OK, this is not a foreign affairs blog, it is an education blog. But these days we can’t wall ourselves off from the fact that the incoming president of the United States is ignorant, destructive, and ready to throw away the rest of the world, except for Russia.
Trump stunned European leaders by belittling NATO and the European Union. The breakup of NATO is a long-treasured goal of Vladimir Putin. Europe is our most important trading partner in the world.
We have an incoming president who is indifferent to our allies, and to the agreements that maintained peace on the European continent since 1945.
He is a rogue president. He is ignorant and dangerous.
Is this the “change” that Trump voters wanted? Destabilization of the Transatlantic alliance? The world becomes more frightening by the minute as we approach the inauguration of this wild card, the joker in the deck.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was shocked when I heard him.
I am convinced that he is senile, and cannot grasp that he is no longer running for president, but is in charge. He cannot grasp that the world listens to his ravings,and I believe that no one, not his kids,or the people who inform him, or the GOP leaders can stop his mouth.
He is a rogue, and needs to be impeached, quickly, even it gives us Pence.
I was just saying the same thing this morning. This is not an America I ever thought I would see in my lifetime. So scary.
Lets do a two for one special and give us Orin Hatch
Great idea!
To answer your question: The people who voted for Trump first and foremost wanted to stick their collective tongues out at what George Wallace referred to as: Pointy Headed Intellectuals. This was an act of class warfare.
Quite true. The working class against the free loading, life-burdening, holier-than-thou, socialist/communist elitist wanna-be ruling class. Deal with it.
And you are as ignorant as Trump!
Harlan Underhill
Obama and Clinton before him were center right corporatist Republicans. Neither you nor the Oligarchy have seen a socialist in the entire history of this country. You may get to see one shortly and the Oligarchy/Plutocracy will regret the day they overreached.
Have no fear by the time Trump finishes with this economy Democratic Socialists like myself will be fighting to keep the communists out of power. .
Harlan, Mao thought the intellectuals were reactionaries; that’s why he crushed them in the Cultural Revolution.
Harlan is a bloodthirsty fascist who would love to lock up and slaughter all the people whom he considers to be communist, socialist and elitist. Just listen to his irrational anger and tone.
Joe, that seems to be the dominant national mood, unfortunately.
Joe, I was going to ask him about that. Harlan, would you stop supporting Trump if he made himself dictator?
Harlan, glad to see you back! I always enjoyed your rabble-rousing.
Corso, they may lose their country, their health care, and their lives.
And they will . My guess is, by the time the centrally planned government in China finishes with him. We will be in a total economic collapse and the Walmart voters will be storming the Bastille. Count the number of foreign vehicles in the drive ways with the make America great again signs on them .
Then they are fighting the wrong people, wrong battles and wrong war.
Communist playbook, Harlan: imprison or kill the teachers and intellectuals.
“Communist playbook,”
It’s weird that you guys agree with McCarthy and use communist as a synonym to fascist.
Mate,
How about the Putin playbook? Make your friends billionaires by giving them state assets. If they dare to criticize you, take away their billions and throw them in jail. Arrange for the assassination of dissidents and nosy journalists. Persecute gays. If Chechnya dares to demand independence, level its major city, Grozny, and ignore the tens of thousands dead. Support the dictator of Syria by bombing schools, hospitals, and level Aleppo, until all opposition has been crushed.
That’s not Communist. That’s tyrant.
I’m not so sure very many people voted for Trump. I remember 2016 like it was just last year. The Republican primary was a pitiful clown circus. And after Sanders got put aside, everyone stated they were voting against, not for, someone. The election was like a boxing battle royal with the boxers more stone drunk than the audience. Trump stumbled and backed his way into the Oval Office. His opponents knocked themselves out. It was not a statement; it was a debacle. Never forget that. Never let it happen again.
very true
As much as I despise Trump and what he stands for, if anything, NATO is more of a threat to world peace than is Russia, and Russophobia and the New Cold War are NOT in the best interests of the world. Since the promise to Gorbachev that NATO would not move east, NATO and U.S. forces have broken that promise and done just that, threatening Russia. The U.S.-sponsored coup in Ukraine in Feb., 2014 proved to Russia that the U.S. intends to threaten Russia, and the stationing of more NATO and U.S. troops in the countries on Russia’s western border only increases that threat and accompanying tensions. Obama’s & Hillary’s Pacific Pivot with more U.S. forces deployed near China and Trump’s Sinophobia make matters even worse, since China and Russia are such allies.
