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Disturbing Right Wing Trend In International Affairs, Mirroring Donald Trump!

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As the threat of Donald Trump continues to be a menace, we are seeing in international affairs a troubling and disturbing trend of right wing populism, mirroring his extremism.

Already, this has been evident in Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Italy, and now The Netherlands, along with Egypt, India, Myanmar, and now Argentina, and dangers of right wing extremism threatening to rise in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Religion, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist is a growing factor in these nations.

It seems as if the world is moving back into the Fascism movement that was so prominent in the 1930s and 1940s.

Donald Trump Raves About Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, And Republicans Stay Silent!

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Former President Donald Trump is demonstrating yet again how dangerous and crazy he is, and yet the Republican Party acts prostrate toward him!

Trump went on Fox News Channel and was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, who we know has said he hates him, but still has him on his show, as the goal is, ever after, to make money for Carlson and Fox News Channel by allowing Trump to spew forth his authoritarian impulses!

Trump praised Communist dictators Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, Xi Jinping of China, and Kim Jong Un of North Korea, lavishing them with glowing statements about how smart they are, and how brilliant they are, despite their well known record of human rights violations against their own populations, and threats to their neighbors.

And although one might say Putin is NOT a Communist, since the Russian Federation supposedly replaced the Soviet Union in December 1991, reality is that Putin WAS a Communist functionary in the Soviet KGB in the 1980s.

Imagine this, Communism was the enemy to decades of Republicans from the time of the Russian Revolution to the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

It made the careers of innumerable Republicans, including the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy, President Richard Nixon, and a massive number of others.

But along comes Trump, glorifying and praising these dangerous and unstable authoritarians, who could also be termed “Fascists” in their tactics, such as past horrors as Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini of Italy, Juan Peron of Argentina, and Francisco Franco of Spain in the 20th century.

The differences between “old line” Communists and modern Fascists are miniscule, and to have an American President praise such tyrants, and his party stays silent, is truly proof that the Republican Party and Fox News Channel are a danger to American freedom, security, and democracy!

How is it that Republicans have completely changed their perception of foreign enemies, and are engaged in similar tactics to undermine the civil rights and civil liberties of millions of Americans, who do not fit the image of white supremacy Christianity?

What has happened that the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan has reached this point?

Growing Migrant Crisis In America And Worldwide

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With the growing climate change crisis worldwide, and the mistreatment of migrants, based on religion, race, and ethnicity, the world faces a massive crisis.

Not only in America with the Republican party do we have nativism rearing its ugly head, but also all over the globe, as migrants wish to escape horrendous economic and climate conditions and persecution in their homelands.

Men, women, and children are being rejected at borders after dangerous migrations, and also at sea, and the crisis will only grow in future years.

The idea that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are showing disrespect toward migrants from left wing dictatorships, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and using them as political props is shocking and reprehensible!

This is a spiritual and moral crisis of massive proportions in Europe and worldwide, and reminds us of the crisis of Jews in Europe and antisemitism in World War II. The conflicts going on today in many nations, with politicians exploiting hatred and division, is very disturbing!

And now, the rise of Giorgia Meloni as the first woman Prime Minister in Italy, promoting the Fascism of former dictator Benito Mussolini, is yet another sign of the dangers facing migrants. The idea that exactly a hundred years after the rise of Mussolini and the Fascist Movement, we are seeing Fascism come to power again, is shocking.

And the fact that the Republican Party and Donald Trump are clearly Fascist oriented, and wish to promote authoritarian government, is a sign that much of the history of the first half of the 20th century may be repeating itself.

American democracy and worldwide democracy is in crisis, and basic decency and humanity is under attack!

Russia’s Economy Only Number 11 In World And Its Rapid Decline Now Accelerated By Ukraine War!

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The Russian Federation and its war criminal, Vladimir Putin, is rapidly declining, embarrassing itself in the war in Ukraine, unable to overcome its neighbor, but committing genocide while losing.

And now Ukraine has sunk the leading naval battleship of Russia in the Black Sea off Odessa, infuriating Putin beyond all limits.

Russia is suffering from massive economic sanctions, and on the list of nations’ Gross National Products, it ranks Number 11, lower than Brazil, Italy and Canada (Numbers 8, 9, 10), and just above South Korea, Australia, Spain and Mexico (Numbers 12, 13, 14, 15)!

NATO must get ready for what seems likely an extension of the war, and the United States and President Joe Biden will need to be in the lead of a military intervention on the side of Ukraine!

The United States Has Become A “Flawed Democracy”!

