I keep asking myself, what is Japan and Abe specifically, getting out of this seemingly obsequiously cozy relationship with Trump?
Abe is somewhat of a militarist who wants Japan to move beyond its post-WWII pacifist era. He doesn’t want to play nice with North Korea, and he doesn’t want to just trust that the alliance with the United States will all work out for the best. He’s not just worried about conflicts with North Korea; he’s watching China as well and in that sense, he has a partner in Trump, who’s a fellow China-skeptic.
Does he need to kiss Trump’s ass in order to buy more arms from the US? Or is he hoping to flatter the big orange buffoon into giving Japan a discount?
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, mentioned earlier in this thread for economic ties to various Putin cronies, has incurred the wrath of Forbes magazine, not exactly a liberal hotbed.
Appears Ol’ Wilbur has been…exaggerating his wealth; apparently he is not a billionaire at all and has been giving Forbes estimates over the years so that he would appear in the “Forbes 400”.
Read it here: Nothing like screwing with the magazine for rich folks; they serve revenge cold: The Case Of Wilbur Ross' Phantom $2 Billion
Probably both.
Hopefully, Japan will take delivery first and then claim quality problems and offer 70% of the price.
No-one commenting about the (paraphrasing) “Your economy’s good, but not as good as ours and we’ll keep it that way” comment? Link
What a fucking embarrassment trump is (I know this is not news to anyone, just feels good to type it)
Probably less wheels-within-wheels than that. More likely, the American-hating fuckstick wants to be able to crow that he personally saved/generated hundreds of jobs with arms manufacturers.
…or a subsidy?
An interesting point in that article:
Would this be grounds for tossing him out of the Sec. Commerce job? I would think so.
It would be grounds for the person with firing authority to toss him (I’m not aware of any precedent for the Senate rescinding its confirmation of a presidential appointee after the fact). But what are the odds that the America-hating fuckstick would do that for any transgression that wasn’t unquestioning loyalty to his Royal High Fuckstickyness?
If he were an immigrant, it would be enough to get him deported under this administration.
If he were an immigrant, it would be enough to get him deported under this administration.
I’m actually surprised he didn’t get booted for describing Trump’s missile strikes in Syria as planned to be after-dinner entertainment at Mar-a-Lago. Maybe that didn’t get much press because the press was so busy getting moist in the undies about how he was finally a real President.
Exactly what I was getting at. How much of Trump’s shit is Abe going to eat before he joins NK and attacks Pearl Harbor again?
Michael Lewis (“The Blind Side”, “The Big Short”) has written a series of articles for Vanity Fair on how the Trump Administration managed the transition, and staffed, the Executive Branch – focusing primarily on Agriculture and Energy.
He’s making the interview rounds; here’s a transcript of his appearance on Fresh Air. It’ll make you weep.
I listened to that this morning. Very disturbing–especially the fact that even if we can sweep the Trump people out of these positions in 2020, the damage they are inflicting–often through inaction–may not be immediate, but will result in problems years or decades down the road.
Low bar du jour: I was sure that, going straight from Pearl Harbor to Japan, he would say something really impolitic.
Trump directed the CIA to investigate conspiracy theories.
And here I thought the low point was Trump urging Japan to start building cars in the USA.
Guess not.
WTF? We have a CIA director who apparently is on Trump’s side:
That Pompeo would even entertain the idea of President Shittiest Ever’s diversionary request tells me he isn’t the right guy for the job. I’m guessing, though, his job might’ve been on the line if he refused the request.