Finally, the phony “election hacking” story adds to this anti-Russian hysteria, producing a kind of McCarthyism 2.0 here. Anyone asking for actual EVIDENCE of Russian involvement, not mere CIA claims (when has the CIA ever lied, right?) is now accused of being a Putin puppet.
No hacking is possible when election machines are NOT connected to the Internet. What happened was emails damaging to Hillary were LEAKED, most likely by an insider, as former U.K. ambassador Craig Murray says (he claims to have met one of the two leakers, neither of whom have any links to Russia). The emails showed that the Hillary campaign and the DNC sabotaged Bernie Sanders’ campaign and preferred the supposedly “beatable” Trump to other GOP nominees.
Pulling back U.S. and NATO forces from Russia’s borders would be in the interests of peace and would lower tensions between the U.s. and Russia, the two nations with the most nuclear weapons. Russia, despite corporate media lies, is NOT Nazi Germany intent on invading Europe. Putin is a capitalist now, and trade with Russia, not war, would be in the best interests of everyone.
That is ridiculous.
NATO has kept the peace in Europe since 1945. Every US administration has encouraged economic integration of Europe, which has created peace and prosperity across the continent.
The only opposition to NATO is Putin.
Ridiculous is far too kind a term for this pretzel-like “analysis.”
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2014-08-18/why-ukraine-crisis-west-s-fault
Dienne,
I don’t understand your eagerness to defend Putin.
I respect Mearsheimer (his co-written book The Israel Lobby is an exceptional book of historical policy analysis) and agree with the assessment that NATO could have done more in the Ukraine. But that would likely have meant embroiling Americans in a hot war. I think we can agree that’s a price Americans are unwilling to pay, especially after Iraq and Afghanistan.
Where Ed goes dangerously off the rails is writing “if anything, NATO is more of a threat to world peace than is Russia.” That is more than ridiculous. The combination of NATO, Ostpolitik (which focused on political and cultural engagement), a sustained multi-partisan commitment, and the acknowledgment of Gorbachev of the Realpolitik in his own nation all contributed to a relatively peaceful dissolution of the Iron Curtain. Diplomacy is hard work, not something that magically comes out of disjointed, uninformed sentences of 140 characters or less.
I do, however, understand your eagerness to bury your head in the sand, Diane. It’s an ugly country we come from. Much easier to blame it all on Putin.
Dienne,
I will never understand your serial defenses of Trump and apparent admiration of his friendship with Putin. I think if you read more history you might not be writing the things you do. As for “burying my head in the sand,” that’s a strange way to describe someone who posts 8-12 times a day.
This is a great country facing a serious national crisis. It is not an “ugly country.” We elected a would-be fascist. I agree with John Lewis. Trump’s election was Putin’s victory.
“I don’t understand your eagerness to defend Putin.”
Is Putin the bad guy and US the good one?
Any foreign leader who murders critics and dissidents is a bad guy.
Putin does some bad stuff to his people, but is there some kind of clear implication between Putin being bad to his people and his threat to Europe or to the US?
The question is how certain bad deeds justify to accuse Putin with all the bad stuff in existence. And it’s not about fairness (though could be), but whether it’s useful to see clearly.
Was it useful to invade Iraq on the premise that Saddam, the bad guy of the time, had nuclear weapons?
In general, many (cold and real) wars were started on false premises. Exaggerating Putin’s threat to the world is the first step to start yet another worldwide paranoia—yet another cold war.
It seems more useful to try to see Putin’s actions in context—for example, in the context of US actions abroad.
