump “stunningly turned the conversation to the coming US presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win”.
The Financial Times reported last year that Mr Trump had told Mr Xi in Osaka that he would tone down criticism of China’s handling of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong to help revive then-stalled trade negotiations. The White House did not refute the claims at the time.
Please Mr. Xi, help me to win.
Mr Bolton said Mr Trump did not want to get involved in the debate about China and Hong Kong ahead of the G20 summit in Osaka, telling his adviser that “we have human rights problems too”.
He added that the president had refused to issue a traditional statement on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, saying, “That was 15 years ago . . . who cares about it?”
Has it already been 15 years since the Chinese government showed real “strength” in putting down those horrible “riots”? How time flies.
Mr Bolton said Mr Trump also told Mr Xi to go ahead with its internment of Uighurs — Chinese ethnic Muslims who have been rounded up and placed in facilities that human rights groups compare to concentration camps. Mr Trump on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at punishing China for its treatment of the Uighurs.
And we’re told that only America can stand up to China’s illiberalism. Do you think China cares more about meaningless pieces of legislation on the Uighurs or what Trump tells them behind the scenes in trade negotiations?
I’ve always been 100% opposed to the authoritarian CCP, and have been rewarded with nonstop accusations of being “soft on China”, often by the same people who praise Trump.
The Washington Post said Mr Bolton described Mr Trump as “erratic” and “stunningly uninformed” about foreign policy. He added that foreign leaders were often successful in manipulating the president.
Mr Bolton said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin succeeded in boosting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by comparing Juan Guaidó — whom Washington recognises as the legitimate leader of the country — to Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump’s opponent in the 2016 presidential election.
LOL. Haven’t I been telling you all that Trump’s as easy to manipulate as a kindergardener? Do you finally believe me?
Mr Bolton said Mr Pompeo quipped that he was “having a cardiac arrest” after listening to a phone call about North Korea ahead of Mr Trump’s June 2018 summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
But Pompeo has political ambitions, unlike Bolton.
According to The Washington Post, Mr Trump expressed surprise in a meeting with Theresa May, then British prime minister, that the UK was a “nuclear power”.
And Trump says people are “surprised” to find out how much he knows!
Mr Bolton rued that Mr Trump “saw conspiracies under rocks” and was “stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House”. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, he had a warning about how Mr Trump would treat China if re-elected in November.
As I keep telling you all, the second term is going to be completely INSANE.
Over at the WSJ, Bolton provides more evidence that Trump respects power more than anything else:
Trump was particularly dyspeptic about Taiwan, having listened to Wall Street financiers who had gotten rich off mainland China investments. One of Trump’s favorite comparisons was to point to the tip of one of his Sharpies and say, “This is Taiwan,” then point to the historic Resolute desk in the Oval Office and say, “This is China.” So much for American commitments and obligations to another democratic ally.
And why stop at a second term—Trump’s already dreaming of a third term. Indeed “some people say” it’s a great idea:
In Buenos Aires on Dec. 1, at dinner, Xi began by telling Trump how wonderful he was, laying it on thick. Xi read steadily through note cards, doubtless all of it hashed out arduously in advance. Trump ad-libbed, with no one on the U.S. side knowing what he would say from one minute to the next.
One highlight came when Xi said he wanted to work with Trump for six more years, and Trump replied that people were saying that the two-term constitutional limit on presidents should be repealed for him. Xi said the U.S. had too many elections, because he didn’t want to switch away from Trump, who nodded approvingly.
The Trumpistas will tell you that Bolton, Tillerson, Gary Cohn, John Kelly, General Mattis and all the rest are pathological liars. Of course when Trump appointed these people they were cited as evidence that Trump was hiring the “best people”.
Tags:
17. June 2020 at 23:39
“LOL. Haven’t I been telling you all that Trump’s as easy to manipulate as a kindergardener? Do you finally believe me?”
In the ‘Plutocracy’ ‘all’ can be ‘manipulated’?
“Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism. “
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1537592714001595
18. June 2020 at 01:09
Scott,
I’m not being critical and I like and agree with your takes on Trump, but I don’t understand the purpose. My guess is, for most of your readers, you’re just preaching to the choir. The Trump supporters among your commenters don’t seem moved by anything.
Is this just some combination of wanting to document your views on this extraordinarily crazy situation publicly, and catharsis?
