US Politics Thread 2021-24

[Gorpet]

Originally Posted by Skybird

The coup d'etat that almost succeeded.

A tale not from some third world banana republic, but from "here".

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...capitol-attack

Really surprised I am not, I always saw the storm on the capitol and the political manouvers of the Grand Orange Party around it (pre and post) as an attempted coup and a plot to steal the election. That still no heads are rolling shows how deeply eroded the fundaments of the political system is.

"Clear and present danger." The enemy is not before the gates, but inside the city, in strength, and controlling strategic keyposts.

They lost this battle. The war goes on, more bitter than before. The US is under siege from within.

Skybird, The battle is close to your border. And it will not be decided by the Grand Orange Party LOL. But by Old Grandpas and old Grandma's of The Democratic Party of the United States of America. have a merry Christmas Happy new Year. Spring and Summer will bring exciting times around this Planet. And we will not see Greta Thunberg anywhere. If she is really worried about our planet she would stand between Biden and Putin and tell them no more blah blah. She could stop a climate disaster

[Gorpet]

Originally Posted by Skybird

The Süddeutsche Zeitung comments:


----------------------------
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels through Southeast Asia, in a keynote address in Jakarta he warns of an aggressive China. But what does Washington actually have to offer the states?

So Jakarta. It's not a coincidence. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chose Indonesia to deliver his keynote address on strategy in the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday morning. It is the most populous country in Southeast Asia and one that maintains a noticeable distance from Beijing. That alone makes the state increasingly interesting for Washington.

Blinken wrapped his speech as a great promise to keep the Indo-Pacific region "free and open", but of course he knows that he needs reliable partners in the region for this. In fact, the Philippines have been the region's closest ally for a long time. But the erratic policies of President Rodrigo Duterte, who repeatedly rocked back and forth between Beijing and Washington in recent years, has increasingly irritated Washington. Reliability looks different.

Indonesia, on the other hand, is a country that insists on a very independent foreign policy. And so it would be an exaggeration to say that the country is already a close ally of the United States. The only thing that is certain is that Washington is very eager to find a closer relationship. Which is why Blinken made his first stop here on his trip through Southeast Asia before continuing on to Malaysia and Thailand.

The whole trip will revolve around the core of American interest: Washington is looking for a way to counter the expansive tendencies of the largest Asian power, China. In his speech on Tuesday morning, Blinken was very open about the concerns, as the Americans are observing in the region: "There is so much concern - from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia, on the Mekong River and in the Pacific Islands - about Beijing's aggressive actions" .

China claims "open sea", by which he means the maritime disputes in Southeast Asia, China distorts the open markets by subsidizing its state-owned companies. He depicts a China that poses a threat to traffic in the South China Sea, an area through which three trillion dollars of goods are transported every year.

"We are determined to ensure free navigation in the South China Sea", promised Blinken, the USA would deepen its alliances in the region and also close "gaps in the infrastructure"; an indication that the USA not only want to and will be present militarily, but that it would also like to become more involved economically in the future in order to maintain its traditional role as a Pacific power of order.

Blinken promised a status quo, "without coercion and intimidation" and on the "basis of rules", in short: "a free and open Indo-Pacific", although the audience in the region might accept such promises with some skepticism. The experience of recent years has already painted a different picture: China has consistently and regardless of its neighbors built artificial islands in the South China Sea, Taiwan is threatened, and it is militarizing maritime zones, regardless of rival territorial claims that smaller neighboring states are making, all of them first the Philippines and Vietnam. They are doing this on the basis of international law of the sea, which Beijing largely ignores.

Even Indonesia, which has no further claims in the South China Sea, was stimulated by China with brisk fishing fleet maneuvers off the Natuna Islands, which could increase Jakarta's interest in good connections to the USA. At the same time, however, the very rude Aukus deal on nuclear-powered submarines for Australia caused displeasure in Jakarta. Indonesia feels run over. The USA must therefore carefully approach its Indonesian partner. Above all, however, they must also offer something economically, which, by the way, applies to all of China's neighboring countries. They want to know: What are the benefits of the US alliance? And they all want better access to the US market.

Despite Jakarta's political distance from Beijing, the country's elites are well aware of how much they depend on Chinese investments to advance their country. This was also shown by the pandemic in which Jakarta was almost exclusively dependent on Chinese vaccine deliveries. Since September, the Americans have given away almost eight million doses of Biontech / Pfizer vaccine to Indonesia and, as Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi put it, are otherwise showing a "strong commitment". However, she also attached importance to the statement that there had to be "concrete cooperation" that would benefit both sides.

