A smug Russian President Putin arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, yesterday to meet with Donald Trump, and this scene certainly set the stage for me:
While Putin looks appropriately neat and businesslike, Trump looks like a slob. He didn’t even bother to button his flapping oversized jacket. And he’s wearing those odd shoes that everyone speculates contain lifts. Finally, he acknowledges troops with a military salute. I don’t care if that’s become an acceptable thing for our presidents to do. I think it improper and presumptuous for a civilian, especially one who was never in the military, to use a military salute. He could/should just nod an acknowledgement.
From the moment Air Force One flew into view to the moment it disappeared some six hours later, there was wall-to-wall coverage on tv. But fortunately, little else was accomplished. That’s as it should have been since Ukrainian President Zelensky was not there. (“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”) It did, however, release the ostracized Russian dictator from his global isolation and welcome him to America with red carpets, a flyover, and a ride in the presidential limo (“The Beast”). And it gave Trump another claim (he hopes) to the Nobel Peace Prize.
Additionally, and not coincidentally, the entire event was a major distraction from both the Epstein files and the federal troops in Washington DC.
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Header image: Air Force One arrives in Anchorage
Funny you should write about Trump’s salute. He knows how to salute properly because he attended high school at New York Military Academy, a private boarding school. An alumnus of my alma mater, the USNA, and a nuclear submariner no less, denigrated president Obama in his blog years ago, and in my presence as well, for ” . . . having to be taught how to salute.” My continuing discussions with him over quite some years were contentious, to say the least. He and I met socially for a time. His wife was a Democrat.
Knowing how to salute does make one a leader, obviously, nor a deal-maker. As the professed author of the ghost-written “The Art of the Deal,” the Alaska summit showed the world he is a failure at his most-vaunted talent. He is a fake, a charlatan, and a history-ignoramus. He made himself and our country look like fools. As Michael McFall, the former ambassador to Russia, put it on MSNBC, Trump gave away all the cards before the game even began, including the potential of Ukraine joining NATO. It was a dark day, possibly the darkest, for U.S. diplomacy.
I’m certainly no expert on salutes, but it seems to me anyone could learn HOW to salute, if only by watching YouTube. It’s the WHEN to salute I’m concerned about. I read somewhere that Reagan started the presidential saluting. And I suppose it didn’t really bother me until Trump, a wannabe, poser, draft dodger, grifter, convicted felon, etc. did it. I just feel like it’s something reserved for military personnel in uniform. I’ve no idea what the regs say.
He may have set up the Alaska meeting with the idea of becoming the great peacemaker, but wisely he did downgrade it to just a discussion before he got there. He’s everything you said and then some. The most generous thing I could say about him is that he’s suffering from worsening dementia. But as a demented president he is costing the US more than can ever be recovered in our lifetimes. I’m sure if he thought the world would stand for it, in exchange for peace he’d happily give Putin every square foot of Ukrainian territory that Russia currently holds — probably with the proviso that Putin split with him all the rare earth minerals therein. He’s already made it clear what he thinks of Zelensky, with the public ambush at the White House in February and the abrupt withdrawal of American aid from Ukraine.
It worked! No one is talking about Epstein or the guard in DC. Next on the list, declare war on France — their wine prices are crazy. Bring on the freedom fries!
And so as not to lose any momentum, he’s talking with Zelensky on Monday. (Gotta win that peace prize!) After what happened the last time Zelensky visited DC, I’m surprised he’s willing to come back. But he’s an honorable man trying desperately to save his country. Gee, must be nice having a president like that.
That’s all it was distraction and the finger to Zelinsky.
Exactly.
I despair of the media, Colorado – they will NEVER fail to jump eagerly at the bait, even though they know full well that it’s there to snatch them away.
It’s the media’s job to report everything, to keep the public informed. Of course, Trump knows and constantly exploits that. I don’t blame the media; I blame the exploiter — and those in the general public who take it all at face value instead of reading and thinking critically. The (reputable) media can’t not jump; then they’d be accused of taking sides, presenting slanted views, hiding information, etc.
Mebbe … but they CAN keep on with issues, rather than dropping them when they’re bored with ’em.
I think Trump’s main motivation here is to win the Nobel prize. It seems laughable, considering his other actions, like encouraging his followers to attack Congress, but if that motivation could stop Russia’s attack on Ukraine, I’ll take it.
I don’t doubt for a second that he’s gunning for the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope the Nobel panel wouldn’t consider giving it to an insurrection organizer and convicted (x34) felon, but yes, if he saves Ukraine (without giving half of it to Putin), I’ll live with it.