18. June 2020 at 01:48
Michael, he has certainly helped me see how this is the worst president ever. I’m over here freaking out about the woke left, so I think it’s helpful reiterating just how badly we need a new president no matter what else we might be concerned about. It’s useful to be able to link to it in conversations with friends/family also.
18. June 2020 at 04:51
I cannot remember who said in 2016 that Hillary Clinton would be the second worst thing to happen to the USA, but that she was way behind in second place.
“She’s wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters.”
I agree with Mr. Bolton that Trump is winging it.
18. June 2020 at 05:28
It is shocking to find out that people who work for a president can be critical of them behind his back. Bolton, easily the most despised neo-con ever—-at least provides a service for those who need the satisfaction of proofs of Trump’s idiocy——some have already jumped on that one—-“you can still hate Bolton” even as he provides a service. Bolton was also critical of other Trump sycophants—-in fact, anyone who did not hate him was criticized. And for sure, sucking up to Xi by having him buy more ag products (in a free trade world how stupid!) is clearly outrageous. Well, in a 3% world of Presidents’ relevance, Scott clearly spends a disproportionate amount of space on it. His utilitarianism is getting too self focused——-he enjoys it too much——given the 3% rule.
18. June 2020 at 07:07
Another post could be done about the Trump movement’s many losses in appeals to the Supreme Court. Supposedly, this was a chief reason for many to support Trump. Despite McConnell stealing a Supreme Court pick from the Democrats and appointing two justices, maintaining the conservative dominance of the court, the losses are piling up.
18. June 2020 at 07:45
Michael (Sandifer and Rulle), I enjoy writing these posts. That’s the only “purpose”.
On the Supreme Court, that’s been true my whole life. The Court has never been as consistently liberal or conservative as expected by the people who appointed them.
18. June 2020 at 07:56
“The Trumpistas will tell you that Bolton, Tillerson, Gary Cohn, John Kelly, General Mattis and all the rest are pathological liars.”
The way to handle the Trumpistas is to always look at the future. For example, we can agree that Bolton is a liar now. But how much confidence that Trumpistas have on Pence that Pence is telling us the truth now..? and will not write a book in the future telling a different version?
The same with — What would you do if Obama did the same — is not the correct question. What would you do if a future president did the same — is the correct question.
18. June 2020 at 08:43
Regarding Trump, the contrarian view is missing, as always. Good thing there’s me, the contrarian in personata:
Most of Bolton’s statements seem to revolve around the “scandal” that we have a president who focuses his policies on getting re-elected by his voters in fall 2020. I know that this must be extremely shocking for most politicians and media outlets.
I assume that this is one reason why Trump was elected in the first place and not the miserable rest. A president who directs his policies to the approval of his voters. Oh no, what a scandal.
18. June 2020 at 09:00
Important issue. Maybe Bolton speaks and writes the truth. Maybe not. Maybe he is a liar, maybe not. Yet, pretty greedy it seems. I quote from the complaint to the district court of Columbia ( by the US government for stopping him from publication of the book). Here:
Within two months of his departure from government service, Defendant had negotiated a book deal allegedly worth about $2 million……
End of quotation:
So, this is not man of honor. Serving as national security adviser, having knowledge of very sensitive issues, and before accomplishing even the pre-publication review, and getting the clearance needed, he has moved forward whatever, just to print and sell it.
Some may look at his duty to inform the US public, about useless president, some may look at it, as pure greed.
Who knows….
Thanks
P.S: One may read the complaint here:
https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bolton.Complaint.WithExhibits.pdf
18. June 2020 at 09:38
Scott:
I have a question on this but I haven’t seen much coverage:
When John Bolton took office as National Security Advisor, didn’t he “solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of United States “? If so, why wasn’t there a whistle blower report soon after the incident? (I don’t know whether the oath requires it, or if a whistle blower report was filed, can it be classified?) To take it further, if we are a nation under rule of law, why can’t John Bolton be prosecuted for violation of his oath? (Is there such a law from the Congress? If not, why not?)
@Christian List, I am “shocked, shocked” that you’re defending Trump after he offered himself to be in evil Xi’s (and the dastardly CCP’s) pocket for $200 Billion.
18. June 2020 at 09:43
Trump’s playbook is straightforward. He is a sales guy and keeps peddling new dreams / talking-points / issues to keep everyone distracted. Remember when Trump said that we will bring back steel production? The stock price of US Steel was around $8 in 2015 Dec. Today it is $8.34. A 4% growth in 5.5 years compared to 48% growth of broader S&P.
