Gorbatchev tore down a Wall. Trump dreams of building one.
Nuf'said.
9
There needs to be a serious debate about whether hostility to Russia should be the central pillar of our foreign policy. Not a debate in which rabid Russia-hating warmongers denounce people with a contrary view as traitors or non-adults.
Some of us question the wisdom of escalating confrontation with a nuclear superpower. Maybe we are the level-headed adults and those demanding a fight are being childish. Once it goes beyond name-calling and some incident occurs, the imminent progression leading to mushroom clouds over American and Russian cities will make clear how foolish it was to take one step down that path..
Arguments on the merits for improving relations with Russia are clear. Russia is the ultimate ally in the struggle against expansionary Islamist fundamentalism and a substantial counterweight against Chinese ascendancy. Russia can help put pressure on North Korea and can be lured into cutting Iran adrift. Conversely when we push Russia away, we find it much harder to make progress in these and other areas. No doubt Russia will ask a high price for its cooperation. The need now is for diplomacy is to get the best deal possible. PM May's words do not point us in the direction of a negotiation for settling differences, whereas Trump's comments allow that possibility. Let's not be so quick to criticize him.
6
Crimea is ethnically Russian, and the Ukraine elected a pro-Russia leader, only to have him removed via a US- and EU-backed coup.
5
Reagan was a horrible President.
Trump makes Reagan look just like the saint his followers declared him to be.
If "America First" means "America Alone", Trump may be able to claim a victory.
6
May looks smart, but she's never going to be invited to build a tower in Moscow after she leaves office. Trump is ever focused on Trump, and that's the difference.
6
Tump is working on his business deals for when he is out of office - either impeached or dumped in 2018.
He will strike great deals with China, Russia, Saudi Arabia - they will all come to him and settle their debts to Tump for being such a great friend while he was president of the US.
Already he has done so many things for these countries to the detriment of the US that he should be impeached.
7
Reading some of the comments below, I think some readers should review the meaning of "false equivalence".
4
Putin is blackmailing Trump and the GOP Congress is complicit. The majority of citizens know this, and Mueller will provide the confirmation.
11
Trump's single greatest fear (among an enormously long list that drives his insecurity) is this: illegitimacy. If the meddling is true, he's an illegitimate president and person. He will do everything in his power and go to any length to keep that from happening. How do we know? That's how his whole life has gone.
8
As I listened to President Trump's speech today I couldn't help but think that it was the same speech President Duterte delivered yesterday. Although President Duterte's speech was an attack on Canada's Prime Minister both speeches made a basic mistake that only an America speechwriter would make because Philipinos with knowledge of Canada know our Prime Minister is our head of government and the values and ethics contained in Canadian trade policy come from our head of state not from our head of government.
We do not vote for the Queen nor Her Majesty's official Canadian representative Her Excellency The Right Honourable Julie Payette the Governor General of Canada but they speak for us.
When Duterte attacked our Prime Minister he incorrectly attacked the head of the Liberal Party of Canada when he should attack the Queen all 36 million of us, Conservatives, Liberals, New Democrats , Greens, and unaffiliated.
It is we the people of Canada who stand in opposition to President Duterte, President Trump and President Putin. It is we the people of Canada who say that trade deals with countries that do not respect human rights and workers rights shall not be consummated. We do not stand alone and that is the great divide between us and the USA, Russia,China and their allies. Today the American President made it of official, we are the enemy. We understand sovereignty but trade deals mean we have an obligation to say no when our would be partner does not respect our basic values.
9
May makes a good speech. Merkel and some of the other European leaders do too.
But when it comes to actually DOING something about Crimea, eastern Ukraine, threatening military movements near the Baltic states ... the truth shows itself. They are all talk and no action.
The reason?
It would cost them MONEY to take action against Russia. They don't want to lose access to Russia's cheap natural gas. They don't want to offend the rich Russians who hide their cash in British real estate and German banks.
Apparently this is how adults deal with Putin.
Please don't misunderstand. I find Trump's approach even worse. But I'm despairing about our current crop of western leaders' ability to deal effectively with Putin and his corrupt circle.
3
It seems to me Trump's critics are always softpeddling their critiques of his policies and actions, while he manages to stay strong in the estimation of his supporters. Maybe one problem is that our exercise seldom crosses the bounds of correct reasoning and cogent argumentation. Instead, how about about now trying to heap ridicule on Trump, at least hardas he does on his opponents, like, Low Energy Jeb Bush, Lying Ted, Little Marco and Crooked Hillary, or Kenyan Obama.