Mate,
Whatever you or I think about Putin, Trump is blowing off our closest allies in western and Eastern Europe. He has trashed NATO and the EU, rejecting bipartisan policies of the past 70 years, while praising Putin. He has also rattled his sword at China, causing a rupture of that relationship. He has appointed an ambassador to Israel who is more hawkish than Netanyahu. He is a danger to peace in the world.
“He is a danger to peace in the world.”
No argument there. On the other hand, if we put the focus on Putin and how the election might have been influenced by him, I think we miss the main issues: the antidemocratic Electoral College, the winner takes all cabinet appointments and the fact that almost half of our country does trust Trump.
“I think if you read more history you might not be writing the things you do.”
Umm. Again, NO! As an historian I’m sure you know that there are many ways to read and interpret what has come before our time, and even what has happened in the past of our time. We can never have anywhere near enough clear, indisputable “history” as to make verifiable truth statements about broad versions of said history-never. So that in essence no, what you suggest is not necessarily true because one might read ten times the history than they had before and still come to different conclusions than someone else or other “historian”.
The fact that you state there “China and Russia are such allies” proves you are completely ignorant about world affairs. The rest of your ranting proves you are a Faux News intellectual. Sad.
China and Russia are not allies however there has been an attempt to move much closer in recent years
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/20/russia-looks-to-china-as-relations-with-west-get-worse
Ed Ciaccio
I have made the argument that you are making many times about the pathetic attempt to move NATO to the Russian boarder. It is an argument that Stephen Cohen and Kissinger have made.
However none of that changes the fact that Putin is a dangerous authoritarian leader who ruthlessly attacks, assassinates his opposition at home and abroad. Whose own elections have been surrounded in controversy.
Now although it may have been folly to move NATO east it can not be denied that Russia’s neighbors do not appreciate the turn of events inside Russia and the prospect of being under the domination of a dictatorial Russia. You can argue about the nature of the coup in Ukraine and the subsequent Russian invasion. There was no US sponsored coup in Georgia. Putin’s moves into both are as much about Nationalism disguising a failing economy at home as it is about National Interest.
The emails showed far more than the treatment of Sanders. Which was really not that outrageous. They were a constant drip the headlines did the damage few read the actual contents or the analysis of that content . But yes they showed a party picking who they felt to be the strongest candidate to defeat the opposition party.
What a shock to this Bernie supporter (who still contributes to our revolution monthly )that a party would do that .
Guess what ten states still do not have primaries. They have caucuses theoretically attended by active party members. Bernie won them all.They have supper delegates . That’s what political parties do. They set their own rules if you don’t like them join another. Bernie lost for other reasons having to do with the various constituencies of the party and how they vote.
But here is the thing we saw only one party hacked. Although we don’t know do we? We have tapes, tapes from eaves dropping operations that show Russian agents congratulating themselves for a job well done. Your Ambassador Murray is a close associate of Assange who has provided no documentation for what he says.
So here is what I say , I will quote Malcolm Nance : “nothing in the world happens by coincidence.” And there is way too much coincidence here.
So if Trump/Pence have nothing to hide . Let us have a special prosecutor fully empowered and an independent non partisan congressional investigation of both the Russian hacking and the FBI .
Those investigations will never reach a conclusion because Trump,Flynn,Manafort,and Giuliani would be in the Ecuadorian embassy before the first question was asked.
Joel, slight correction on Nance quote, which I posted a few days ago, “…coincidence takes a lot of planning…”
And rather than Ecuadorian embassy, I’m thinking RNC headquarters, which I hear will soon be made into a Russian consulate.
Otherwise, as usual, on point.
One of the most dumbest comments I ever read. Russia was more peaceful than Saddam Hussein’s Iraq when Boris Yeltsin was there in the early 90s. Since Putin took office, he was trying to pull the nation back to where it was in the 80s. In Russia, he has killed many people who didn’t agree with him, both politicians and civilians.
Thanks, Ken. Putin is a brutal tyrant. I am puzzled that some people see him as a good ally.
Our good allies are in Europe, western and eastern. They are also our biggest trading partners.
They are puzzled by Trump’s brush-off and his affection for the brute on their borders.
Our natural allies are in western and eastern Europe in countries where there is a free press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to live without fear of government persecution, where dissent is not punished with jail or murder.