Trump promised to bring a C-suite mentality. Turns out that doing things is much harder than he thought. So he focuses on fomenting chaos. That is his re-election strategy.
18. June 2020 at 10:31
I don’t doubt that Bolton’s telling the truth. I also don’t doubt that Trump’s foreign policy would have been even worse if he had listened to Bolton.
18. June 2020 at 10:52
why do you believe these claims?
18. June 2020 at 11:00
Read the line about Trump calling off a war in Iran and John Bolton accusing Trump of that being the worst thing he has ever done?
No doubt John Bolton is correct that the president is incompetent, but in many ways I am glad Trump ignored Bolton’s requests to keep starting major conflicts. If Trump is so easy to manipulate I do wonder why Bolton failed so much.
Not trying to justify any of Trumps or Boltons actions, just an observation.
18. June 2020 at 12:29
Aladin,
Really good observations. It’s the old strange story. Trump is so easily influenced, he can be played like a fiddle, but Bolton couldn’t do it. Trump is a moron with the intelligence of a toddler, but Hillary and the full power of the media were too dim-witted to beat him.
It reflects on these people. It’s like when you lose in chess and then you tell your opponent he’s a mentally retarded moron with an IQ of 30. A very intelligent move.
@LC
Forget about the oath and your theoretical considerations. Bolton has been invited and summoned to participate in the Impeachment on several occasions, but he has always refused. Instead, he is now publishing this book to make a few millions.
And why should I be shocked that Trump is selling America’s values for import promises? It’s been known that Trump was like this from the very beginning. He basically campaigned with this attitude, which is one reason why his voters voted for him.
I have no mood affiliation towards Trump. I can distinguish between what I would like to have and what his voters would like to have. The opposition and the media still don’t get it. Trump is no Romney guy who says that 50% of his constituents are basically scum. If they found something like this about Trump, yes, then they might have something.
18. June 2020 at 13:05
Everyone, Bolton points out that Trump is an idiot, and people respond “But what about Bolton?” Yeah, he’s a warmonger.
But that doesn’t make Trump a non-idiot.
Christian, Once again, you are showing your true colors. It’s all right to suck up to China if you are named Trump.
You said:
“Trump is no Romney guy who says that 50% of his constituents are basically scum.”
Now you are just being dense. Trump regularly implies that everyone who doesn’t support him is basically scum. Trump actually relishes bad news when it occurs in blue voting areas, it shows what bad people blue voters are. (And don’t say he doesn’t come right out and say “scum”, neither did Romney.)
pedro, You said:
“why do you believe these claims?”
Because I have a higher opinion of Trump than his supporters. His supporters believe Trump fills his administration with lying backstabbing traitors. I don’t think Trump’s THAT incompetent at hiring people.
Bolton’s comments correspond to what many, many other insiders claim, and also correspond to the childish tweets Trump regularly puts out. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together. When someone acts like an idiot both in public and in private, what’s the most parsimonious explanation?
Did lots of Obama insiders later report that Obama was an idiot? Ever wonder why not?
18. June 2020 at 13:06
Aladin, You said:
“If Trump is so easy to manipulate I do wonder why Bolton failed so much.”
Actually, Bolton and others report that Trump was regularly manipulated by his staff. But there are also splits among his staff, so obviously individual staff members do not always get their way. Not all of the staff agreed with Bolton.
18. June 2020 at 13:11
I would love to see scott and trump debate. My money is on trump!
18. June 2020 at 13:16
Jg, Love that exclamation point!!! It really drives home your point.
18. June 2020 at 13:30
I was not pointing out Bolton’s bellicosity to excuse Trump’s graft but to muse about the fact that I’d rather a crooked dope than a smart ideologue. But maybe with a bit more thought, I realize I shouldn’t have said “I don’t doubt Bolton’s telling the truth”. Someone as ready to launch the country into war as Bolton might suffer from paranoid and wrong-headed judgments in his private dealings as well.
18. June 2020 at 13:32
Scott – it does not matter if your a billion times smarter with facts coming out of your ears. He is BS artist , and he would crush you in any voting contest. You can go back to your excel spreadsheets now.
18. June 2020 at 14:28
Just a note that of we were intelligent enough to have runoff presidential general elections, Trump probably would not have won. Trump would have lost, like Le Pen in France.
