Guest Post by Pat Buchanan
If Trump wins, borders will be tightened. The U.S. withdrawal from the Mideast will continue. U.S. manufacturing will begin to be repatriated. Transnational institutions will be downgraded, ignored and superseded. The watchword will be what it has lately been: “America First.”
After the Great Pandemic has passed and we emerge from Great Depression II, what will be America’s mission in the world?
What will be America’s cause?
We have been at such a turning point before.
After World War II, Americans wanted to come home. But we put aside our nation-building to face the challenge of a malevolent Stalinist empire dominant from the Elbe river to the Barents Sea.
And after persevering for four decades, we prevailed.
What, then, did we do with our epochal victory?
We alienated Russia by moving our NATO military alliance into the Baltic and Black Seas. We launched bloody, costly crusades for democracy in the Middle East that, invariably, failed. We exported a huge slice of our manufacturing capacity and economic independence to a coddled China.
Historically, blunders of such magnitude have undone great powers.
Even before COVID-19, Americans had begun to realize the folly of decades of mindless interventionism over matters irrelevant to our vital interests. “Unsustainable” was the word commonly associated with our foreign policy.
But if our foreign policy was unsustainable during President Trump’s economic boom, with unemployment at record lows and a bull market to rival the Roaring ’20s, can an interventionist foreign policy be sustained after the losses of this major depression we have induced to kill the pandemic?
If the Democrats win in November, we know their priorities: national health insurance, carbon taxes, the Green New Deal, open borders, amnesty, reparations and wealth redistribution to reduce social and economic inequality — an agenda costing trillions of dollars.
And Democrats will be looking at the defense budget as a slush fund to finance this new progressive era.
If the Republicans win, given the influence of hawks and neocons among the party elite, interventionism may get another run in the yard.
Having been exposed as naive beyond belief for their indulgence of China from the Bush I days to 2016, some Republicans are looking to make amends by casting China in the Soviet role in Cold War II.
There is talk on Capitol Hill of refusing to pay off U.S. bonds that Beijing holds and of suing China for the damages done by the coronavirus, as China failed to alert the world the pathogen was loose.
Americans should think long and hard before defaulting on U.S. government debt and consider the consequences if we open a door to claims against sovereign nations for past sins.
Iraq was invaded in 2003 to force it to give up illicit weapons of mass destruction it did not have. Baghdad could have a case in international court against America for the unprovoked war waged against that country.
While the U.S. appears determined to bring back manufacturing — especially of products critical to the health, safety and defense of our nation — there seems to be no stomach among the public for a war with China.
But again, with the democracy crusades now repudiated, what is America’s cause, what is America’s mission in the world?
Preventing climate change, say our liberal elites. Yet, even before the pandemic, global warming ranked near the bottom of national concerns.
The situation in which America will find herself after the virus passes and depression lifts will be almost unprecedented.
We will have the same treaty obligations to go to war on behalf of dozens of nations in Europe and Asia and at the same time, we will be running deficits on the order of $3 trillion a year with a shrunken economic base.
If Trump wins, borders will be tightened. The U.S. withdrawal from the Mideast will continue. U.S. manufacturing will begin to be repatriated. Transnational institutions will be downgraded, ignored and superseded.
The watchword will be what it has lately been: “America First.”
Does it matter to us if Russia is led by an autocrat not unlike a Romanov czar, that Hindu nationalism wields the whip hand in India or that Hungarians have rejected Earl Warren’s ideas about liberal democracy?
In recent decades, the U.N. General Assembly has seemed to resemble the bar scene in “Star Wars.” But is how other nations choose to rule themselves any business of ours, if those nations do not threaten us?
In the 19th century, when the Hungarians had risen up against the Hapsburg Empire and sought U.S. intervention, Henry Clay opposed it:
“Far better is it for ourselves … and for the cause of liberty … that we should keep our lamp burning brightly on this western shore, as a light to all nations, than to hazard its utter extinction amid the ruins of falling or fallen republics in Europe.”
Not only President Trump’s preferences but also events seem to be driving us toward such a destiny.
To borrow from the title of historian Walter A. McDougall’s classic work, America’s future is as a promised land, not a crusader state.
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I see the Twatter in Chief has started to refer to the flu as The Invisible Enemy (yes, he used capital letters) so maybe that’s the next big thing.
Dunno, don’t care, not my fox hunt.
I stopped reading at “Borders will be tightened”.
More ‘ enhanced ‘ partnership with Israel, because Americans are consumers, and not producers.
“Cruz and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., are seeking $12 million to enhance partnerships between companies in the U.S. and Israel “to develop innovative medical projects aimed at detecting, treating, and curing COVID-19,” Breaking Israel News reported.
