Heartbreak at the UN

[grantcart]

For those of us who have had the privilege to work as international civil servants in the UN/Intergovernmental Committee institutions (most UN work is done by stand alone intergovernmental committees, like UNHCR, UNICEF and so on and don't report to either the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council) watching the buffoonery by Trump at the UN was an additional heartbreak to what we all have had to bear these last 8 months.

There are many countries that make generous contributions to the UN from Denmark, Norway to Australia, and so on. The US however has been the anchor, its membership on the governing committees is the only one that has the 'heft' to keep these agencies pointed at long term humanitarian goals.

Today we saw the US become untethered from its role as sextant to help a complicated world work together to plan a common objective. With the similarly banal abandonment of the voluntary Paris Accords the US has established a new drum beat that will appeal to the darkest natures of the craven and ambitious in every country: Everyone for themselves.

The churlish and juvenile threat to "wipe North Korea off the map" reveals a casual indifference to the loss of tens of millions of lives, not just in North Korea but also South Korea. It will not be long before not only our traditional allies abandon our common cause but we are met with unified opposition by Russia, China and all nations who see the casual tossing of nuclear weapons to be a precedent in no one's interest.

We need to establish a line, not between the factions of the Democratic Party but between Trump and all rational people, a national coalition of all people who oppose his madness, nothing else is of consequence.

The best case scenario is now a bar so low as to be incomprehensible: The best outcome is that the rest of the world responds in disgust at what is promoting. The worst case scenario is an apocalyptic horror initiated by the richest country in the world with a chip on its shoulder.

Trump's message is "The people that support the higher morality of international cooperation, understanding and mutual development are CHUMPS. It is everyone for the themselves between countries and within countries". There are deplorables in every country who will hear this clarion call for tribalism and rip their countries apart trying to advance their personal fortunes and power.

[babylonsister]

1. Word. Thank you. nt

[enough]

2. Spoken also for many people in the US government throughout the agencies who are seeing

work of decades deliberately undone. Nothing accidental or incompetent about it. You have the right word: heartbreak.

[grantcart]

3. I remember talking with scientists who worked for the US govt under Bush

One was working for DOD and was tracking species that were endangered. When she told me she was told to change her findings to conform to what the head office wanted she choked up and had to take some time to compose herself.

This is 10 times worse.

[onit2day]

23. Recall how the world felt when Iran said the same about Israel

Trump does not represent me or anyone I know. This PINO is un-American and detrimental to our Democracy

[GetRidOfThem]

29. Being one of those public servants,

and having spoken at the UN, I'd go further than calling it a hearbreak: It is really a crime.

[gopiscrap]

43. absolutely!!!

[CrispyQ]

4. A sad but perfect assessment. -nt

[Volaris]

5. DONT buy into it.

It's DESIGNED to break your Spirit...it's Steve Bannons Vision. If there is such a thing as the international 'Deep State' it's THE UN, and it's why that Reptile Bannon wants it undermined and undone. Do NOT give in to that Darkness, because all of you who really understand what the very BEST of Humanity hads to offer can survive without US Leadership for a few years...I promise.
As Muellers investigation bears indictable fruit, this INSTALLED pretender to the Obama global approach will be undone, you have my word.
It was Winston Churchill who first posited the idea that 'America WILL do what is Necessary, AFTER it has exhausted all other options.'
Trump's pResidency constitutes the very last of 'all other options'.
The rest of US haven't given up hope. Please, PLEASE bear with us...=(, and we will NOT fail you...
We CANNOT. and The Majority of us, know it.

[Amaryllis]

7. +1,000,000

[grantcart]

11. You misunderstand. I am ramping up not down but doing it with a heavy heart.

I am however discarding all of the internecine debate fests (which in all honesty I have always tried to avoid) and concentrate on a single issue, removing Trump and taking over the House of Representatives.

Naming the next Speaker of the House and giving them the power to remove this President and Vice President is the only issue of any importance.

[Volaris]

18. I couldn't agree more.

And if there's anything resembling Cosmic Justice, that Speaker will be Madame Speaker Hillary Clinton.

[volstork]

39. How can it be Hillary?

She is no longer in Congress.

[Volaris]

41. She doesn't have to be. The House Speaker is whoever gets the majority of the Majorities votes.

It never has been done before, but there's no Constitutional clause that says Membership is a prerequisite for the Speakership.

