dagblog - Comments for "Post Truth In A Dystopian Present"

Well said, Moat. I find it

librewolf — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 05:29:55 +0000

In reply to Regarding the "power vacuum"

Well said, Moat. I find it frightening to consider, but I fear we will see all too soon.

Regarding the "power vacuum"

moat — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 21:04:49 +0000

In reply to This is in response to the

Regarding the "power vacuum" element, the Balance of Power model is important but not as important as Trump's withdrawal from the global dialectic struggling to find a way to preserve a system of sovereign states while also advancing the influence of human rights throughout the world.

Hannah Arendt did as good a job as anybody at pointing at the limits of sovereign states to solve the problem they foist upon each other, especially as they become "failed states":

Man, it turns out, can lose all so-called Rights of Man without losing his essential quality as man, his human dignity. Only the loss of a polity itself expels him from humanity. The right that corresponds to this loss and that was never even mentioned among the human rights cannot be expressed in the categories of the eighteenth century because they presume that rights spring immediately from the "nature" of man-whereby it makes relatively little difference whether this nature is visualized in terms of the natural law or in terms of a being created in the image of God, whether it concerns "natural" rights or divine commands. The decisive factor is that these rights and the human dignity they bestow should remain valid and real even if only a single human being existed on earth; they are independent of human plurality and should remain valid even if a human being is expelled from the human community.

Trump's removal of the United States from this dialectic won't stop it. The role we played will be taken up by others. If you want to talk about power, how do we measure what is lost by leaving that room in a huff?

Are we going through a dynamic reversal of our Revolution where the rest of the world becomes the workshop of Republics and Federations while we devolve into cantons of dynastic privilege managed by deranged interbred clowns?

My Kingdom for a horse.

This is in response to the

librewolf — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 20:18:24 +0000

In reply to Gidday everyone ... I'm free

This is in response to the whole thread.

How much influence Trump has outside the US depends on the influencing we are talking about, but let me back up (or jump over) to the vaunted "balance of powers." I think we are in a tremendously vulnerable period right now because there are forces within the GOP that (for different reasons) see Trump as having hit the trifecta. He is a gravy train that will sign on - go along with pretty much anything they throw out there. This is true whether it is the corporatist bunch that is ready to push everything out into the private sector, sell off all national holdings (resources, land, whatever), or whether it is the hard right Tea Party right and Christian Dominionists who want to establish a Theocracy. All of them are drooling more than Pavlov's dog.

Trump is a wrecking ball. He ran as a wrecking ball. The Republicans are Norquist devotees and want to "drown it (government) in a bathtub. He has Bannon on his should issuing both hatefulness, and trajectory for greatest destruction because HE (Bannon) wants to destroy the US as well. Trump by himself is a bombastic narcissist with an abuser personality. The constantly shifting "truth" and point of focus is not just high drama, it is classic abuser tactics to keep the abused unbalanced and in a constant one down situation. His constant throwing out of "Executive Orders" (at least 1/2 of which aren't anything more than intention memos because he does not have the authority to do whatever. I don't know if he doesn't know the difference, or it is all part of the show and keeping (most) of the nation on edge.

Then within the administration we have Pence a heart beat away from the Presidency. He is a confirmed Dominionist, and has is the closest they have ever come to seizing the reins of power. BTW DeVos is also a Dominionist, as is her brother Eriik Prince (who is also reportedly advising Trump.

So can President Wrecking Ball cause significant damage outside the US? I would say "Certainly", and it would not have to be by playing on the weakness of other leaders. Stir things up by taking nuclear pot shots at Iran? How about "getting tough" with China? What if he calls all US troops serving with NATO home? Or how about sending troops into Mexico? PWB does not give a damn about laws, agreements, or convention. He is clearly showing that in relation to domestic and international issues. He should have been locked up for violation of the Logan Act dozens of times before he was sworn in.

If the rest of the world decides to just ignore PWB there is another issue. How about the biggest power vacuum on the planet? See the mess the US has created in South Asia and the Middle East? "Color Revolutions, Arab Spring, regime change... a deadly, unending nightmare for millions of people. Now ask how destabilizing a US that is swing wildly in the wind with a President who seems to have little concern about using nuclear weapons.

Maybe I am just not getting enough sleep, but I am having a very hard time finding my way to even a "least damaging" scenario here.

But it can't possibly work

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 17:38:18 +0000

In reply to I understand, but with the

But it can't possibly work outside of Trump's delusions. We have enough real concerns to worry about, why spin imaginary ones?

And I figured out what I was

Beetlejuice — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 17:20:20 +0000

In reply to There are many things to

And I figured out what I was doing wrong on my log-in issue.

I understand, but with the

Beetlejuice — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 17:19:35 +0000

In reply to There are many things to

I understand, but with the introduction of alternative facts, what is normal ? It would be a Hail Mary play for Trump and his entourage to purposefully misread the intent to further their agenda if Congress doesn't play ball by his rules.

There are many things to

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 17:05:00 +0000

In reply to Thanks !

There are many things to worry about with Trump in the WH, but disbanding Congress isn't one of them. The Constitution was specifically designed to prevent a populist demagogue from assuming unchecked power. Some anti-populist restraints have been diluted, such as indirect election of senators and the autonomy of the Electoral College, and executive powers have expanded somewhat, but dissolving Congress is way, way out of bounds. He'd need a constitutional amendment or a military coup.

PS Wtr to Article 2, the President can only adjourn Congress "in case of disagreement between [the House and Senate], with respect to the time of adjournment."

As for response from other

Zye Zxe — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 16:31:04 +0000

In reply to Welcome back, Beetlejuice!

As for response from other countries to Trump and his hubris, here's a few short videos ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuJ8yVCgSM

and from Germany ...

http://www.neo-magazin-royale.de/zdi/artikel/136841/germany-second.html

The German video has other web sites where EU protests are being created. While the host is speaking German, it doesn't take much to get his drift because he throws in English which bridges the gaps. The 10 minute point is a real journalist shove-it-up-our-rear Mr. Trump all in English.

Thanks !

Zye Zxe — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 16:10:25 +0000

In reply to Welcome back, Beetlejuice!

Thanks !

Odd thing I was able to login on my old account yesterday without a problem, but today it says It doesn't have a record and when I try to use my old name it says it already exists. So I created a second account and waiting for an e-mail confirmation.

Business aside, on OpEd news I wrote a reply that opens a whole new point of view as a response to what you wrote ...

" ...

Problem is ... republicans in Congress see Trump as an opportunity to establish a single political party rule with Trump vilifying everyone standing in their way. Yet I see Trumps executive order maneuvering as a test to see if he can use them to legislate without congressional approval which would make Congress useless thus allowing him to invoke Article II, Section 3, Clause 3 -- Calling Congress into extraordinary session; adjourning Congress.

Note : adjourn - to suspend the meeting of (a club, legislature, committee, etc.) to a future time, another place, or indefinitely.

When Congress no longer has a useful function to perform for Trump, his use of alternative facts ... which Congress and the media have yet to challenge ... could become a tool to disband the institution, especially if they challenge his authority.

That Congress and the media both are penitent, not challenging his perceived authority, only adds to his hubris and any extreme is a possibility when checks and balances are abandoned due to fear of loosing personal political power. ... "

Of course my feeble understand of said constitutional article and clause leaves much to be desired, however, with the use of alternative facts being used as if they were real could easily mangle the true intend to suit a more different approach the founding fathers never intended.

And your point is?

PeraclesPlease — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 04:19:19 +0000

In reply to Dude, I've heard you go on

And your point is?