“I’m proud to push forward to ensure both American and Israeli companies can work together to develop cures and treatments to defeat COVID-19,” Cruz said.
Coons said the United States and Israel “are world leaders in the medical technology industry, and it is in the interest of all Americans, Israelis, and the rest of the world that we work together to fight COVID-19.”
Jewish researchers have won numerous Nobel prizes in medicine.”
Almost all of us here are MAGA. We really want Trump to be the same. After almost 4 years, few of us have reason to believe he is sincere.
I won’t say that I agree with “all” that Trump does or says, however, name one individual that could have accomplished what he did under the pressure that was brought to bear. Name ONE! All this is just my opinion so do as you please with it but, just who do you trust to do a thankless job in the cesspool of washington that Trump has?
I personally don’t like how Trump puts his point across. I personally don’t think I could work for the man. However, if you look back on all the promises from other presidents that were not kept, both republican and democrat, what do you see?
I will continue to support the man. He has been the best I have seen in decades.
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Ben Franklin
Francis Marion
George Mason
I’d say those guys had a bit more load to bear than Trump. Nothing like a potential hanging to hone one’s senses.
We don’t live there anymore … your shit is weak.
I have read over 50 books about Trump and his election-most are nothing more than overpriced toilet paper.
By far the best, though, is “The Case for Trump” by Victor Davis Hanson. It is the most objective and unbiased look at both Trump the man and Trump the idea. The message: while many don’t like the man, think twice about not liking the idea.
We need to stop the parasitism of local property taxes. Privatize the schools . In addition property taxes need to be assessed on a per person per household.
We are going to see more what I term “stacking”. Four to a room , six to a garage. In addition we will see many more people living in vans.
Taxes have to go down and be more fairly distributed.
Property tax , the scam by the Big Club to assure you really own nothing THEY cannot take away !
It’s for the children , for the schools “BULL SHIT”
It’s for the government employee teachers union !
I paid for private school for my daughter , we never set foot in a public school .
Did not get any return on my investment except to here some teacher bitch about not being paid enough while they spent 2 months in the summer at their beach condo and retired at 55 .
Jealous you say fuck off at least Jesse James used a gun when he robbed you !
Now the government employees use other government employees to rig the system for their benefit and your financial demise all the while telling you how bad they have it as they retire on a bankrupt pension that we are expected to make whole !
Again fuck you !
The other day in the local rag I see a picture of a boardroom with a huge conference table and at least a dozen of high Dollar leather conference chairs with adjustable everything, easily $1,000 or more each. Another virus article except instead of some CEO it was some guy from the f’ing grade school sitting alone in this corporate level boardroom bitching about life under the shutdown.
These fuques bitch and complain about their overpaid 8th month a year jobs obviously spending huge amounts of money on wasteful items for a meeting room. This meeting room is probably one of their least ridiculous expenditures.
Spend it all before the end of the fiscal year.
Services simply need to be provided by a competitive, open, and free market of businesses/individuals, with households subscribing to what they desire, businesses picking up some of the “slack,” and local government dissolved. The schools should be the first thing on the list to go.
Damn, unlike Doug Lynn, Pat Buchanan’s not getting a lick smarter. He still hold out hope for Republicans.
“But again, with the democracy crusades now repudiated, what is America’s cause, what is America’s mission in the world?”
– Patrick J. Buchanan
What is this “democracy crusades” being repudiated that Pat is talking about?
To answer Pats queries one must obviously look to current ‘Merkin “leadership*”. The cause and the mission:
– Continue bringing them, independent foreign countries, Muh Demokrazy (C) (TM)**
– Enlist them, whether they like it or not, in Muh (Krony) Kapitalizm (C) (TM)**
*Council on Foreign Relations; George Soros; Trilateral Commission; Bill Gates; AIPAC; Reps. Tlaib, Occassional-Cortex, Ilhan Omar; Guugle; Rachel Maddow; Facefukbook; SPLC; Elon Musk; GLAAD; Stacy Abrams; NAMBLA; Cuomo Bros & Bill de Blasio; ACLU…
**Evil Fucker approved.
Obviously President Trump is the only viable candidate for 2020 .
That being said the employment figures although appear to be in the right direction it has not begun to scratch the surface of the damage inflicted upon middle American working people. Wages and benefits are all in the shitter except for a small minority of tech jobs and many of them are being filled by foreign imported labor thru H1 — visa scam .
You state even before COVID-19 people were realized the economic woes over the last 40 years ! That is absolute nonsense American labor from steel to shipbuilding to auto and nearly all avenues of industrial production were screaming at the top of their lungs what the BIG CLUB was doing in 1975 to 1985 and not one thing was done to stop it !
