Empty chair at G7 climate meeting marked end of America's global leadership

[struggle4progress]

BY ANN MCFEATTERS
AUGUST 30, 2019 06:41 PM
UPDATED AUGUST 30, 2019 10:41 PM

... At the meeting in France of the world’s seven richest democracies on climate change and the catastrophic fires in the Amazon, there was an empty chair. President Trump did not even show up.

The Amazon rainforest fires threaten a tenth of the world’s species. They are warming the planet measurably. If the fires and logging aren’t stopped soon, Americans will be among millions hit with more coastal flooding and incredibly costly agricultural disruptions. It’s a world crisis; the pope is praying for divine help ...

The empty chair in France was a snapshot of the official end of responsible American global leadership. Perhaps forever if Trump is reelected ...

The basic understanding was that Trump’s lies, vacillations, childishness, boorishness and lack of moral and economic leadership must be tolerated. The other G7 leaders were clearly relieved to get through the meeting without one of Trump’s notorious tantrums, displayed memorably at last year’s meeting ...

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article234572362.html

[sprinkleeninow]

1. What can anyone expect from a major butthole. Anyway. eom

[Guilded Lilly]

2. At this point, I tend to agree. But it is a very tough admission...

we have tremendous wrongs to right and a helluva lot of wreckless damage to repair. I cling to hope, having been a Pollyanna in my early youth, but the anger is intense within me these days.

[Zambero]

3. This is by no means "America First"

It is calculated American neglect at the hands of a "leader" whose actions and omissions do not represent the values of its citizens. This hands-off posture weakens and delays actions that must be accomplished globally in order to address a crisis that is growing worse. The United States has an important role to fulfill, and we need an immediate course correction. One the tipping point is reached, there will be no "winners". We all lose.

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. Just EXACTLY the way Putin wants it...if you support rump you are a TRAITOR

[DFW]

5. Makes me wonder

Does Clint Eastwood yet realize he was talking to the wrong empty chair?

[Brother Buzz]

6. But, but he says he was meeting with Merkel and the prime minister of India instead

And never mind Merkel and the prime minister of India were both attended the meeting

[real Cannabis calm]

7. K&R

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. I think withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement marked that point

That was, I think, the point at which an action of his confirmed everyone's fears that he's an ignorant sociopath who does whatever the people with the money to access him tells him. The alternative for "marked end of America's global leadership" was the moment he was elected, since that showed a worryingly large part of the USA supports such a dullard.

[UniteFightBack]

9. I like to think of it as a pause. nt