{"id":136707,"date":"2018-06-10T22:41:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T04:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=136707"},"modified":"2018-06-11T19:06:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T01:06:12","slug":"winning-friends-and-influencing-people-let-the-world-burn-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/10\/winning-friends-and-influencing-people-let-the-world-burn-edition.html","title":{"rendered":"Winning Friends and Influencing People (Let the World Burn Edition)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most generous and charitable interpretation I have here is that Donald felt he had to do something to stand tall and bold as he goes to visit his new bestie, Kim, and he just did it with that ham-handed, narcissistic flare that we’ve all come to know and cringe at.<\/p>\n

Or we can go back to the interpretation of our Diplomat-in-Chief that he has no concept of “win-win” — that everything is a zero sum game where there is a winner and a loser, and compromise is the mark of a loser, so if he (and he alone) is not the clear winner, then he’s being made the loser.<\/p>\n

Is the US strong enough to kick the EU, Canada, Japan, and, heck, let’s add Mexico (for NAFTA), and China (who Trump is separately trying to foment a trade war with) to the curb and still survive?<\/p>\n

Maybe. We’re still a top-notch economy, even the<\/i> top-notch economy. We could probably hurt any of them, even all of them, more than we’re hurt.<\/p>\n

But we’ll be hurt. We’ll be badly hurt. Lost jobs that rely on imports. Lost jobs that rely on exports. Resources that have to be brought in from overseas. Huge hikes in labor rates. Increased cost of everything.<\/i><\/p>\n

And that’s just in this country. Because even if we do “win,” the economies of all those other countries tank, which not only means a hella human suffering (yes, folk, even furriners can suffer, including people living in nations with marginal economies that will be hit even harder by a worldwide depression, let alone the beneficiaries of all the charitable \/ human aid work done by the wealthy countries that won’t be able to afford it any more), but a lot of wealth held by Americans<\/i> will evaporate, too.<\/p>\n

And if we get all of them<\/i> working against us<\/i> … well, Donald won’t care, because he’s set for life (in theory), or isn’t likely to live another twenty years. We, and our children, will be living a lot longer, and it won’t be pretty.<\/p>\n

I mean it. The consequences of a gooftastic Donald Trump meeting with North Korea could lead to some very quick international horror, suffering, and loss of life. Declaring trade war on the rest of the world could be, if it seems possible, even worse, and for a lot longer.<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a>
\nWorld Leaders React to Trump\u2019s Bizarre Attacks on Canada<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Original Post<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most generous and charitable interpretation I have here is that Donald felt he had to do something to stand tall and bold as he goes to visit his new bestie, Kim, and he just did it with that ham-handed, narcissistic flare that we’ve all come to know and cringe at. Or we can go … Continue reading “Winning Friends and Influencing People (Let the World Burn Edition)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_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":[106,77,10,1071],"tags":[1662,1661,1077],"class_list":["post-136707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-economy","category-geopolitical-brouhaha","category-trump","tag-letitburn","tag-rant","tag-trump"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Trump+frown.jpgimgmax=660.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":129631,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/02\/glad-to-see-the-loser-lose-not-so-happy-to-see-the-winner-win.html","url_meta":{"origin":136707,"position":0},"title":"Glad to see the loser lose, not so happy to see the winner win","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 2-Feb-16 4:19pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, sure, I'm happy to see Donald Trump come in second in Iowa. On the other hand, that means Ted Cruz came in first, about which I find nothing to cheer. Originally shared by +Martin Bakner: \u00a0 View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Ackbar%2Bon%2BMTP.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Ackbar%2Bon%2BMTP.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Ackbar%2Bon%2BMTP.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":132406,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/21\/tweetizen-trump-2016-12-21-i-won-why-doesnt-anybody-believe-me.html","url_meta":{"origin":136707,"position":1},"title":"*Tweetizen Trump – 2016-12-21 "I won! Why doesn't anybody believe me?!"","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Dec-16 7:47am","format":false,"excerpt":"The tweets of our President-Elect continue to ... amuse? Astound? Apall?===\u25ba Yes, it is true - Carlos Slim, the great businessman from Mexico, called me about getting together for a meeting. We met, HE IS A GREAT GUY! \u00b9Donald. You are soon to be President of the United States. Are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":160938,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2026\/01\/14\/greenland-trump-and-backing-oneself-into-a-corner.html","url_meta":{"origin":136707,"position":2},"title":"Greenland, Trump, and Backing Oneself into a Corner","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 14-Jan-26 10:32am","format":false,"excerpt":"The whole quixotic effort to annex Greenland is gonzo -- but that doesn't mean it won't happen.","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trump","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Trump-2026-01.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Trump-2026-01.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Trump-2026-01.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":129626,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/01\/for-everyone-squeeing-over-the-iowa-caucuses-for-whatever-reason.html","url_meta":{"origin":136707,"position":3},"title":"For everyone squeeing over the Iowa caucuses (for whatever reason)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 1-Feb-16 11:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"They're rubbish. They are an artificial horse race on an abnormal track with strange rules, and the only reason anyone pays attention to them is that the media lurves reporting (breathlessley) on horse races, especially the first one.The only people who the race actually had a concrete impact on were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/3626269742_03c03f6466_b5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/3626269742_03c03f6466_b5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/3626269742_03c03f6466_b5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135323,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/08\/trump-makes-ultimate-sacrifice-middle-class.html","url_meta":{"origin":136707,"position":4},"title":"Trump makes the ultimate sacrifice for the middle class","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 8-Nov-17 9:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Never mind what you've heard from ... well ... pretty much everyone. The GOP Tax Plan doesn't help the rich (like Trump). It actually hurts the rich (like Trump). How do we know? Trump is telling us. Or, rather, telling moderate Democrats, to encourage them to vote for the GOP\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/tax-code-2017.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":129890,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/22\/whos-voting-for-whom.html","url_meta":{"origin":136707,"position":5},"title":"Who's voting for whom?","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 22-Feb-16 7:02am","format":false,"excerpt":"Exit polls have serious limitations, but this one held to look at who was voting for whom in the GOP South Caroline primaries has some interesting trends. Trump was broadly the winner, not just among a few cohorts, but Rubio came out as the choice for those opposing Trump, leaving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136731,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136707\/revisions\/136731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}