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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Sat Jun 3, 2017, 09:08 AM Jun 2017

To Be Great, America Must Be Good - By Susan Rice

By SUSAN E. RICE JUNE 2, 2017

WASHINGTON — Four and a half months is not long, but President Trump has accomplished an extraordinary amount in a short time. With shocking speed, he has wreaked havoc: hobbling our core alliances, jettisoning American values and abdicating United States leadership of the world. That’s a whole lot of winning — for Russia and China.

This work began promptly on Jan. 23, when the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, leaving key allies empty-handed, fearful of the strategic benefit that will inevitably accrue to China. Then the secretary of state made plain that American values now take a back seat to security interests, even though those interests are enhanced by our partnerships with democracies that respect human rights and undermined by regimes that repress their citizens. Witness the brutal crackdown on opposition elements in Egypt and Bahrain after President Trump told their leaders that the United States no longer cares how they treat their people.

The president’s budget would slash funding for the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department by nearly 30 percent, rendering our embassies vulnerable to attack and shuttering vital programs that advance our interests. The budget would also starve the United Nations and its peacekeeping operations of essential support. This will condemn the United States to pariah status at this important, if flawed, institution, where our leadership has been unrivaled.

At NATO, the president’s reckless refusal to reaffirm our commitment to the defense of our allies under Article 5, while hectoring them publicly about their military spending, made our allies conclude they must go it alone. Nothing could have thrilled President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia more, or done more damage to the strength and unity of the Western world. And now the president has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, putting us at odds with virtually the entire world. Europe and China stand together on the Paris accord, while the United States is isolated.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/opinion/trump-america-leadership-susan-rice.html

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To Be Great, America Must Be Good - By Susan Rice (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2017 OP
Kick. dalton99a Jun 2017 #1
One of best editorial summaries of what Trump has managed to do and what needs to be a Battle Cry Pachamama Jun 2017 #2
We The People.... Pachamama Jun 2017 #3
K&R for visibility ATL Ebony Jun 2017 #4
KnR. Horrifying. Hekate Jun 2017 #5

Pachamama

(16,874 posts)
2. One of best editorial summaries of what Trump has managed to do and what needs to be a Battle Cry
Sat Jun 3, 2017, 09:25 AM
Jun 2017


To be Great - America must be Good

Pachamama

(16,874 posts)
3. We The People....
Sat Jun 3, 2017, 09:32 AM
Jun 2017

As quoted from her editorial:

"American corporations and civil society groups can assist by demonstrating that the United States remains committed to its integration into the global economy and to our democratic principles. In the absence of White House leadership, the American people should act as informal ambassadors, via contacts through tourism, study-abroad programs and cultural exchanges.
We can all contribute to showing other nations that we hold dear America’s place at the forefront of moral and political leadership in the world. And we must remain steadfast until, once again, we have a president willing to lead in accordance with American interests, traditions and values."

...in order to form a more perfect union...

ATL Ebony

(1,097 posts)
4. K&R for visibility
Sat Jun 3, 2017, 09:59 AM
Jun 2017

Boy did she hit the nail squarely on the head. I don't know how much longer we have to wait by 45 MUST go, NOW!!

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