None of those conditions apply in Putin’s kleptocracy.
“Since Putin took office, he was trying to pull the nation back to where it was in the 80s. In Russia, he has killed many people who didn’t agree with him, both politicians and civilians.”
You are describing Russia’s internal affairs to counter a claim that said “Russophobia and the New Cold War are NOT in the best interests of the world.” How is your argument valid?
So if we focus on the fact that Russia has free education and healthcare, what does that tell us about world peace?
I agree, Ed and would suggest that most readers would consider the deployment of missiles – even if they are ‘defensive’ as Kerry claims – a destabilizing move
by NATO’s move west.
…east.
JB2,
Would you agree that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was destabilizing? He needs Lebensraum.
Agree with ya, Ed.
Mass hysteria, lack of rational appraisal by those whose blinders are thick and dark as shown by the responses to your post.
You think we should abandon our allies–the countries that have free elections and free speech–to team up with Russia, which has neither?
“You think we should abandon our allies–the countries that have free elections and free speech–to team up with Russia, which has neither?”
Do we have only these two extreme choices: trash Putin or team up with him?
Because one might like to see a rapprochement with Russia, it doesn’t necessarily follow that one “should abandon our allies”. Faulty logic worthy of Faulty Towers!
Duane,
Trump is indeed frightening our allies. Read this:
He disrespects every one of our allies but praises Putin. What’s up? Do we no longer want a unified peaceful Europe. This knucklehead could blunder into a war.
I don’t understand the arguments, here.
Is the USA blameless in the area of international politics? Hardly. Is Russia? No…nor is any sovereign nation that’s a player.
But there are differences in our systems of governance. It’s not easy maintaining a democratic process, but we try. Putin does not.
Trump is sending a very alarming message to our allies and fellow countrymen by turning his back on NATO and opening his arms to Russia.
“It’s not easy maintaining a democratic process, but we try. Putin does not.”
Just because Putin doesn’t try, doesn’t mean, the Russian people don’t try. In any case, what does this internal issue of Russia imply? What do we know about the wishes of the Russian people? Would they give up their free healthcare and education for our freedoms?
Mate,
I am all in favor of good relations with Putin.
But why does Trump spit in the eyes of our allies? Why insult the EU and NATO? Why shower Putin with praise and deliver scorn to our historic friends?
Do you understand why?
“
Oops, something I did wrong. Oh, well, here is what I wish to say.
“What’s up? Do we no longer want a unified peaceful Europe. This knucklehead could blunder into a war.”
The rhetorical question doesn’t necessarily follow from considerations of a rapprochement with Russia or THETrumpster’s idiotic blunderdunderings. I am not so sure also that he “disrespects every one of our allies”. Strong superlative truth statements require very strong backing and, sorry, but I don’t see that backing.
And yes, he “could blunder into war”, just as his GOP supposedly god-fearing predecessor, Georgie the Least did when his hallucination told him to invade Iraq.
Yes, THETrumpster is frightening in much the same way of ignorance and madness as Georgie the Least was.
The real shock is that Mr. Trump squeezes his policies into 145 letters and that his statements are erratic and change day by day. One positive consequence is that the idea of a united Europe has been revived.
It is especially to their advantage to remain united with the U.S. going off the rails.
Dr. Ravitch. You are COMPLETELY right. Education concerns ALL aspects of human intellect and processes. Do NOT stop. As educators we absolutely MUST be aware and take a stand on ignorance and misinformation wherever it rears its ugly head.
This is only the latest in ALL the missteps which Trump has made which has shocked not only Europe but the rest of the world as well. I greatly fear that we have become the laughing stock of the rest of the world – only it is not laughable.
Trump is a disaster not only for the U. S. but for the whole world especially in his denial of climate change, THE most important problem the world faces. In addition his wish to expand our nuclear arsenal and with his personality and ignorance could easily bungle us into a nuclear war. Our nuclear arsenal already has been approved for a trillion dollars in upgrades to which Trump wishes to add even more money. Our nuclear arsenal already could annihilate very man, woman, and child in the entire world many times over.
