At the risk of being like the fella who bores you with his vacation pictures, I thought I would share some of my observations as I travel in France, Italy, etc.
My trip actually started with a night in New York. It was incredible to see the security forces who were seemingly everywhere, preparing for the United Nations meeting. Protestors and counter-protestors were readying everywhere, as well. It was like a microcosm of the world’s divisiveness on full display.
But in Europe, what caught my attention is that the media is extremely unified on being anti-Trump. The most frequent story on Tuesday was the laughter by the UN audience when Trump commented about how successful his administration had been and about the strength of the U.S. economy. Interviews of delegates to the UN from various European countries were making the point that Trump is erratic, against women’s rights, detains children, oposes the Paris Climate accord, acts like a bully, wrong to have withdrawn from the Iran Nuclear Deal, his anti “multilateralism”, and that his trade tariffs are threatening the world economy.
If you boil all these criticisms of President Trump down to a single issue, it is that the rest of the world is concerned that America is no longer going to sacrifice its own citizens well-being for the benefit of the rest of the world’s citizens. The European news made a big deal of the fact that Trump said we would no longer provide foreign aid to our enemies, that Bolton said that if Iran persisted in supporting terrorism there would be “hell to pay”, and that tariffs were threatening the world’s economy.
As you watch and listen to these newscasts, it comes to mind how major a “factor” America is in the world. Us Americans represent 4.5% of the world’s population, but it seems we are 50% or more of the news. In Europe, the other 50% of the news is the refugees, the environment, and the arts.
We are fortunate to finally have a President who understands that his job is the make America a better place and to improve American’s quality of life. A President who understands that Americans cannot continue to be everything thing to everybody else in the world. We cannot be the world’s biggest customer, their police force, their biggest donor, and a home for those whose lives are ruined by their own governments.
President Trump is also right that America can no longer be the “world’s biggest donor and get nothing in return”. But we all need to be prepared. The European news is certainly beating the anti-Trump drum. We cannot elect those who want to return us to being the world’s pansies no matter who they are.
The obvious common theme of the European news was that Trump is putting America first and that is wrong. The question Americans must ask and answer for themselves is “wrong for who?”
On the lighter side, the weather and the food are great.
As to my on-going battle for truth and justice, some news should be forthcoming in the next several days. Hope all is well with all of you.
Don