We all saw his supporters gulping up the insults Trump freely flung on his opponents. How about now lowballing Trump with a dose of his own medicine - with abuse and insults. Bet, many of his supporters are now ready for newer, fresher versions of the same stuff to imbibe and enjoy - and to ponder over.
4
If Trump admitted to being a Russian agent, there would still be 63 million voters in this country for whom it would make absolutely no difference.
These same people knowingly voted for a convicted racist. And that is a much bigger problem than Trump himself.
This country was irreversibly lost on Nov. 8th 2016.
5
The reason Trump doesn't care about human rights is because he is incapable of caring about anybody he can't make a buck off of. When the victims of human rights abuses can buy multi-million dollar apartments in Trump branded buildings, then Trump might look their direction.
2
Much of what Ms. May said was simply false.
The Russians have not flown over other people's territory. They fly near, but legal, which is exactly what is done to them, and from British bases. The only actual "overflights" were the specially designed US aircraft that did it, the U-2 and SR-71.
Force was used in Europe to change borders, and used by the US and UK first. Force was used all over the world very aggressively by both of them together before the Russians ever acted.
Hacking and election meddling did not start with Russia, and certainly did not start in Denmark nor Germany, her cited examples. The West was hacking, and using it to blow things up and kill people, well before the Russians developed the skill.
More important is why Ms. May said these things just now. She is stirring up international conflict to divert attention from her own foreign policy failures, notably Brexit. That is according to many in the British media reaction to this, not just from me.
More generally, "The Russians Are Coming" has been used for half a century as "Oh, look over there" and demonize somebody else. In the 1950's it was The Bomber Gap, in the 1960's The Missile Gap, and then infamously Star Wars missile defenses. I don't say she is a McCarthy, but she sure is doing a Nixon.
10
I smell a Russian sympathy troll.
17
This'll be great news for Turkey, which shot down a Russian fighter-bomber when it overflew them a couple years ago.
And no, we haven't been lil' angels. But I believe you can find more on this at the First Church of False Equivalency, which is just down the road a short piece.
3
I notice you omit discussion of Putin's record on human rights. He's killed his enemies. Trump, and his party, are a national disgrace.
We begin to take back our nation in November 2018.
6
Let's be honest here...Crimea has long been Russian territory. Khrushchev moved it to the Ukraine SSR just over 50 years ago. Most of the inhabitants are ethnic Russians. I do not agree with how Russia went about the annexation, but Trump has a point about self-determination.
Trump is right that the nation state is an effective vehicle for binding humans together. Putting one's country first is entirely rational. Sorry if the world government folks don't like that.
The same goes for dealing with autocrats. It is not our responsibility to pressure autocrats to change their ways unless that aligns with a more tangible national goal. We should take a page from China's book: engage on international issues, but leave internal issues internal. That approach on Syria would certainly have saved us hand wringing and a lot of Syrian lives.
7
Actually Crimea was the native home of the Crimean Tatars until the Russians shipped them out to Siberia and replaced them with Russians during the Soviet Union’s rule. That was standard practice in the Soviet Union to try to negate the existence of countries around them and claim them to be Russian.
So, by your logic, the Tatars should be the ones asked which country they wish to be a part of, and the import Russians can either accept that decision, or go back to Russia if they don’t like the decision.
3
I recommend looking up two things: a) what a "granfalloon," is, and b) what happened the last time the Western world tried this nonsense, back about 1914.
This balkanization is how you get the guns of August, you know. And your isolationism is how we got the Big Second Go-Round.
1
There seems to be growing consensus among more and more Americans that our president is a totally loose cannon, and this is supported by the facts. It's not just that Trump should not be in the oval office; he shouldn't be allowed near it. With Russia's help, we've elected a maniac as president, and we've got at least 3 more years to go. If there is a God, this would be a good time for him/her/it to help us.
See:
RevolutionOfReason.com
TheRogueRevolutionist.com
21
Nature, and international affairs, abhor a vacuum. Trump has created a vacuum.
Trump's strategy, if he has one, is to keep an impeachment proof base intact.
Other than that its ceremonies...the more lavish the better.
The vacuum will be filled. No wonder Putin and the Chinese are always glad to see him.
http://www.wednesdayswars.com
9
It is a stretch of the imagination to call Mrs. May a grown-up. But since you're comparing her to Donald the Magnificent, it's quite okay. The real question is whether it matters what Mrs. May says.
Does anyone believe that Vladimir Putin -if he's actually and truly the instigator of whatever is happening- will suddenly backpedal?
"Oh Lordy, I've been found out by the Brits and Mrs. May is cross with me?"