Post-truth has usurped ;intellectualism, politics supplants statesmanship ad nauseum.
God help us.
Yesterday I finished reading a collection of letters of Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were part of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany and executed on February 22, 1943, just four days after they were caught distributing anti-Nazi flyers at the Munich university. The idea of a European Union largely born in the anti-Nazi resistance, even though few of various groups and leaders knew about each other. These groups actively thought about what a post-war Germany would look like. There was remarkable agreement among many of them that Germany would have to function as a member of a new European federation.
For example, I translate one of the White Rose flyers passages as: “The name of Germany will forever be disgraced if German youth does not stand up and simultaneously avenge, destroy its tormentors, confess [its sins], and build a European spirit.” Helmuth James von Moltke, leader of the Kreisauer Kreis resistance group, convened working groups to create frameworks for post-war Germany which included developing a European governing structure. Had the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler been successful, von Moltke’s ideas would have mostly shaped the new government.
There are eerie echoes and historical lessons to be found in fascist Donald’s worldview to destabilize our post-WWII alliances and the European Union
forgot to finish that last thought: . The resistance set the stage for life after fascism. It is an apt precedent for the resistance to Trumpism.
GregB
I sure hope your apocalyptic vision never gets to that point. Not my idea of where I want to see resistance HAVE to go to. But as I go to Washington this Saturday the thought enters my mind, that a women’s march on Washington could be met by fascist thugs.
My wife will be there with you.
I should not open my mouth. I know I will regret this, but the Forecast for Friday is a cold rain all day but for Saturday , I better not say it .
No amount of money can cover up ignorance.
But it goes a long way in delaying its recognition! 🙂
Off topic but germane, I think, to this blog: David Souter in 2012 on Rachel Maddow linking our egregious civic ignorance to the rise of leader like Trump.
http://player.theplatform.com/p/7wvmTC/MSNBCEmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_maddow_souter_161020
I have a strong man crush on Souter’s intellect. Wish he were still on the Court.
A truly wise man. He predicted Trump’s rise. The fault lies, in part, with the educational theory that’s in vogue: it doesn’t make dispelling civic ignorance nearly as high a priority as other goals.
Diane is wise to keep these topics in view and to invite comments about them.
Among Trump’s advisors, who has been pushing these radical ideas? Does anyone think that he has originated them all by himself?
Does the Trump organization, or any of his key supporters, stand to benefit from a breakup of the EU?
Who will benefit most if ignorant and arrogant “populists” running for office in Europe, are elected to office?
What international threats are being ignored because of Trump’s addiction to tweeting?
Thanks, Laura, he creates international turmoil with his ignorant and careless tweets. He doesn’t understand that he speaks for the nation when he knocks out a tweet. The president customarily talks to his advisors before making public statements. Donald=Mr. Loose Lips.
Exactly, loose lips sink ships. The SS Trumpatanic is headed toward one big iceberg unless wiser heads in the GOP slap some sense into this dunderhead.
Laura H. Chapman
Trumps views are the views of the Right vs corporate Republicans. A view which sees Western Europe as a hot bed of socialism . Remember the French fries boycott. This has been a theme of the right wing of the Republican party for decades. The railing against the UN as well. It is a world view that sees these organizations or Nations as lesser than equals .
Oh yes we are the shining city on the hill. No other Nation has Democracy ,no other Nation has a high standard of living , They are all like welfare queens leaching off the greatest, the best and we are going to make America great again . This morning even John McCain the MODERATE while defending NATO cried about our depleted military. USA 19 Aircraft Carriers vs China 1 What planet are these people on. Yes another Aircraft carrier will stop a terrorist in a Box Truck.
Of course to hold these views you have to ignore our history,ignore geopolitical politics and our role in Latin America and elsewhere, where Democracy was the least of our concerns .
NATO the Word Bank ,the IMF are not leaching off us. They are our tools.
Who holds these views, almost everyone he has surrounded himself with.
