Alone Again, Naturall

 

Alone Again, Naturally

Except for Strongmen with a proclivity towards violence as a ubiquitous solution

“We are in a full-scale war with the US, Israel and Europe; they do not want our country to stand on its feet.” 

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview published on the website of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, December 27th ,

“The decades of Pax Americana are, for us in Europe and also for us in Germany, largely over.” 

Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, December 13th; Europe should prepare for a “fundamental change” in the transatlantic relationship

Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin, Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: 

"A republic, if you can keep it."

Strongmen and powerful leaders know that through flattery and manufactured “peace awards,” they can tame the egomaniacal Trump beast. The man who bombs small, self-declared narco-terrorist boats not even heading to the United States, orders a deep strike deep into Iranian territory, shovels billions of dollars of weapons into Israeli PM Netanyahu’s murderous coffers to be used to extinguish innocent Palestinian lives in Gaza as that American leader asks the Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu (who is also under ICC indictment for war crimes), marches federal or federalized troops into blue cities, where he has already cut support for local police, to help purge “criminals” and rid those cities of even the peaceful mostly Hispanic undocumented workers… who claims to have ended more wars and regional conflicts (even as the participants say otherwise) than any leader in history… does not understand why he has not been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Hint: THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

Trump is enamored of powerful cruel foreign rightwing populists or just plain dictator/kings, who have a most efficient way to deal with those that oppose or criticize them: harsh imprisonment, torture and/or death. His new cause célèbre is “retribution.” As thousands are literally “detained” here or on rare occasion, formally arrested, for speaking their anti-Trump sentiments, often without warrants, VP JD “I really do have a Yale law degree” Vance screams at Europe, where openly supporting Nazis violates the law, that all those nations will fail for violating free speech. In Europe, the rising “on the edge of being full Nazis” AfD Party is becoming one of the most powerful voices in Germany’s parliament. With Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, etc. standing behind the Trump/Vance MAGA movement, ready to purge anti-MAGA dissent, are sending the same message they sent by invading the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Europe feels directly threatened by Vladimir Putin. It is their borders, their neighborhoods that face the very real wind from rattling Russian sabers. But Trump finds no kindred spirit with European democracies, which he considers weak and ineffective. He supports strong populists as directly as he can. Stephen Collinson, CNN, December 29th reminds us: “Trump openly boosts favored candidates and seeks to bend their national political and justice systems in their favor. Just in case no one noticed, the White House committed to paper its support for far-right European populists trying to topple allied leaders in its new national security strategy… In his second term, Trump is acting as the global head of a nationalist political movement, seeking to shape partisan politics in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, South Korea, Venezuela, South Africa and across the Atlantic….In most cases, Trump promoted leaders and candidates who favor his populist nationalism, those who flatter him, or who face legal battles that mirror his own.”

Not once since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, without provocation, has Vladimir Putin evidenced the slightest intent to cease his attacks, end his claims to Ukraine territory and return the thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children taken by force to become “Russians.” Until it is captured. He never speaks in specifics, stating that even a ceasefire would require major concessions from Kyiv. There has never been a phone call or a meeting between Trump and Putin where there are true compromises that Putin would accept.

Despite sanctions against Russian oil, that black gold flows with virtually no limits. Russia’s shadow fleets of oil and gas tankers are everywhere. As Putin showers Ukraine with state-of-the-art bombs, targeting shells and missiles – knocking out more civilian targets including schools and hospitals that military ones – Trump fights efforts to equip Ukraine with comparable weapons to give Putin a better reason to seek peace. Given Russia’s nefarious history with Europe and wars that have been driven by Christian Nationalism, Western leaders on that continent do not remotely believe that Putin has any plans to limit his ambitions to Ukraine.

“The Kremlin’s objectives in its ongoing conflict extend significantly further than the capture of specific regions like Donetsk, according to a recent analysis of the geopolitical landscape. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that Moscow is signaling that any potential peace agreement must address a sweeping set of broader demands that target the foundational security structure of the West. Rather than focusing solely on a ceasefire within Ukrainian borders, Russian leadership is pushing for a fundamental realignment of international influence in Europe…

“The findings suggest that the war in Ukraine is merely one component of a larger Russian strategy to challenge the post-Cold War order. By demanding that NATO cease its expansion and roll back its military presence, the Kremlin is seeking to re-establish a sphere of influence that existed decades ago. This stance creates a significant diplomatic hurdle for international mediators, as it indicates that resolving the territorial dispute in Ukraine may not be enough to prevent a wider conflict between Russia and Western powers… The ISW notes that the Kremlin has consistently rejected European-led security guarantees for Ukraine, viewing them as insufficient or contrary to Russian interests.”

“Instead, Kremlin officials have positioned the removal of NATO infrastructure as a non-negotiable prerequisite for a lasting settlement. This position directly contradicts several peace frameworks currently being discussed in the West, which often prioritize Ukrainian sovereignty and immediate border stabilization over the total restructuring of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” Kurt Steffens writing for the December 29th Altitude Post.

And if China decides to take Taiwan by force, an island nation that the US is treaty-bound to protect, don’t expect to see European nations rushing to fight along side the US… as they did in every war since WWI & II. We are on our own…. And we are one of the least popular nations on Earth these days, with the possible exception of Israel. Trump does not believe in “limitations,” constitutional or otherwise. Congress and our federal judiciary, to the extent they are not simply following his orders, are simply speed bumps easily ignored.

I’m Peter Dekom, and we may well be transitioning from a failing experiment in democracy to a rising autocracy under the heel of an immoral leader with obvious serious mental and physical impairments that are getting worse by the day.