Monday, February 20, 2017

CAN WE OPPOSE TRUMP AND SUPPORT REDUCING TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA?

I’m worried. Who isn’t?

So many people, myself included, are hopeful that Trump’s extremely dangerous presidency is already in the kind of trouble that could somehow bring it to an early end.

His first weeks are an almost unbelievable shock, highlighted by tirades against the press and all dissent. Thankfully, bold resistance is rising against his anti-immigrant orders and ICE raids, his billionaire cabinet, his racist alt-right “strategists”, and his sexist agenda for Congress and the Supreme Court.

However, his greatest vulnerability at this moment is the undercover dealings of his emissaries with Russians during the election campaign and after when he was still President Elect.  The suspicion that Putin’s government interfered with our elections has galvanized a reaction whose full consequences are yet to be seen.

But the sword of Damocles that hangs over this issue is clearly double-edged. It may threaten Trump’s presidency, but it also threatens peace. It’s one thing to expose and counter a tainted presidential election; it’s another for liberals and progressives to team up with war hawks and neocons to bitterly oppose de-escalation of antagonisms between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.

Michael Gorbachev has just said what’s most important and what must be the concern that towers above all others in our terribly dangerous 21st century: “It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War”. The essence of all hope for the planet and future generations is in mounting pressure to promote international relations based on the common interests of humanity rather than on irresponsible greed and risks that lead only to the ultimate catastrophic war. The UN Security Council agreement with Iran is a small step that affirms the possibilities, which is why it drives our hawks and Netanyahu's aggressive "settler" government into a frenzy. It’s a very tall order to restore the broken post-World War 2 commitment to peaceful coexistence and conflict resolution through the United Nations. But that’s the only kind of world that could survive these treacherous waters. Of course it’s also a world without Trump as President of the USA — the sooner the better.

4 comments:

  1. war is not the answer....and the sooner he and his gang is out of there the better. that is the hope for mankind.

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  2. Amen. Tall order indeed. The mass of people who voted against their self-interest need to be moved. This is like belling the cat. What has to happen is clear, but the strategy to get the job done is another matter. I wish I could come up with the answer.

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  4. Leon, thank you for your succinct assessment of the current state of affairs, as befits it coming from a wise old man :) wish we'd have those wise elders or youngsters in the high places of power in this country... Karina

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