"Oh dearie me, there's a US Congressional committee or three investigating Russian hacking of elections, my goose is cooked!"
"God help me, Bob Mueller is gearing up to indict!"
Does anyone think the Russian leadership is awed? Impressed? Scared? About to quit its efforts, if any, to influence other countries' elections? Or will they just shrug and get on with it? Maybe they can use some of the NSA tools that were so carelessly misplaced?
No, Theresa May is playing to the gallery. Thankful for anything and everything that would give her even a smidgen of a chance to deflect attention from her own sublimely disaster-ridden course as Prime Minister. She'd pose with an unusually shaped marrow or a five-legged lamb if it could help her! Everybody knows it's empty bluster and it doesn't make a whit of difference.
Now, if Angela Merkel were to slam her fist on the table and roar... Yes, that would at least give pause for thought in Moscow.
7
Putin is bad. Russia is bad. But Trump was right on one thing: America isn't better. In fact it's much worse. It may generally have the more noble ideals, but that hardly matters to anyone who is affected by the 'shortcomings' and 'mistakes' - which is how those Americans usually call them who will even admit that America is not always right. The actual reality is: Russia is killing thousands in Ukraine. But very recent American illegal and unprovoked acts of war have killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq. And caused subsequent catastrophes like the Syrian tragedy with another few hundred thousand dead. It wouldn't have happened without the 2003 invasion, that is simple fact. Nothing will ever wash that away. And America seems to be determined to do something like that once every generation or two. There are no grounds whatsoever to feel morally superior.
7
GS,
Yesterday Duterte gave a speech attacking Canada and our Prime Minister, today Trump gave the same speech without naming names. I am not sure if it was the same speech writer but if it was more than one there was close collaboration.
Canada cannot ratify trade deals with countries that refuse to acknowledge what Canadians and Germans consider basic human rights.
Today President Trump made it official we are the enemy.
4
One needn't feel all that morally superior to denounce a tyrant and kleptocrat.
2
Trump is a TRAITOR. He is the Manchurian candidate. Between the objectively confirmed Russian interference on Trump's behalf, Republican gerrymandering, voter suppression, and control of the software companies that electronically record votes, I and the majority of the voting public have been disenfranchised.
We now live under an oppressive regime whose obejctive is to squelch all dissent and demolish our freedoms and the institutions that protected them.
One way or the other, Trump must be legally removed from his stolen position of power.
34
Don't forget McConnell's maneuvering to slow Obama's judicial appointees, and outright blocking of Obama's SCOTUS nominee with his specious proclamation that the "next" president should make the appointment. This move effectively disenfranchised every single person who voted for Obama. We HAD a duly elected president, doing his constitutional duty while McConnell blocked the Senate from doing its appointed part of the job.
Trump is the baddest of bad hats, no doubt, but he could not be where he is, he could not remain where he is, without the cowardly, covert, traitorous behavior of the majority of the GOP and certainly ALL of its leadership.
The GOP has a stated aim of permanently taking and holding power. They are, despite their incompetence at actually governing, dangerously close to that goal.
2
I think that, "control of the software companies that electronically record votes" should have been first and that it's the reason why there is no concern about Trump's or any of the other Republican leaders' actions. Anything else is a diversion.
I think that they have secured themselves a "win" with the "electronically recorded votes" no matter which name we click on, because it is so incredibly easy.
1
Any who have not seen the recent 2-part PBS Frontline specials, "Putin's Revenge", must do so- evidence that demands a verdict.
14
Talking about grown-ups, at least Trump hasn't told Putin that he "will have more flexibility after the election" and to "give (me) space".
4
Seeing as he's in hock to a Russian state controlled bank for a few hundred mil, I don't think he gets to tell Putin anything.
23
No, Trump has been very openly submissive to Putin, inappropriately given code-word intelligence to Russian spymasters in the Oval Office with only Russian press present, and asked Russia to hack his political opponent for him during the election.
10
Jefferson was well aware of such dangers, and how to deal with them, when he wrote to William Stephens Smith in 1787 "The people can not be all, & always, well informed. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. What country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? let them take arms. the remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. what signify a few lives lost in a century or two? the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it’s natural manure.
Trump is a would be tyrant who actively assists and encourages a leader seeking nothing less than the collapse of America democracy and replacing it with a dictatorship. Trump is collaborating with him.
I have no doubt that if Jefferson was alive today, he would issue a clarion call to rise up and fertilize the tree of liberty with this would be tyrant's blood.