Oh there was TRA , the trade readjustment act that paid displaced workers a few thousand bucks . This after we in industry proved our tax dollars were supporting foreign dumping of industrial products into US markets and sending millions of middle income Americans into the unemployment line . Even after that the dumping continued the Big Club just put lip stick on the pig and sent Congress borrowing to infinity and passing the bill to the unemployed and under employed Americans . In 2008 it should have crashed but no the Big Club got a bail out and middle America got the shaft again .
Now here we are , after the greatest transfer of wealth and the devaluing of any savings middle Americans may have amassed by government and Big Club jury rigging , pensions wiped out a pandemic and young people with unmanageable debt for an education for jobs that do not exist and the ones that do the take home pay can’t cover the debt let alone get them out on their own .
But now we get $1200 bucks an unemployment check and Wall Street to K-Street to Capitol Street Big Club Circle Jerk members are not just made whole they actually profit from it and middle Americans “ FUCKED AGAIN”!
Pat has one thing right, and if we were to make a Moon Program out of it things could turn around: bring Manufacturing back to America. Fuck the globalists, fuck the enviros, fuck anyone else who tries to stand in the way. We still have enough capability to get there pretty quickly. Skills are available, though training of the younger members of our society is needed. Land is available. Raw materials are available. Voters in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere want to have a chance again to make Middle Class America a reality again. It is time to take “Made in China” out of circulation.
We need to demand war reparations for ourselves. The government has cut our legs off at the knees and then expects us to take off running flat out like a lizard after Trump the actor comes out to do the second act. TPTB OWE US, we who will have lost our jobs, businesses, families to this farce. NOT THIS TIME, we won’t roll over, don’t ask us to work ourselves to death for the elite for chicken feed after this shakedown.
How ’bout a ‘mission’ to modernize the country while balancing the budget ?
– A few $trillion per year on Defense didn’t and doesn’t protect us, not at all.
– the Corona and its mutating children will now return annually with the Mexican/Guatemalan migrants.
– We really shouldn’t allow overseas airline travelers to infect us again.
– The blue skies have been wonderful, bullet trains to replace the CONUS airplanes are overdue.
what will be America’s mission in the world?
How about nothing? How about mind your own business and forget about the rest of the world. Concentrate on what’s wrong with what’s inside the US and ignore what’s outside.
We exported a huge slice of our manufacturing capacity and economic independence to a coddled China.
No, we didn’t. Individual CEO’s made the decision; we had nothing to do with it. Management went overseas because the US cost structure is too damned high in labor and compliance costs. The Fed Gov sucks too much out of the economy in taxes for bullshit wars and raises the cost of living requiring a high labor rate. Put the blame where it belongs – the Fed Gov.
“If Trump wins, borders will be tightened. The U.S. withdrawal from the Mideast will continue. U.S. manufacturing will begin to be repatriated. Transnational institutions will be downgraded, ignored and superseded. The watchword will be what it has lately been: ‘America First.'”
There is absolutely ZERO evidence that any of this is true based on the first 3+ years of Trump’s presidency. In fact, all the evidence of the past 3 years points to the exact opposite. Pat shilling for the GOPe is not a good look for him.
TC.
Right. We haven’t withdrawn from the ME. we just reshuffled a few troops and hired more mercs.
but, 4 more years of Trump is better than anything the Resistance has to offer.
Pat thinks it’s 1970. What is this “America” of which he speaks?
Some states and societies survive their ‘fourth turning’ crises, others do not. The Eastern Roman Empire of Justinian, bent on restoring the status quo ante, gave way within one lifetime to a smaller, more compact, centralized, governable political unit with one dominant language and religious faith, bound together by Roman legal tradition. The three-fold cord of language & culture, faith and law/national identity wasn’t broken for 800 years. WE could learn a few things from the Byzantine response to climate disasters in the 530s, A.D., and how they handled repeated foreign policy threats, often without going to war, and never, after their near-death experiences of the 600s, did they go on ideological crusades. May we learn to be as wise as they were.
The old Daisy Chain.
I have some news for Mr. Buchanan, another subset of the coiffed and sweet-smelling elite. In America we basically have two factors fighting over control of the strings of the everyday American. Regardless of who wins, the normal American faces the same failing and collapsing system with a different boss. None of this is going to end well and bloodlessly.
I love Pat, but he’s wishing for the past. I do too, but it’s unrealistic. God bless him, he needs to GTFO out of DC.
Leave him be. Who else will remind us?
We allowed communism to spread and take over. The US was the useful idiot for the Soviets in WWII.
FDR owns that one.