{"id":135721,"date":"2017-12-20T12:46:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T19:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=135721"},"modified":"2017-12-21T23:40:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-22T06:40:05","slug":"the-retaliatory-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/20\/the-retaliatory-president.html","title":{"rendered":"The Retaliatory President"},"content":{"rendered":"

While aid and alliance and assistance are always somewhat quid pro quo,<\/i> there are nuance and competing factors usually involved. We support country X because they also oppose country Y. We provide aid to country Z because unrest there will lead to larger-scale refugee problems. We provide assistance to country W, even though they oppose us on subject A, because they agree with us on subject B.<\/p>\n

We may not be in full agreement with X or Z or W, but in the bigger picture, we deal with the idea that sometimes it’s good to help people who don’t fully agree with us, because it benefits us and others in a multitude of ways. Maybe we, behind the scenes, let X or Z or W know that if they tone down their rhetoric here and there, the money might be more forthcoming (or the reverse), or we assure them that we understand where their leadership stands, vs. what that leadership has to say to their voters<\/p>\n

It’s sometimes a little messy, occasionally strange bedfellowy, now and then a bit hypocritical, but it’s also a mature recognition that it’s a complicated world and people have a variety of interests and opinions that may differ with that of the United States.<\/p>\n

Not so for our toddler-in-chief. Anyone who ticks him off is attacked. Anyone who disses him is savaged. Anyone who disagrees is retaliated against. We’ve seen it multiple times at home with domestic political “enemies” (or even “friends” who outlived their usefulness). Now we’re seeing Trump put his patented tantrums on display for the international community.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft United Nations resolution calling for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we\u2019re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We\u2019ll save a lot. We don\u2019t care,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because for Trump there is either absolute loyalty (and utility), or throw them off the bus. Never mind that there may be reasons for the US to be engaged with countries that oppose the US’s new position on Jerusalem — as far as Donald Trump is concerned, it’s more important to threaten, bluster, and bully to get those ingrates to toe the line and obey.<\/p>\n

Trump always punches down. And it’s always about being given outward signs of respect, regardless of what else might be at stake.<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a>
\nTrump threatens to cut aid to U.N. members over Jerusalem vote | Reuters<\/a><\/span>
\nU.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft United Nations resolution calling for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While aid and alliance and assistance are always somewhat quid pro quo, there are nuance and competing factors usually involved. We support country X because they also oppose country Y. We provide aid to country Z because unrest there will lead to larger-scale refugee problems. We provide assistance to country W, even though they oppose … Continue reading “The Retaliatory President”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,10,1071],"tags":[1350,1077,1389],"class_list":["post-135721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-geopolitical-brouhaha","category-trump","tag-jerusalem","tag-trump","tag-un"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/trump-serious.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11937,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/27\/the_medical_insurance_pro.html","url_meta":{"origin":135721,"position":0},"title":"The Medical Insurance Problem — it’s a matter of semantics and paradigms","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Dec-07 12:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This post does not have the answer to the Medical Insurance Problem in the US.\u00a0 It is a situation beyond any easy answers, though I'd be willing to sit through...","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/rockwell-doctor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":138495,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/30\/lets-make-matters-worse-is-wonderful-foreign-policy.html","url_meta":{"origin":135721,"position":1},"title":"“Let’s make matters worse” is wonderful foreign policy!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 30-Mar-19 6:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Trump is cutting off aid to Central American countries whose residents are fleeing to the United States.","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/trump-usa-hat.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/trump-usa-hat.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/trump-usa-hat.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/trump-usa-hat.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":129345,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/05\/spending-on-fun-and-play.html","url_meta":{"origin":135721,"position":2},"title":"Spending on Fun and Play","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 5-Jan-16 2:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting article here that calls on us to consider the money we spend on different types of fun and play -- and to properly categorize those items for outselves -- to maybe optimize the \"bang for the buck\" we get. 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