19
I enjoy reading the trump apologist comments here that all seem to be saying we shouldn't be worrying about Putin, Russia is not our enemy, leave Putin to his own 'sphere of influence' (note: at this point D.C. is one of those), etc. You know, basically all the things that Putin himself wants everyone in the west to believe.
Interesting how that works...
16
Curious that this OpEd doesn't address Russia's influence on the Brexit vote, including reported weaponization of Twitter by bots. Perhaps PM May should consider invalidating the Brexit plebiscite.
12
The mad Roman Emperor Caligula (who also had a thing for a close female relative) made his horse a Senator. After Roy Moore gets elected, I imagine there'll be nothing to stop trump from nominating... Putin.
How long can this insanity go on? How much pain can a people endure? How long before the country fractures and crumbles forever?
I'm glad I'm old and hopefully won't live long enough to see it.
10
Part of me giggles every time I hear a Republican voter pray to St. Ronnie, thanking him for sending Trump to save the party. The irony doesn't even occur to them. The other part of me silently weeps for our country.
13
Russia needs to be encouraged to understand that it is a second rate country, it cannot operate on the same level as the USA, and it's leaders should turn their efforts to improving the lives of its citizens instead of chasing fantasies of greatness.
4
"its leaders should turn their efforts to improving the lives of its citizens instead of chasing fantasies of greatness" Right now the United States could use some of the same advise. The reality of greatness seems to be tilting toward China.
11
It seems like since Yeltsin left the scene, that is what we had been doing--which is part of the reason Putin has gotten so angry at us the last couple of decades: He don't get no respect (which was the case in the Cold War). So he'll do his best to get it again.
While I am no fan of Putin or Trump (understatement there), it is worth keeping in mind that Russia still has the second largest cache of nuclear warheads in the world, and we need not wonder whether they could make it across the ocean and hit our mainland or not. Kim Jung-Un might get to play his nuclear card once before being obliterated. Russia might get to go on for a while with much higher chances of success. As long as Russia is our largest true external threat and we're not getting along so well either (except for Trump, Putin, and Tillerson), I think we should take care not to needlessly try to humiliate them, or call them a third world or second rate country or power--even if in many ways true. Most second rate countries could not possibly nuke us into oblivion--even with our president effectively handing over all kinds of classified information or intelligence to help them.
With Trump & family, Tillerson, and half the White House staff increasingly looking like Russian "compromot", let's try to make sure they're gone before kicking or taunting the Bear too much.
After a year of Russian bashing, the one thing we know for certain is that there is no proof of any Russian interference in US politics. What we do know for certain is that corporate money, Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression had an overwhelming influence. We know that virtually all federal politicians are owned by either banks or corporations or both. That is by far the reason we do not have a real democracy in the US.
4
Actually Kilo Unit, the one thing we do know for certain is that there is growing proof of Russian interference in our politics as shown by the recent testimony by tech company executives before Congress last week. Are you on Putin's payroll?
11
I would add two more concerns about the Trump administrations performance regarding Russia. First, this very paper reported yesterday that the US has awarded the contract for security for our embassy in Moscow to a Russian security firm. One of the two founders of that firm had ties to the former KGB. Secondly, I hear that our State Department has dismantled the work group that oversaw our sanctions on Russia. With this news and all of the Trump campaign contacts with Russia, we might as well just hoist up their flad and sing the Russian national anthem. I despair...
21
Trump allowed hundreds of isis fighters and their families safe passage through the heart of US controlled Syria because Putin requested it. This is what Trump means when he says he wants to work with Putin.
6
It was 2013, I believe, when Trump Jr. bragged about Russian money being the bulk of Trump business financing. Is their anybody this side of Sean Hannity and the Deplorables who think they somehow divested or otherwise disassociated themselves from the Russian oligarchs between then and the campaign for the Presidency? It is so plainly obvious that Trump is inextricably tied to them that it is undeniable. He has gotten away with so many outrages already that there is absolutely zero chance he will ever change. He must be impeached, yesterday.
16
The only thing more amazing than how stupid Trump thinks Americans are is how stupid some Americans are.
It's like a drug dealer saying, 'hey, I asked the leader of our gang and he said I didn't sell any drugs and I believe him' and having the judge find him innocent.
Who thinks that way?
18
Trump is acting out "The Apprentice" on the world stage. He's trying so hard to act like the Strongmen he admires - Erdogan, Xi, Putin, Duterte. He's dismissive of the leaders of the free world. And, he's a very bad actor.
Who will fire him from this show? Why are Republicans turning a blind eye.
22
The State Department just announced the award of a no-bid contract for security at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Russian owned (by a former KGB officer and Putin's former boss) Elite Security Holdings will now be providing this service to the embassy and consulates.