18. June 2020 at 14:52
Scott,
now you are just being dense. Or it is your reading comprehension again. I can spell it out again, extra for you: It’s not alright with me but it seems to be alright with his voters.
Unlike you I can distinguish that easy. He basically campaigned with this attitude, which seems to be one reason why his voters voted for him.
That’s true but that wasn’t my point. Maybe “constituents” means something different in German. My point was that he doesn’t say this about his voters.
Of course he says that about the others, that’s his style. He and his voters made a Faustian pact, and so far both sides have kept the pact. I think that’s a point the media and the opposition does not quite understand. That’s also why they don’t break through.
They would have to find something, like what they found out about Romney, who apparently didn’t even know who his voters were, which I found more shocking’ than the actual statement. You should always know who your voters are and Trump seems to have an incredible instinct for that.
On the other hand, maybe they have found something real and they keep it secret until just before the elections, like they did with Romney. That is a possibility. Or they still don’t get it, that’s another possibility. Interesting times for sure.
18. June 2020 at 15:20
In terms of personality, Trump may be the worst president ever, although a case could be made for Richard Nixon or LBJ.
But on substance, Trump is the worst president since George Bush jr.
Bush jr., who wore military costumes, involved the US into not one but two protracted, counterproductive and fantastically expensive wars with carnage for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. Then, as the US economy collapsed in 2008, Bush jr. looked bewildered and ultimately ran off back to Texas.
Some say the Bush Administration ignored clear warnings from the Clinton Administration that Bin Laden was up to no good, and that Bush prevailed in preventing a true investigation into the source of funding for the 9/11 terrorists.
Trump may have a terrible personality. But his policies have been benign in comparison to Bush jr.
Interestingly, Scott Sumner and President Trump are in rough agreement on monetary policy and on lower taxes on American corporations. Those are pretty big issues.
18. June 2020 at 17:07
Carl, I kind of feel sorry for people who can’t even figure out someone like Trump. People who aren’t sure who to believe when he calls his former aides liars. How could they figure out other people they meet in their lives, who are generally far less transparent. Trump’s like a cartoon character, someone even an 8 year old can usually figure out.
Jg, You said:
“a billion times smarter with facts coming out of your ears”
Yes, I speak through my ears. Seriously, you need to lighten up a bit. Life’s too short to get bent out of shape by politics.
I agree that Trump would beat me in an election. He’d beat any honest man.
Christian, You said:
“Of course he says that about the others, that’s his style.”
You have a nice way of conceding my point while pretending not to. And you pretend to care about Chinese atrocities while excusing Trump’s advocacy of concentration camps.
It’s nice to have all this clarified, so that I don’t need to waste time taking you seriously in the future.
BTW, there are plenty of Trump voters in blue states, so you are wrong about that too, not that you care.
18. June 2020 at 18:17
Benjamin Cole, for the first couple years of the Trump Administration I was pretty adamant that Bush II was still the worse president, and for the reasons you outline. Trump could run around taking bribes through his businesses and saying mean things on twitter, but I figured all that damage couldn’t compare to the devastating cost of the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which sapped lives, trillions of dollars, and every last ounce of trust in American competence. Bush’s response to the Great Recession was weak, but the U.S. came out of the recession better than many other nations.
The Ukraine episode shook my faith in that argument, as Trump was clearly willing to sacrifice any American foreign policy interest in exchange for his own personal benefit. The pandemic has obliterated that argument. The Administration’s pathetic response and utter denial of reality have done more damage to this country than Bush’s wars ever did.
We had months to prepare for Covid-19. The disease ran through East Asia and Europe before it ever reached the US. And yet there was no response. Even when cases started skyrocketing and deaths started mounting, Trump was hosting his infomercials at the White House promising that cases were going to disappear and the private industry was going to take care of things. He was threatening Governors and withholding supplies. Unlike the Great Recession, the US response has fared so much worse than the rest of the OECD. And even now, Trump and his clowns are peddling snake oil cures, insulting the most basic precautions, and hosting mass gatherings. Even before Bolton’s claim that Trump supported China’s concentration camps, this year cemented Trump as the worst president since Andrew Johnson.
18. June 2020 at 21:06
Bob,
Welcome to planet Earth, and I mean that respectfully.
