Trump's Reckoning Arrives - By David Frum

[DonViejo]

The president’s unpredictability once worked to his advantage—but now, it is producing a mounting list of foreign-policy failures.

DAVID FRUM MAY 24, 2018

“Gradually and then suddenly.” That was how one of Ernest Hemingway’s characters described the process of going bankrupt. The phrase applies vividly to the accumulating failures of President Trump’s foreign-policy initiatives. Donald Trump entered office with more scope for initiative in foreign policy than any of his recent predecessors.

In his campaign for president, Trump had disparaged almost every element of the past 70 years of U.S. global leadership: nato, free trade, European integration, support for democracy, the Iraq War, the Iran deal, suspicion of Russia, outreach to China. Trump’s election jolted almost every government into a frantic effort to understand what to expect. Other countries’ uncertainty enhanced Trump’s relative power—and so, perversely, did Trump’s policy ignorance and obnoxious behavior. After eight years under the accommodating Barack Obama, the United States suddenly turned a menacing face to the world. In the short run, that menace frightened other states into attempted appeasement of this unpredictable new president.

Trump also enjoyed greater material scope: a growing economy, federal finances that were less of a mess than usual, and a lower pace of combat operations than at any time since 9/11.

Through his first months in office, Trump threw his power about as if it were an infinite resource. He growled threats, issued commands, picked quarrels, and played favorites.

And then consequences began to arrive.

more
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/trumps-reckoning-arrives/561209/

[BSdetect]

1. Obama did not accomodate or appease.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Caught that phrase.

That was a coined phrase from Frank Luntz which was amped by Frum and the Race Baiting Crowd at the RNC and other Rethug talking heads.

[Caliman73]

2. Frum...BS!

Frum is correct about Trump's ridiculous ineptitude but he is wrong in his premise, especially about President Obama. Trump had what he is working with (the economy and stable foreign policy) BECAUSE of President Obama and his administration. President Obama liked to use the analogy on the campaign trail of the Democratic Party getting the car out of the ditch, then the Republicans, who drove the car into the ditch demanding the keys back. Trump didn't even wait for the keys. He hot wired the car and drove it straight off a cliff.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. A list of RUMP's failures...watch out, it'll continue to grow and the ...

American voter is every bit aware of RUMP's failures and will continue to do so as more and more of RUMP's failures start to impact negatively the economy and trade (it probably already is)...

Good article!

[riversedge]

5. Trumps reckoning best come soon before America is LOST

.................Trump also enjoyed greater material scope: a growing economy, federal finances that were less of a mess than usual, and a lower pace of combat operations than at any time since 9/11.

Through his first months in office, Trump threw his power about as if it were an infinite resource. He growled threats, issued commands, picked quarrels, and played favorites.

And then consequences began to arrive.

[byronius]

6. I appreciate the sentiment and I'm willing to let Frum have an arc, but --

Conservatism is at the root of all of our problems. A lot of the anti-Trump GOP go to great lengths to cleverly imply that Trump is not their poisonous blossom, but he absolutely is.

Conservative means criminal. And it has for many, many years. It's primitive tribalism painted over. There is no wisdom to it, no matter how many intelligent True Believers argue otherwise.

Yes, I'm glad they're not all in lockstep. But 90% of them are. And that's a devastating indictment of the ideology itself.

[Cosmocat]

9. THANK YOU!

Well stated, and something I relentlessly try to drive home.

45 is the SYMPTOM, the republican party/GOP/Conservatism is the disease.

All 45 did was take the brain dead 1/3 base, and overtly speak to what they had been whispered and winked at for a quarter century, and put the "middle 1/3" into full on PTSD after they were lulled into a blissful "they are both the same" slumber ...

[BaronChocula]

7. Failure is a Trump specialty!

Just about every step of his presidency has been a failure, yet here we are. Like this is some kind of watershed???

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Trumps core competency not dealmaking w powerful counter-parties. Its duping gullible victims - Frum

[dalton99a]

10. Trump is "unpredictable" because he can't tell his ass from a hole in the ground.