[lastlib]

12. "Let us not go gently into the endless winter night..."

Let us not go gently......

[Volaris]

20. DAMN RIGHT not gently.

[Efilroft Sul]

26. Let us not go at all.

Force the other side to go and make its departure as ungentle as possible.

[Scarsdale]

31. The gop is a total disgrace

Are there NO true patriotic Americans in that vile party? They HAVE to know what damage tRump is doing to this country. We are a laughingstock WORLDWIDE. tRump is deranged, either from Alzheimers, Dementia or just plain old INSANITY. Sane people are horrified, yet the gop "leadership" goes about the business of screwing over the regular people, without a care in the world. It is long overdue for them to get a serious wake-up call. People like Ryan, McConnell, McCain, Graham and others need to stop hiding behind their "aides" and FACE THE TRUTH.

[Efilroft Sul]

34. Totally agree.

Damn shame that about 35% of the country (at least) prefers authoritarianism.

[Raster]

35. "Do NOT give in to that Darkness..."

...

[haveahart]

6. The rest of you can praise Niki Haley and Tillerson and the Generals.

"The churlish and juvenile threat to "wipe North Korea off the map" reveals a casual indifference to the loss of tens of millions of lives, not just in North Korea but also South Korea. It will not be long before not only our traditional allies abandon our common cause but we are met with unified opposition by Russia, China and all nations who see the casual tossing of nuclear weapons to be a precedent in no one's interest."

This why I can't bring myself to find a redeeming feature for anyone of them. They are Trump in other clothes and they will stand by an watch the unraveling of the Iran deal as well. They Trumpians through and through. Heartless, ignorant bullies thinking more highly of themselves than they ought.

FTA

[calimary]

16. Agreed.

I don't trust Nikki Haley farther than I can throw my house. All she really cares about is her own ambition, and standing out. She REALLY, and quite SERIOUSLY, wants to stand out. I say this because I've observed how she dresses. She often makes wardrobe choices that allow her to stand out, so your eye goes straight to her. During that horror in Charleston when those nine church people were gunned down by that racist kid, which FINALLY pushed the state government to take that damn hate rag down from the capitol square, she wore a blinding white skirted suit that day. There were lots of long shots of the square, the crowds, the flag pole and the descending stars 'n' bars. Most people there, particularly in the section where all the civil servants and office-holders and other VIPs were gathered, there she was, too. Right down front. And you Could. Not. Miss. Her. Not from a mile away. It was almost comical. This is a solemn and most revolutionary event in your state's history, Miss More ME, Please - and all you care about is standing out in the crowd. On the night of the murders she gave a press conference with a phalanx of first responders and other men behind her, and she had this loud plaid blazer on. ANYTHING to catch the eye. Several other times, I've observed this. It just seems smack-you-in-the-face-with-a-cream-pie obvious.

I've taken to referring to her as Governor Mimi, and now Ambassador Mimi. Because it sounds like "ME! ME!" She's VERY ambitious and I think she wants to be president someday. I think she kinda deep down EXPECTS to be president someday. Beware.

[Doitnow]

17. That the Rethugs are allowing tRump to use that 231K of donations to their

election campaign be used for defending that miserable crew is SO telling. Isn't there a single reThug around to complain about that?

[moondust]

8. Pooty Poot

appreciates his boy's help in breaking down old alliances and cooperation that stand in the way of his return to superpower status and promotion to Master of the Universe.

[gademocrat7]

9. Dead on balls accurate, grantcart.

We have a malignant narcissist destroying our country. It is gut wrenching.

[Ilsa]

10. K&R. Bookmarked.

This is why I am irked when I hear a reporter refer to trump as "leader of the free world." He is not. He is an isolationist, and it will take time to rebuild our diplomatic corps, trust, and national security.

Oh yeah: I'm surprised any country would buy our debt with trump at the helm.

[bigtree]

13. what will quickly become evident

..is the US will become isolated in Trump's belligerence toward the rest of the world who will ally together against his interests.

Most of what Trump says he wants can't be accomplished by unilateral bullying from the Oval Office. He needs these allies to effect even modest US goals abroad, and he's going to find that a withdrawn US offers nothing of value to the rest of the emerging world.