13
Why are Americans always so eurocentric? Take a look at how other countries are dealing with Russia. In Asia for instance.
2
Trump, a 5-year old on sugar overload in a 71-year old body. Isn't the scariest thing the fact that he has a huge cult following and no matter how gross and dangerous he is, they love him? Hello?
15
Why do journalists maintain that Trump is saying these things about Putin out of naivete? This mole is bought and sold. Think tax returns, dossiers and the Manchurian candidate. We've got a Russian in the White House folks. Does he need to start actually speaking in Russian for us to admit it?
468
I don’t think Trump is smart enough to learn how to speak Russian at his advanced age. It is actually a rather difficult language to learn compared to say, Spanish.
9
Hold on now, just because he walks like a duck and quacks like a duck doesn't necessarily mean that he's a completely compromised stooge of the FSB. It does mean that we're going to need years to recover from the sordid mess that this pathetic, inarticulate goon is creating using all the levers of power he's got. In the meantime the totalitarians of the world are going to step into the power vacuum Trump is creating at home and worldwide. Where's the Deep State when we really need it?
3
"Fox & Friends" will interpret this as further praise of Trump's trusting nature.
72
Trump keeps being an embarrassment on every front.
When will the GOP have enough of him?
Will it be only after they pass their ludicrous tax plan?
143
As embarrassed as they are by Trump they are terrified of Moore. If Moore gets elected they will have a loose canon on their hands and at a time when it's important to fool the populace into thinking they have our best interests in mind. He'll be introducing bills to increase use of the death penalty, to fill our jails with LGBTQs, and of course to post Christian quotes all over federal property.
I'd love to see someone ask him what the 10 Commandments are. I bet he can't name 5.
BTW there's a very good pun in my 2nd sentence..
3
"Far from denouncing Putin’s continuous assaults on human rights and free speech in Russia, Trump has praised him as being a better leader than Obama."
where's Putin's Nobel Prize mr trump? 45 is such a phony...
96
As long as I remind myself that I’m going to die regardless of who the president of Russia is, I don’t care. Leave that to people who somehow think they’re going to live forever and what they think matters. I can only imagine what it must be like to grow old and not be cynical.
41
Trump is being played like a two-bit violin. All it takes is a bit of pomp and glitz, some baubles thrown his way, and some 'sweet nothings' whispered into his ear. And all the dictators (no matter their title) know that and are using it to best Don the Con. The climb out of this huge hole will be long and difficult.
212
Trump is overseeing the dismantling of democracy around the world and joining the autocrats of the world who he hopes to join. What Putin has on Trump is not clear but based on his extensive finances connected to Russian sources for decades and his failure to ever say a bad word about Putin while attacking dozens of folks from gold star families ,pow senators dying from brain cancer and all democrats it must be career ending, Prime Minister of UK is aware she represents the UK and Trump only represents his fragile ego and desire for applause,
230
Brilliant!!
2
Not only career ending, but also life ending. We've heard about all the Russians who died under mysterious circumstances. They're always people who crossed Putin in some way.
Trump is delusion and fails to see Putin as a tyrannical murderer. He sees Putin as a buddy in the billionaires club and they two of them should be clubby. Trump's cognitive abilities are seriously lacking ... I score his IQ at about 85. The free world is led by a man who can't locate Russia on a map or know the history of the cold war.
135
Trump unfortunately has no knowledge or sense of history. He most likely is unaware of what the erstwhile Soviet Union did in Hungary, Czechoslovakia or Afghanistan for that matter .
It is our collective destiny that in this age of science and reason our fates are being written by an ignoramus twit.
190
Trump will go down as the worst president ever. The electoral college has been revealed as an abject failure. The GOP will go down as spineless enablers who care more about tax breaks than protecting our country. What a legacy.
318
Also keep in mind that the GOP is mostly just catering to big business interests and the interests of the top 1% in this country. They lost their spine well before Trump became president.
5
Barack Obama whispered to Vladimir Putin, “I will stop pretending to be tough on you after I whip Romney. We’ll do business next spring.” A year later he watched Putin’s “little green men” conquer eastern Ukraine and Crimea. In 2013 President Obama froze after Assad breached the “red line” in Syria. Those all were difficult places to respond. Khrushchev backed down when Kennedy blockaded Cuba. His troops actually were there. We had nothing on the ground in Syria, Crimea, or Ukraine. Taking on another power’s sphere of influence isn’t as easy as you think.
