We interrupt impeachment to bring you news of our retreat from Asia
Well, while I was busy making Cuban fried rice this morning for our Thanksgiving pot luck at work, this little bit of news popped up:
Why, yes, you are reading and viewing this correctly. America's long-time ally, South Korea—an ally we defended from Red China from 1950-1953—was so incensed at Donald Trump's demand that it pony up $5 billion for the US presence on the peninsula that it's decided to hedge its bets and agree security arrangements with China.
To call this "seismic" would be an understatement of the highest order.
An ally whose security we've guaranteed with our blood for the past 70 years no longer sees a future in our military ties, all thanks to Mauron thinking that the US military is a mercenary force which will only go to help those who pay the most. Like, say, Saudi Arabia.
When I say that it'll take decades to rectify the damage this regime is doing, events like this are what I mean.
You can inveigh all you want at American hegemony, but it's kept the lid on World War III for 80 years. In a post-Cold War world, that hegemony was bound to change and morph. But what Trump is doing is dismantling the liberal world order which, once upon a time, his party championed, and excoriated Democrats for not being sufficiently supportive of it. Now, because their Orange Fuhrer is destroying it piece by piece as part of a shakedown racket, they say nothing, or, even more disgustingly, cheer on the idiot.
It will take a generation to rebuild America's standing in the world. The betrayals Trump has committed, and continues to commit, please enemies and consternate those who used to be our friends. This is far from "America First". The US is only as powerful as its alliances; by shunning and downgrading them, Trump is removing the US from its preeminent role in world affairs, much to the delight of his friends in Moscow and Beijing. For this alone he should be impeached, removed, and then put before the dock for being a foreign agent.
I wish I had some hopeful words with which to wrap this up. But I don't. America will never be looked at in the same manner. We allowed a madman to ascend the summit of power. There's no guarantee that we won't do so again.