[Scarsdale]

32. tRump has been given

too much freedom to tear down this country. Most of us were horrified that he "won" the election, now it is beyond horrifying to watch him destroy EVERYTHING we used to stand for. What in the name of all that's holy is wrong with the gop?He is making them look like traitors, letting this man/child ramble on about destroying other countries. IF any of them really cared about the office of the president, they would be demanding a mental evaluation of this idiot before he has N. Korea launch a weapon against us.

[FailureToCommunicate]

14. K & R

[democrank]

15. Trump's UN speech today should scare Democrats into unity of purpose, if nothing else.

Those who want to stay stuck and continue to bicker over the 2016 election should strap razors on their DU feet and entertain themselves with endless, freaking cock fights. The rest of us better plow through the bloody feathers and race to the conference room marked UNITE HERE.

Trump is dangerous because he has no guiding principles. He knows nothing about history, about other cultures, about historical precedence. Trump, with the help of his enablers, is destroying our country, her institutions, and every value we've stood for.

Trump's UN speech today was chilling, embarrassing, nauseating, frightening. He must be stopped.

Please, DUers, let's come together and figure out a way to stop this mad man before he decides to prove what a big man he is by starting a nuclear war.

[defacto7]

19. K&R bigtime

[Historic NY]

22. All the effort, all the time and to be subjected to the pain of

a moron who doesn't know the mechanics of government not alone the UN. He is an embarrassment. If he only looked at a map before shooting of at the lip.

[JHan]

24. Excellent post grantcart.

[Paka]

25. K&R

Good post!

[raven mad]

27. ....

And I'm worried because the furnace is broken?

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

28. I knew there were people with that sort of antiquated view of human and world relations.

And to know there is one is disappointing. But to know there are millions is utterly depressing. I was under the overly optimistic impression that we were on a sure path to widespread enlightenment, to a world where people like Trump and his supporters were a small minority and quickly dying breed. Boy, was I wrong.

[Ezior]

33. And it's in every country, apparently..

Soon there will be Trump&Russia lovers, Muslim&refugee haters in the German parliament (elections next Sunday). It's sickening.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

30. Thanks, grantcart for that call to action.

Our situation is very depressing at this time and I for one, needed that shake of the shoulders!

The big money boys have taken us down this sorry road with the goals of divide and conquer, dumbing-down, and the instilling of fear and hatred in the general public. They profit massively from our being misinformed, ignorant, mentally frozen, fearful and biased - it makes for the best consumers!

We must find ways in our everyday lives to reunite and somehow spread it throughout our nation. It's a massive, long-term job. Our bouncing between left-leaning and extreme right-leaning government control is not working well at all, neither in the USA or around the world.

Thank you for your service to the international community!

[saidsimplesimon]

36. The "best chocolate cake"

was reserved for the Russians as a reward for their tRump investments.

[deist99]

37. Question

Do we wait for North Korea to drop a nuclear bomb on Seoul, Tokyo, or Seattle before we do anything? I hate to say this but I watched Drump's speech (which I'm sure he didn't write), and I actually agreed with parts of it. We have tried all peaceful options with North Korea, even Carter went over there and thought he had gotten them to agree to stop their nuclear program. Yet here we are years later and not only do they have nuclear bombs, they now have missiles that can reach our west coast with those nuclear bombs.

I don't like it but I would rather see us pre-emptively attack North Korea with overwhelming force which kills many civilians, before I see Tokyo, Seattle or Los Angeles go up in a nuclear fireball.

[grantcart]

42. The most certain way for the US to enter a nuclear war is to launch a preemptive nuclear strike

The relatively high level of international stability since WWII would evaporate and the possibility for various miscalculations leading to escalation would be high.

The worst possible path to change the current situation is what Trump is doing, threatening the NK regime so that all of the disparate cliques will join in solidarity to an outside threat.

Eight years ago we faced a similarly hostile and remote regime in Myanmar where the regime killed 20,000 during the Saffron Revolution and a major conflict seemed the most likely next stage resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

President Obama and Secretary Clinton engaged the dictatorship speaking softly, carrying a big stick and offering a range of carrots to wean the dictatorship away from absolute power to democratic rule.

The course for successful modern regime modification for lawless regimes has been established since the world took on South Africa, namely:

1) A strong international coalition
2) A clear set of economic repercussions (stick) WITH an attractive menu of carrots for positive actions
3) Persistence and patience.

