Trump Wants To Bully The World, The State Of American Soft Power Puts It All At Risk
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio heading to Panama and other Latin American countries as his first diplomatic mission tells us that the US has blinked. The threat of a hard power intervention showing itself as the tantrum it was and still not being enough to sway a country which could normally be easily managed through the velvet glove of diplomacy and a few $billion in economic aid. And it would be ignorant to think that Presidents Petro and Sheinbaum were oblivious to that reality in the moment, that any country could observe the outrageous opening salvo at Panama and see it as anything but a weak country with no political sway outside of the economic dependents the US calls “allies.”
Stage 1 Ceasefire In Gaza: What Comes Next?
We all know Trump and how he operates. Look to North Korea, a purely optical win for the President at the time, and see how this ceasefire agreement could ultimately be another similar stunt purely for the cameras and fame – without the intent or wherewithal to enforce down the line. This move by the incoming-President is not one of empathy, but one of petty politics with no intent of US enforcement after the coming week(s). Trump is concerned with legacy as much as – if not more than – Biden; as a media diva he knows exactly the routines which Liberal Democrats are now enacting as the Mummy President is soon to be wheeled from the Oval Office for the final time, well aware that the waning days of the 46th President are being used to build a wall of credibility, competence, and achievement around Biden. We all know Trump’s pettiness isn’t going to let that slide.
Mangione and Palestine: Two Faces of the Imperial Polyhedron
Luigi Mangione is an example of just what happens whenever the strictures of expansionism abroad translate to real deprivation at home, the continued over-investment of resources in external affairs allowing for a complete degradation of affairs here. The pressure has mounted across the country, building against the banking, housing, education, manufacturing, service, and healthcare industries with little to no release as US legislators focus almost exclusively on the maintenance of empire and the intentional distraction of their constituencies which this necessitates.
Iran Is The Only Adult In The Room
While Israel demands the last word, creating a secondary obfuscation of “retaliation” against reactions from Iran, the arrogant petulance of the Western project in the Middle East is made painfully clear. From their perspective, there is no premise of self-defense against their own aggressions, no idea of justified retaliation except in their own interests; if the empire kills a foreign official on their own soil, it is the cost of business and that cost will be subsidized.
Land Back & Free Palestine
Palestine is precedent for all Peoples including, and especially, those who are still occupied within and by the United States in the Americas and abroad. How can Western leaders, all of which are some variant of “lawyer,” not see the writing on the wall; is this the overarching reason for Biden and the DNC’s, frankly, klannish adherence to Zionism and the Western colonialism for which it stands?
Where Does Empire Turn When Brutality-Theater Fails?
It is no surprise then that the Israeli government committed to fully executing Palestinian erasure that began under British Mandatory Palestine, no doubt feeling emboldened by the weakness of our leadership and the keen awareness of the temporality of the moment in US opinion and the election season.
Terrorism in Russia is Nothing Special, or Surprising
The fact is that terror like that seen today in Russia is no different than that seen anywhere else the roots of imperialism have begun to suck the ground dry; places like Prague, Serbia, and Germany saw in 2023 alone just the same impacts as Moscow today. At home, do I need to provide examples of the nationalistic hate that is flooding our society with violence? I’m sure we can all name at least 3.
TikTok, Trade Protectionism, and You.
It is ironic, of course, that our great Capitalist nation, the bastion of industry and free competition, has resorted to the tactics of the dreaded “socialist" to maintain their power; doing as they always do and cherry-picking the policies that they think work best for their own interests while remaining wholly blind to the inconsistencies of their logic.