8
President Obama said no such thing and it's pretty difficult to do much in Syria when you ask Congress for support and the republicans all leave town, but one does appreciate the illustration of how Trump gets away with it.
10
Meanwhile in the United States under DT: "This is how puppets deal with Putin"
54
again we're yelling to get out of the wrong lane of traffic and they're telling us to stop being so loud.
16
"Reagan came to believe that Mikhail Gorbachev was trying to contract, not expand, Soviet power. But he never lost sight of the Russian threat to the West and kept up the pressure even as he developed a relationship with Gorbachev aimed at keeping the world safe from Russia, not at keeping Russia safe from the world."
Please, save it. At the same time Reagan was taking that course of action the OP-ED writers were busy belittling Reagan as Ronnie Raygun. When he labeled the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire" your colleagues laughed. To back and read some of Anthony Lewis' OP-ED pieces.
Now you come up with all this false nostalgia and are whipping up Cold War V2.0. Apparently we've fallen a long way in the last 9 years. That HRC reset button didn't seem to work out so well.
But I'll sit this one out. I took an active part in Cold War V1.0.
Maybe I'll watch "The Russians are Coming. The Russians are Coming" tonight and have a laugh at all this anti-Russian hysteria.
5
Yes, Trump is outmatched on many levels here. But let's not forget how Obama and the NYT editorial board responded when Romney accurately warned about the treat Russia poses. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/opinion/the-never-ending-cold-war.html
By all means, criticize Trump's bad decisions. But also reflect on the lack of insight our prior president and this paper showed.
8
Why, why is that relevant - So theres Trump but hey, what about Obama? That kind of debate is specious at best - one has no bearing on the other. There will always be "the guy before me" its how you handle today that counts.
3
Judging from your comment, you need to reread the editorial you cite. The editorial includes this: "Russia can’t be wished away or denounced away. It has to be challenged and the relationship managed with vigilance and skepticism. The administration was right to express concerns about the stolen parliamentary election — drawing verbal attacks on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — and to try to publicly shame the Kremlin on Syria. Mr. Obama also needs to more firmly support democracy in Russia and remind Mr. Putin that many obstacles to cooperation are of his own making. "
Obama simply said that Russia wasn't our biggest threat, never that it wasn't a threat.
And given a choice between a President that Vladimir Putin can't stand, and one he seems to be playing like a cheap violin...
7
I hope I am wrong, but I fear this maniac in the oval office will use nukes to help make him a dictator. I have seen nothing that tells me he has any kind of governor on his desire to take over our country. As someone we know well says, "please talk me down".
46
All you need to do to get Trump to trip all over himself with gratitude is flatter him. It would be very funny--the fat old guy with the weird hair and jowls and a lifetime's worth of strange expressions along with the bigly tie that is supposed to cover his gut--if we hadn't given him the nuclear codes.
91
America, the guardian of democracy is feeling proud in friendship with dictators, Communists then who will save democracy?
If this is strategic movement, then the movement itself is wrong. One can not fight virus, bacteria being very friendly.
It seems like uncle Sam is moving one step forward and two step backward to make America great again.
15
While Teresa May's speech focused on Putin's actions as a threat to the free world and accurately portrayed his KGB/FSB tactics of misinformation, aggression in hacking and in land stealing, England needs to remain part of the European Union in order to maintain a stronghold against tyrannous regimes such as Putin's, Erdogan's to name a few. Geologically, England was once part of the continent, and as Donne wrote in "Meditation 17" : " no man is an island." Americans need to defeat Trump and his cronies and the British need to reject Brexit. The world is too dangerous a place with tyrants and oligarchs alike trying to drain natural resources and leave the majority of the peoples of the world with nothing but war and famine.
Grown ups deal with tyrants not just with words but actions. Trump does not represent the majority of Americans. It is time to stand up and be counted rather than court disaster with wrong policies and with power maddened maniacs.
33
Geologically, Scottish mountains were a part of a larger chain that included Appalachians. And EU is good, to a degree, on economic matters, so-so on human rights, and outright laughable as a "fortress", so if Brexit is wrong, it would have to be on economical issues. Without addressing conclusions, your arguments are random at best.
2
May is incorrect about her comment regarding Crimea. NATO forcibly took Kosovo from Serbia long before Crimea happened and killed a lot more people and destroyed infrastructure in doing it. Also your author is incorrect about Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. The Soviets entered Afghanistan at the invitation of the Afghan government. This was in response to the US funding of the Mujahideen - the genesis of AL Qaeda and ISIS. The West is not blameless in world events.