18. June 2020 at 23:42
“Just a note that of we were intelligent enough to have runoff presidential general elections, Trump probably would not have won.”
This is why H.R.C. ‘lost’?
“And it’s deadly. Doubtless, Crosscheck delivered Michigan to Trump who supposedly “won” the state by 10,700 votes. The Secretary of State’s office proudly told me that they were “very aggressive” in removing listed voters before the 2016 election. Kobach, who created the lists for his fellow GOP officials, tagged a whopping 417,147 in Michigan as potential double voters.”
http://www.gregpalast.com/trump-picks-al-capone-vote-rigging-investigate-federal-voter-fraud/
19. June 2020 at 02:22
The ‘election’ of D.J. Trump was ‘a blessing in disguise’?
During the election campaign H.R.C., three times, {stupidly?} threatened to impose a ‘no fly zone’ in Syria – confronting a nuclear armed country.
‘One of many truths lost within this discourse is the reality that the creation of a no-fly zone would, in the words of the most senior general in the US Armed Forces, {probably?} mean the US going to war “against Syria and Russia”. ‘
https://mronline.org/2016/12/13/allday131216-html/
19. June 2020 at 02:31
Bob,
There is actually a recent study by the OECD and the experts there claim that the USA did quite well.
The “Economist Intelligence Unit” (what a name) from the OECD claims that the US performance was not as poor as the death figures suggest. The US finished mid-table, in the category “good”.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8426079/Britain-ranks-near-bottom-Covid-19-league-table-tackling-virus.html
Has this been widely reported and commented on in the “neutral” US media? CNN? NYT? I assume it made the headlines. Let’s make a wild guess.
Scott,
it’s hard to argue with you about topics like Trump and CCP China because you are hardly consistent.
Trump should be schooled by you. I think it was you who preferred to write pages and pages about alleged Indian concentration camps rather than the real Chinese ones. Your comments were in a ratio of about 10:1 to the disadvantage of Modi’s India, while in reality the ratio of the inmates is probably at least 1:100 or 1:1000 to the disadvantage of China, if at all, because so far there seems to be no evidence of Indian concentration camps. What is the ratio of zero inmates compared to 1 million inmates? You do the math, even though math is not your thing.
I try to remain neutral in all my evaluations, and also regarding Trump, India, and CCP China.
19. June 2020 at 04:46
Christian, I have to echo Scott and say that I can’t take you seriously. Just look at the daily case counts. We are 3 months into this and case counts are RISING. The positive test rate is RISING. There are 118,000 dead from confirmed cases, and likely another 30,000 that weren’t counted because the president refused to produce and distribute the necessary tests. He literally said he didn’t want to test people so that he could keep the numbers down. Trump literally said that he wants to lie to the public about the numbers to avoid larger numbers. And we’ll probably see another 100,000 dead in the months ahead.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/investigations/coronavirus-excess-deaths-may/
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
19. June 2020 at 06:29
“And Trump says people are ‘surprised’ to find out how much he knows!”
Actually, Trump is right about this one. We are continually surprised by how much he knows. Answer: even less than we previously thought possible!
19. June 2020 at 06:57
Bob,
your mood affiliation is super-strong. Did you even read what I wrote? I didn’t even express my personal opinion, I only mentioned this recent OECD study because you brought the OECD countries into play.
Scott also has an extreme form of TDS regarding certain political topics, but he is super-strong in assessing the corona crisis.
It is clear that Trump is a highly controversial figure, and that I personally would also say that the US has failed in the corona crisis, but this is precisely the situation when one has to take a few steps back and look for studies that are as neutral as possible.
The OECD study could be of help here if the economists involved really do have expertise and are neutral. I don’t know that, and I’m sceptical, but it is at least a start.
You are welcome to participate with arguments and studies, but just spitting out our mood affiliation here is useless and does not get us anywhere.
20. June 2020 at 11:20
Here link to the ruling of the district court of Columbia, concerning the book of Bolton. The judge refused to grant preliminary injunction ( or restraining order ) for stopping the shipping and selling of the book etc….The judge has claimed, that it is too late ( already 200,000 shipped all over the world almost, and the US) so such preliminary order, wouldn’t help right now ( let alone, in that internet era).
I quote:
“Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability. But these facts do not control the motion before the Court. The government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm. Its motion is accordingly DENIED.”