The Biden government should know very well how much the Americans have to catch up. Asia expert Michael Jonathan Green recently gave a sobering answer when he remarked that Washington’s economic policy in these countries has so far been akin to a "Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey". A bit of cranberry sauce and filling, but nothing more. In other words, the US did not provide enough economic incentives to deepen ties. Quite different from the Chinese, who - to stay in the image of Green - distributed a lot of meat to keep the neighbors weighed or to appease them.

Washington must first repair the trust and connections that Donald Trump has shattered as President. At that time, he defiantly withdrew from the trans-Pacific economic pact TPP, which Obama had ambitiously initiated. The USA could not have provided Beijing with a nicer step forward; China used the vacuum to expand its own economic networks. The fact that Biden is now changing course again may be strategically overdue, but it is unlikely that he will be able to warm the US back to the TPP pact. The domestic political resistance in the USA to the trade pact is great.

America's strategists are trying to forge special economic partnerships with individual states in the region, just as they are currently negotiating with Malaysia in the semiconductor industry.
-----------------------------------


https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/...hina-1.5487381


Whatever they maybe will acchieve, from 2024 on I fear it all will be shattered again. Lets face it: alliances with America are no longer that attractive as they once have appeared to be. And the question of whether they can be trusted if being tested fpr real by conflict and threat, is highly questionable when it comes to the real big conflicts there are. I cannot see the US willing to embark on really big serious wars against Russia or China, and even a enduring milirary operaiton to destroy nculears weapons on Iran I already have very strong doubts on: might be possible, but I do not see it. Not under Biden, not under the Donald.


A bit of cranberry sauce and filling, but no turkey - yes, that describes the US diplomacy well.

You must be a wealthy German to have the time to type all this. I need 20 min.To read this and 3hrs to digest and check it.And by then my brain hurts and it's 6 beers and a couple days to respond. And by then you have another diatribe but ya know what. Sometimes i set back and wonder how much better off Germany would be if the man behind the name. Had the Power!

[Rockstar]

How to safely go shopping for beauty products in the gun control capital of the world and democrat land paradise and tolerance?

Carry a pick axe and steal it in broad daylight.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-Angeles.html

[mapuc]

Will the be a kind of Pax Romana in Washington during the Christmas ?

Markus

[Jeff-Groves]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

How to safely go shopping for beauty products in the gun control capital of the world and democrat land paradise and tolerance?

Carry a pick axe and steal it in broad daylight.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-Angeles.html

Hey! You can't infringe on her right to keep and bear arms!
And if you tried to stop her stealing? Wouldn't she be defending herself?


And what kind of person fears a damned Pick axe?

[Buddahaid]

It's a weapon if used but pretty clumsy.

One Proud Boy clown pleads guilty and agrees to cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence of 51 months in prison. I guess he isn't that proud afterall.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59775546

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

One Proud Boy clown pleads guilty and agrees to cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence of 51 months in prison. I guess he isn't that proud afterall.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59775546

Maybe Biden gave him $450,000.00 to cooperate for the win. ...or is that kind of cha-ching only for illegal aliens?

[Buddahaid]

Ah yes. The out of court settlement that will be considered small change after the lawsuits cost the government far more to compensate for Trump's mess. Short sighted sloganeering triumphs again.

[August]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Ah yes. The out of court settlement that will be considered small change after the lawsuits cost the government far more to compensate for Trump's mess. Short sighted sloganeering triumphs again.

Tell that to those still rotting in a federal jail without a trial for almost a year now with no end in sight.

[Buddahaid]

Done. They should have known better.

[August]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Done. They should have known better.

So how many years do you think they should wait before being tried for a misdemeanor crime? 5? 25? Until Democrats are driven from power?

[Jeff-Groves]

Probably hold them till 2024.
Then the 'Predicted' Civil War will start and they'll have something else to fixate on.

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by August

So how many years do you think they should wait before being tried for a misdemeanor crime? 5? 25? Until Democrats are driven from power?

As little as possible. Disappointed?

[August]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

As little as possible. Disappointed?

No, but it seems to me that a year and counting is anything but that.

[Rockstar]

Proud Boys probably just another blue anon conspiracy theory. I get a laugh out of headlines how proud boys reportedly show up incognito. They’re there, you just can’t see them but they’re everywhere LOL. Hell even neo Nazis, the KKK, ISIS and other groups have websites. But Proud Boys? Well, they seem to live only in the mind of kook liberal conspiracy theorists.