21
At this point I'm highly concerned that Putin is hoping to push Trump and North Korea into an exchange of WMDs, in an attempt to destabilize the US as a world power. This has all gone way too far. We need a grown up here in the US, right now.
84
There was a time, less than a century ago, when the UK was able to hold off a similar threat until the isolationist US came to its senses, but both the US and the UK were much stronger then than we are now. Democracy and the rule of law are more fragile than they have been at any time since the end of WWII.
68
Yell all you want. But until nations (and people) put their physical well-being where their mouth is, it is all rhetoric. Britain is a mid-level European nation with a receding economy (by global standards) and military. It determined to leave the European Union, and seeks shelter under the NATO umbrella. (Read American protection here.) Quality hyperbole, but Britain made its last independent decisive action in the Falklands (1982).
11
Trump seems not to care about human rights if dealing with them will affect negotiations with an autocrat but it is plausible that he has no stomach for confronting autocrats because he is overly impressed with them and is just avoiding having to do so.
15
"Grown -ups" (politicians and financial institutions) could prove they are "honest" and care about "democracy" by refusing to launder money for the Russian oligarchs. Fat chance.
And, as the author knows, we (USA) are not soooo innocent. 200 years of history prove it. Trump was not lying when he said it.
10
I totally agree that there is a great deal to criticize about Mrs. May but I felt very proud of her speech. Sadly there is only so much any one leader can do on this issue as long as the President of the United States is not only in denial but seems determined to short-circuit any real consideration of the threat Russia poses to liberal democracies.
40
People all over the world have realized that propaganda works and weaponizing fake information, including influencing elections, is cheap and irresistible, and there is very little penalty for doing so. People need to be trained to filter out fake news by looking at evidence and motivations. An honest media could help a lot in this matter.
9
As much as it is true that Russia is not a force for good it is also a false equivalence to equate today's Russia with the Soviet Union. Russia is no longer communist and we have a common interest in fighting radical Islamic terrorism. Furthermore China's economic expansionism did not exist then either (Hong Kong was not part of China, for example) and perhaps today it is a common adversary.
8
When will this be over? Will we even make it to 2020? Terrifying.
19
By now, anyone with a quarter of a brain should realize that Trump's adoration of and infatuation with his adopted Russian brother and homeland is "bullet proof". A Theresa May-type defiant address directed at Putin will never leave his lips. The continuing, absolutely intriguing question is Why? Is there one core explanation or a combination of reasons for this inexplicable, even mystifying relationship? Why would Trump risk so much, including the potential loss of his Presidency, personal liberty, business, family members, etc. in cozying up to the Russians which, in turn, helped lead to the Mueller investigation?
Even now, with that deepening investigation proceeding apace, Trump does not modify, but brazenly flouts, that relationship. His behavior is counterintuitive and even self incriminating. Perhaps there is not a grand reason, or reasons, for his behavior other than the unrestrained compulsions of a certain twisted personality type, a Madoff-like challenge to himself to see if he simply could do it. Will we ever truly know Why?
10
**Demonizing Russia and calling Putin an “egomaniacal, autocratic leader who shows no concern for international law, human rights, civil liberties or freedom of thought and speech” is utterly unbalanced but par for the course in these pages.**
Honestly? Do you read news sources? Any news sources? He imprisons political rivals. He has journalists assassinated. Right now homosexuals in the Russian province of Chechnya are being systematically jailed, tortured and executed, and he has done exactly nothing. He threatens those who dare to peacefully demonstrate against his regime with arrest. He is responsible for the first military land annexation of another sovereign European nation since WWII. He is executing the largest counter-information intelligence operation in history. And all this isn't even everything
Autocratic? Flouting international law, human rights, civil liberties, freedom of speech and press?
Exactly what else would he have to do to earn these descriptors, pray tell?
5
Demonizing Russia and calling Putin an “egomaniacal, autocratic leader who shows no concern for international law, human rights, civil liberties or freedom of thought and speech” is utterly unbalanced but par for the course in these pages.
Really is this tactic necessary just to be able to get at Trump? It isn’t. We all know what a nightmare Trump is! The evidence is abundant.
But Trump’s soft spot for Russia and his concept that cooperation with Russia wouid be so much more productive than antagonism have for some reason led people to think the opposite, as though if Trump believes something, it must be false. This is childish.
As for the terrible no good Putin, please see the viewpoints he expressed in his very own Times op-Ed of four years ago. This was right before he was about to save Obama from his poorly conceived “red line” in Syria, which almost led the US to launch another disastrous war in that region. It didn’t happen, in large part because Putin intervened.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-r...