The "speak softly and carry a big stick" has morphed into "get a big gang together, speak softly, carry a big stick and bring a bag of carrots".

This approach has been used in many areas and worked well, the last with Iran.

What happened after we were able to bring Iran back into the normal ecology of nation states? Not only did they stop with their nuclear arms program but they took the next step by making major purchases of American products, including this significant move that has been ignored by the media:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/world/middleeast/iran-boeing-airplane-deal.html?mcubz=1

When Iran chose Boeing over Airbus it wasn't for a few jets but is intended for their entire fleet as they will not want to multiply inventory, training or certification, etc.

If they US attacks NK and creates an unstable state that is unable to feed its citizens they will head, en masse north to China. Millions of refugees flowing into China would destabilize China which could lead to military action against Taiwan and other escalation until we end up in full conflict with China.

If you accept a pre-emptive attack against NK then you cannot object to it being used against our allies like the Baltic states which as NATO partners would trigger our treaty to defend them.

Against the very successful "speak softly and carry a big stick" has morphed into "get a big gang together, speak softly, carry a big stick and bring a bag of carrots", Trump has opted for "Go it alone, make a big noise, pat yourself on the back, bigger noise, stick, bigger stick and go crazy stick with no carrot what so ever".

We have lots of options for engagement.

Trump has chosen the one that strengthens Kim Jung Un's internal control the most and provides no realistic military option that wouldn't result in massive casualties in South Korea. Even if we eliminate all of the missiles in NK they could reduce Seoul, which is on 30 miles away, to rubble with conventional forces that could not be defended against.

[niyad]

38. k and r

[Lifelong Protester]

40. A sad K & R

too true

[DFW]

44. As one who lives openly as an American abroad

Once a piece of cake, this is now more like moving the Rock of Gibraltar with one hand tied behind my back: my task of justifying our country in the eyes of nations who, at the same time, feel they owe us, admire our contributions to music, film and literature, and envy what used to pass for freedom.

Under Reagan and Bush I, it was an uphill battle, especially Reagan. Under Clinton, it was a snap. Toward the end, it was "can we have him if you won't let him have a third term?"

Bush II left them incredulous. They couldn't believe it, and their worst fears were confirmed when Bush invaded Iraq for reasons that were blatantly bogus. After the fraud that put Bush in office in the first place, I was asked my prediction for 2004. My sad prediction was "Kerry wins, and Bush stays in office." They asked, "how does that happen?" The day after the election, they figured out how, and my prediction came true. During the Obama presidency, they again said, now you're on the right track again. Europe was happy, Asia was happy (except Netanyahu) and Africa was, of course, happy.

They STILL have trouble believing that we "let" Trump take office when Hillary won by such a large margin. They have more trouble believing that we "let" him remain in office when he is so clearly a destructive force for America and the world. Our system is hard to explain, especially since they all know we, in essence, "got rid of" Nixon. Therefore, why can't we "get rid of" Trump?

I don't blame them. One year on, I still have a hard time believing it myself. Like one friend posted the day after: "Seriously, America?" Well, umm, yes--seriously, if not exactly sensibly. IN the words of another friend, who has earned himself the unofficial title of "Washington's most quoted pundit," we have an egotistical psychopath in the Oval Office, and Congress as a deliberative body either cannot or will not do anything about it. It's worse than "the inmates have taken over the asylum." The people who run the asylum GAVE it to the inmates, and then ran off to play golf and negotiate the sale of the land the asylum was built on.

One bright point--there is, despite all his rhetoric, little to no chance that Trump invades North Korea. Historically, Republicans are cowards. They do not like to attack countries they think will shoot back. Reagan invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada. How daring. That's like applauding an elephant for stomping on an ant. The Bush I invaded Panama. Same comment. He did puch Saddam out of Kuwait, but wisely left it at that. Junior was less smart. He let himself be dragged along by Cheney and then Rumsfeld, and invaded Iraq. That was not a change of heart, but a massive miscalculation. Rummy said, "maybe six days, maybe six weeks, certainly not six months." Oops. They THOUGHT no one would shoot back. But they KNEW Iran would shoot back--a lot. Not even a peep about attacking them, axis of evil or not. Same goes for North Korea. Twenty million population, and 5% of them in arms in uniform? Yeah, I guess they'll shoot back.

[Honeycombe8]

45. Excellent post. Written so well. Drives home what happened over there. nt