Maybe it’s time we began labeling Trump’s attitudes and actions — negating one of our closest alliances like NATO — for what it appears to be: TREASON. Then, making fun of our intelligence community, our first line of defense, as lying while, at one and the same time, defending Russian’s Putin as telling the truth, are acts usually associated with enemies of the US state. That seems to be to be a type of TREASON, and while he, as do all Americans, enjoy the protection of free speech, we should be mindful that no one else BUT the President has the authority to put the whole country into possible danger from his speech acts. What else can that be called but something close to the T WORD? TREASON! Is it time for the House to begin considering impeachment proceedings. JVK
JVK,
I agree with you. I frankly can’t understand a president-elect who trashes the CIA but praises Putin, whose boot is on the neck of Ukraine and Syria. Why would he want to undermine confidence in our institutions? His election was an indictment of the intelligence of our public.
Yes , Yes , and Yes it is time.. But don’t count on it.
Or let me say they will have to be dragged there by the people.
Now this is funny, and viral!
https://www.google.com/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38635518?client=safari
President Trump: The Inauguration
4pm BBC One
“After a long absence, The Twilight Zone returns with one of the most ambitious, expensive and controversial productions in broadcast history. Sci-fi writers have dabbled often with alternative history stories – among the most common is the “What If The Nazis Had Won The Second World War” setting – but this huge interactive virtual reality project, which will unfold on TV, in the press, and on Twitter over the next four years, sets out to build an ongoing alternative present.”
The story begins in a nightmarish version of 2017 in which huge sections of the US electorate have somehow been duped into voting to make Donald Trump president. It sounds far-fetched, and it is, but as it goes on it becomes more and more chillingly plausible. Today’s feature-length opener concentrates on the gaudy inauguration of President Trump, and the stirrings of protest and despair surrounding the ceremony, while pundits speculate gravely on what lies ahead. It’s a flawed piece, but a disturbing glimpse of the horrors we could stumble into, if we’re not careful.”
Just keeps getting funnier! Like The Exorcist.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/davidmack/trump-factbase?client=safari
The words the best the greatest appear 2,500,000 times
Trump’s preference of Russia over our NATO allies is obvious and disturbing. I can only hope that there is serious work being done, behind the scenes, that will eventually bring him down. Preferably sooner than later.
For the first time in my life, I now have a deep understanding why some in third world countries support military coups. Speaks volumes about what our country is becoming.
I was just contemplating that possibility, as I asked what if he were impeached and refused to leave office.
“. . . the fact that the incoming president of the United States is ignorant, destructive, and ready to throw away the rest of the world, except for Russia.”
What you state is a fact?
Really?
The opinion that THETrumpster is ignorant, with which I agree, it doesn’t necessarily make it a “fact”.
fact (făkt)►
n. Knowledge or information based on real occurrences: an account based on fact; a blur of fact and fancy.
n. Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed: Genetic engineering is now a fact. That Chaucer was a real person is an undisputed fact.
n. A real occurrence; an event: had to prove the facts of the case.
Can you prove that, within the definitions above, that what you state are indeed “facts” and not just opinions you have arrived at?
I doubt it.
And no, my concerns are not a “defense in support of THETrumpster and a love of Putin and Russia” that’s deflecting horse manure, but are of the nature of attempted strong truth statements-“Facts” and whether those can be rationo-logically justified. And, obviously, I find that not to be the case with Diane’s statement.
The truth about attributing various cyberattacks to a specific person or agency apparently is very difficult, may be influenced by heavy politics, and it’s not always wise to release the full evidence.
Here is what Bruce Schneier one of the most respected computer security experts says about this
In the end, though, attribution comes down to whom you believe. When Citizen Lab writes a report outlining how a United Arab Emirates human rights defender was targeted with a cyberattack, we have no trouble believing that it was the UAE government. When Google identifies China as the source of attacks against Gmail users, we believe it just as easily.
Obama decided not to make the accusation public before the election so as not to be seen as influencing the election. Now, afterward, there are political implications in accepting that Russia hacked the DNC in an attempt to influence the US presidential election. But no amount of evidence can convince the unconvinceable.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/opinions/proving-source-of-dnc-hacks-difficult-opinion-schneier/index.html