Putin: “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”
10
More hysterical nonsense from alleged statesmen (and women) and journalists. You don't deal with leaders of sovereign nations by calling them names and accusing them of made-up sins for the sake of your own internal political gain (or in the case of May survival). One alleged stateswoman in the US recently already tried to stake her whole election campaign and political future on calling Putin names and fuelling hatred towards Russia - and look where it got her. Neither American nor British people hate Russia as much as the insular elites in both countries think they should. That is just a proven fact and too bad for those elites, Mr. Rosenthal.
12
Time to face the fact that Trump is fundamentally hostile to the notion of liberal democracy, and however long he has in office, he could do an astonishing amount of damage to this nation's well being, undermining basic tenets of our social, political, legal and economic contracts while putting the US into irrevocable decline. Most of us already know this, and knew it long before Trump was elected. Unfortunately, yelling at Trump doesn't do a thing. The issue is communicating what's at stake to Trump's base and making them understand the harm they've done to the nation, as well as themselves.
18
Too bad that May doesn't have equally strong words for Trump. Weren't they last seen holding hands? Trump is at least as much of a threat to democracy as his idol Putin.
35
May presented a statement that was unsupported by facts. There have been no reports of Russia violating national airspace. They have maintained flights in International airspace, just as NATO does to Russia. This sort of statement seems to be perfectly acceptable in the McCarthy, Cold War attitude that seems to prevail in the mainstream media. Forget the truth, print propaganda should be the motto.
7
" Boris Johnson seems unhinged". Sir, any sentient person could have predicted THAT. Yes, it sounds superficial, but consider the evidence.
Look at a photo of Mr. Johnson, also Trump. Notice any similarities???
Any person, especially in the public eye, that sports a " hairstyle " of that fashion is just plain bonkers. Brought to you by Dyson Electronics. NOT the hair dryer, the vacuum cleaner. Just saying.
41
Even with all the political heat due to the current investigation by Mueller, Trump still makes nice to Putin to the extend that he's able to, and continues to paint a thoroughly authoritarian strongman as a "nice guy." If it wasn't for the special investigation, Trump would have long ago made a trip to Russia to receive the red carpet welcome he so loves, and fawn over Putin the same way he bubbled praise for China's autocratic ruler.
And Putin would love to host him, because while Putin may be evil, he's an extremely shrewd and cunning politician. He would thoroughly stroke the ego of the rank political and diplomatic amateur that Trump is and play him for a bigger fool than Xi Jinping did in China. If the Mueller investigation comes up empty-handed on Trump that still may well happen down the road.
7
Too often, we forget His Unhinged Unfitness never looked at his current status as a pinnacle - an apex; instead, he views it as a stepping stone to be monetized in his career and his businesses which he will return to some day.
Thus, as our leader, he will be kowtowing to despots the world over, cultivating contacts to network with to make more money - no way that he'll be criticizing possibly the world's richest guy:
http://www.businessinsider.com/former-kremlin-banker-putin-is-the-riches...
Besides, Putin aside, Russia is pretty much the world's largest pool of un-regulated capital, which can be very handy if you're a NY real estate developer bankers refuse to do business with, who's also a bankruptcy addict.
150
Yes.
8
There was Trump, abroad in Asia, saying that he will always put America first in one breath, then elevating Putin's word over that of our intelligence agencies in the next.
For melodramatic flourishes, Trump added that the charges of interference were personally hurtful to Putin, and that people would die because of any divisions between the US and Russia.
As if Putin were some delicate, innocent little flower of a person.
As if Trump were concerned about diplomacy, even with our allies.
As if Trump had any plans to stabilize the globe, with or without partners.
As if Russia's blueprint for the world could be compatible with America's.
Trump is not only a failed leader, he is falling over himself to follow Putin.
261
Trump will go down as the worst American president ever, unless in the future all of our history books will be written in Russian.
361
I feel sorry for intelligent parents today in America trying to explain to their children why our so called President, his administration and most of one party in the whole of congress only work for the very few in our society and the world. Please try and teach them right from wrong. Republican Party equals wrong and dangerous.
45
Or, given the possibility that an exchange of stupid tweets might trigger a nuclear war, our history could be etched on the walls of caves by those who manage to survive. The language won't matter.
31
You feel sorry for parents, but what about teachers in schools, trying to teach civics? Or colleges teaching political science and the history of the constitution/bill of rights?
What kind of discussions must they have about Trump and how he and the Gop are damaging the country?
Seems our constitution and political system is all ideals and theory, and can't protect us against a Trump unstable authoritarian. Nor against the influence of big money elites setting the norms of our politics with their megadonations to both parties.
1