Cross Town Thoughts
The Gates. 2005.
Daily gaits. 2017.
No snow in sight. So far.
Tiger Woods is back on the links. Under par.
Dennis Rodman of Celebrity Apprentice fame. Mutual friend of our Portly President and North Korea’s Dumpy Despot. Could he broker a summit to thwart nuclear war? Just to be safe. Revert to 1950’s duck and cover under your desks. Or huddle in the nearest bomb shelter.
Don & Melania will dine within Beijing’s Forbidden City which hasn’t changed much in 500 years. It still harkens back to Emperors and Eunuchs. Okay. Too easy.
However. The surrounding city is unrecognizable from even a few decades ago. Skyscrapers, highways, Beijing today looks more like L.A. Back in 1982 post-Mao there were no cars, a few buses and vans. Mostly bicycles. Guest houses rather than hotels. Western tourists a novelty. And a Polaroid camera was magic. Selfies never seen. Literally.
Donald Badenov is back. From G20 vith Love. Finally met Putin in Person.
“Ring-a-ding-ding. Dis is some vild and crazy guy. Schving!! Playboy centerfold Melania charmed Vlad the Buff Vampire Slayer even better than Natasha could. Putin vill never be the same after she laughed at all his muscovian jokes. Ha ha! Who needs Vodka? Ve got along so good. Better than borscht. Don’t know vy everybody is so upset ve had another secret meeting vith no vitnesses. You vill all be sorry ven ve have negotiated the “Caviar Accord”. Peace and hotels all over the vorld. Get over it CNN. Dahz. Veedahnya.”
Le jour de gloire? Why did freshly minted President Emmanuel Macron of France invite Le Donald to be honored at Bastille Day? What is he up to? This guy seems a rogue in his own right. Is he setting up Trump for an awkward contretemps? Marchons. Nous voyons. It’ll be worth seeing what Melania will wear where Dior and Louboutins rule.
Is it just me or has Trump suddenly taken a liking to hiking in the woods at Camp David. Now talking about an Arab confab there to thwart terrorism. This the guy who prefers gold faucets and Toto toilets. 18 holes of pristine greens rather than a ratty old tee on a pine cone path. So. Why? Maybe because he watches House of Cards. Of course he does. President Frank Underwood endured a Bohemian Grove-esque weekend ‘men’s trip’ to unearth secrets and lies from the deep forest state around a camp fire to get a leg up.
Hmmm. Wonder when Don will buy a flannel shirt to match his squirrely hair.
Today’s Washington Post story reads like an Ian Fleming spy novel. Replete with secret dossiers, clandestine situation room confabs, CIA envelopes for Obama’s eyes only. It’s a fascinating tale which if true makes the former President seem feckless in the face of an international incident perpetrated by Putin himself. Barack actually admitted telling Vlad to “Just stop that!” Wow. Sure that caused quakes in Blofeld’s mountaintop lair.
The bottom line remains. Actions and more importantly inactions were the result of underestimating Trump’s chances to win the election. And. Way overestimating Hillary’s certain landslide victory. A cascade of decisions fell from those miscalculations by the Obama White House, Clinton’s campaign, and a complicit press.
Barbs and arrows are flying in France pre-election. It will be close. And Marine Le Pen could disrupt the EU beyond repair. She is set to write a chapter worthy of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Exploiting her native land’s intrinsic jingoism. The most chauvinist of all European countries. Where nationalism has always been a way of life. As Brexit and Trumpxit have prevailed, Frexit could be the final blow to Yerp as we know it.
Trump Doctrine? Global Pragmatism. Make deals. With Russia to help combat terrorism in return for a softer ouster of the House of Assad. Also allowing Putin to push boundaries in his own backyard. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson leverages Exxon-Mobil relationships to get key players around the table. Was strident Syria stand-off a ploy to divert attention from potential election collusion? To pave the way for a nouveau détente. Probably. And with China. Financial and trade deals in exchange for help with Syria and North Korea.
Of course. Trump could derail his own doctrine in a minute. In reaction to a perceived slight. With an errant press conference remark. Or a tweet.
Happy Valentine’s Day From Russia With Love. Putin’s arrow on a dangerous trajectory. Flynn’s ties to Vlad finally results in his demise. What was Trump’s own complicity. Chaos Doctrine front and center. Sure has blown up the White House inner circle. Will it backfire on the disrupter-in-chief himself? Pence could be the next Prez sooner rather than later.
Waking up to Mika & Joe in pajamas is unnerving enough. Creepy Christmas tidings. Then Sean Spicer, newly named Press Secretary, tries to calm everybody down saying that Trump just wants to modernize our nuclear capability. But. No. Mika in her jammies tells us she spoke to the Donald and he is fine with an arms race with Russia or whoever. There’s a new sheriff in town. John Wayne and his wild west shoot from the hip foreign policy is born.
For all of you pundits looking for a Trump Doctrine. Take refuge in the closest bunker for the next 4 years. It ain’t gonna happen. To top it all off. He golfed today with Tiger. Mar-a-Loco. Merry and Happy!!
Side Trek . NYC 