But this is not the end of the story, civil action and maybe criminal action, may be forwarded ahead. Here:
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6953444/6-20-20-Bolton-TRO-Order.pdf
Thanks
20. June 2020 at 12:13
“Help me win Xi” is simply an effort to get Xi to put more on the table, and to accept the deal. I often wonder whether people nowadays have the capacity to truly place themselves in someone else’s shoes, and to seek to understand their character before making judgement. Trump might be a real-estate playboy, but he also understands the art of business. In fact, its impossible not to understand business when you are a business owner for 50+ years (going back to his youth). And the general rule in business is not much different then the general rule of politics, i.e., try to be likeable. If the other businessmen in the deal like you, then you are more likely to be given a “better deal”. It would be more reasonable to discuss whether politicians should be engaging in such pandering, as opposed to implying malfeasance in this particular case. If we are to suggest Trump is selling out our country for making such a remark, then how do we feel about Biden’s son receiving a lucrative position he was wholly unqualified for. That is cronyism 101.
20. June 2020 at 15:32
While I believe Trump is a net positive, I do not feel certainty. Scott expresses certainty and cannot understand how anyone can disagree with him. I find that disappointing
22. June 2020 at 13:14
Lol, I love this post Scott. Hilarious. If you want to know why die hard Trumpistas seem 100% blind to reality (regarding Trump), a quick look through Travis View’s Twitter TL will tell you all you need to know. He documents the most disconnected from reality of all: the QAnon conspirichumps (who invariably call themselves “patriots” (i.e. stolen valor) and are convinced Trump is white Jesus send by God to destroy Hillary’s intergalactic cannibalistic Satanic pedophile ring of andrenochrome harvesters. They’re 100% sure cuz they saw it from anonymous 4chan posters. “Do your research!!!.” Lol. IMO, every Trump supporter is somewhere on the conspirichump spectrum, from merely delusional to full on QAnon. https://twitter.com/travis_view?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
22. June 2020 at 23:45
> > “why do you believe these claims?”
> Because I have a higher opinion of Trump than
> his supporters. His supporters believe Trump
> fills his administration with lying backstabbing
> traitors. I don’t think Trump’s THAT incompetent
> at hiring people.
Hiring is luck, firing is skill. Being open to a broad range of people and ideas, and cutting them off when they show themselves inpet, is a good approach.
> Bolton’s comments correspond to what many,
> many other insiders claim, and also
> correspond to the childish tweets Trump
> regularly puts out. You don’t need to be
> a rocket scientist to put two and two together.
> When someone acts like an idiot both in public
> and in private, what’s the most parsimonious
> explanation?
Literally minutes after Bolton’s claims other
people in room during Chinese negotiations said
that Bolton’s accounts were inaccurate.
> Did lots of Obama insiders later report that
> Obama was an idiot? Ever wonder why not?
President Trump was in part hired to do things differently. Many people have identified that President Trump’s administration does things differently than previous administrations. Many people find departure from norms upsetting or incoherent. Because they do not understand such departures from norms they label them as stupid.
One parsimonious take is that you don’t like Trump, and appear to discount an intellect that succeeded in 3 different highly competitivate and difficult arenas (TV RE & politics), because you do not like Trump. Many people do not like Trump.
I wish you the best Scott. Your economics takes are interesting and illuminating. To me your political takes seem angry rather than objectively considered.
23. June 2020 at 08:56
With all do respect, Bolton is a war monger and hawk whose views are out of touch with most of the American people. If Bolton were president we would almost certainly be at war with Venezuela and Iran, and possibly China. A guy like that is untrustworthy at best, and malevolent at worst. He is essentially a mouthpiece for the military industrial complex and is wholly unqualified for public office. I don’t know if what he is saying is true or not, but I do know that “tell all books”, published in election years to maximize book sales are rarely, if ever, accurate. “He said, she said”, is quite trivial for those who are more interested in hard facts.
23. June 2020 at 09:06
And just one more thing: it should not be surprising that a real estate developer from NY lacks foreign policy experience. I hear these lines of arguments frequently – namely, the president doesn’t have experience in “x” matters. That is a common political attack, but has very little bearing on the reality of what presidents do. No president in the history of this country has ever been a policy expert in any matter. A presidents job is to seek out good advisers, to listen to opposing views, and to make a decision based on a multitude of variables. The downside of that, of course, is that short term political variables are consistently placed above long term economic variables. A dangerous proposition for future generations.