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Americans want to believe that their nation is a paragon of “democracy”, but by estimates of many experts who watch how governments change in their level of democracy, the United States has become a “flawed democracy”.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research division of the publication THE ECONOMIST, has rated the nations of the world as “Full Democracies”, “Flawed Democracies”, “Hybrid Regimes”, and “Authoritarian Regimes”.

The United States is in the “Flawed Democracies” category as Number 25, second on the “Flawed Democracies” list behind France, which also has fallen out of the “Full Democracies” listing!

23 Nations are “Full Democracies”, led by Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada. Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Australia and The Netherlands are the next five, with the latter two actually tied for 9th!

Other major nations in the “Full Democracies” list include, among others, Taiwan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Spain, and South Korea.

Inspiring is the fact that Taiwan, Chile, and South Korea have become democracies in recent decades, but sadly so many more nations have moved away from democracy, and the fact that the US and France are put at the top of “Flawed Democracies” is troubling! And Israel and Italy are 5 and 6 as “Flawed Democracies”. And Mexico is way down, near the bottom of 52 nations that are “Flawed Democracies”.

“Hybrid Regimes” are the next 35 nations, and “Authoritarian Regimes” were 57 in number, with the total of nations on the list being 167.

A Doctor In Michigan, A College Professor In Kansas, An Afghanistan Army Veteran From Illinois: All Facing Deportation

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Lukasz Niec (Poland)—-Syed Ahmed Jamal(Bangladesh)—Miguel Perez, Jr. (Mexico)–these are just three victims of Donald Trump’s nativism, accomplished through heartless policies of the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Nativists, including White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House Counselor Stephen Miller, and ICE’s Director Thomas Homan, are leading a Reign of Terror on all undocumented immigrants of all ages and longevity in America, and having a clean record without any crimes is not enough.

So we are having people here 30-40 years in many cases, who have no memory of the country they were born in, have no family connections, do not know the language of their native country, and in many cases will be endangered and possibly killed by returning to a strange land, facing deportation.

As the three mentioned above, a doctor in Michigan, a college professor in Kansas, and an Afghanistan Army veteran in Illinois–ripped apart from their homes, businesses, jobs, and family members–a despairing situation which will insure these monsters in government and the administration of Donald Trump, will be condemned in history, with Fortune Magazine already lowering the rating of the United States as a democracy which pursues human rights, to a lower category of a flawed democracy, similar to Poland, Mongolia, and Italy among other nations, for the first time in American history.

This violation of civil liberties, and the threats against sanctuary cities by the federal government, are a sign of Fascism and authoritarianism taking over, and it cannot be allowed to stand, by all decent Americans.

We have not learned from past violations of civil liberties and civil rights, and we are living through a dark period of American history.

Donald Trump’s Love Affair With Authoritarian Leaders In Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, China And Rejection Of Democratic Allies

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One of the most mystifying aspects of the Trump Presidency is his absolute love affair, his “bromance”, not only with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, but also with the authoritarian leaders of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and China.

Russia is a growing threat to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, along with Ukraine, and one wonder what Trump would do if Putin decided to invade those nations.

Turkey’s leader promoted violence against demonstrators at the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, and Trump has nary a comment to make.

Egypt’s leader has established a hard line dictatorship, after a brief period of an “Arab Spring” four to six years ago.

Saudi Arabia is the most despicable country when it comes to human rights, including involving women, and there are no free elections.

The Philippines leader has caused the mass murder of thousands of suspected drug dealers and users, but many of them totally innocent, and Trump applauds him.

China clearly is not a democracy, and while we must work with them on North Korea’s threat, Trump has become a cozy “friend” of its government, ignoring their violations of human rights, and their assertions of rights to the waterways off of Taiwan and Japan and South Korea.

Trump embraces human rights violators and threats to world stability, while being rude and disrespectful to the leaders of our major allied nations—Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany,Italy and Japan, as well as Australia and Mexico.

What is going on in the head of Donald Trump?

Why does he seem to worship authoritarianism and show contempt for democratic nations?

In so doing, Donald Trump is creating an unstable world, which the United States will pay for in blood and tears, in the long run, even after Donald Trump is finally out of office!

The Coming Foreign Trip Disaster Of Donald Trump

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Donald Trump is about to engage in a nine day foreign trip, which is bound to be a total disaster.

He will visit Saudi Arabia, the home of the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, and it will be delicate to do so, after his anti Muslim rhetoric and his attempted Muslim bans.

He will visit Israel, after having revealed Israeli intelligence information to the Russian Foreign Minister and Russian Ambassador to the United States in the Oval Office, and backing away from the idea of recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, and hinting that Israel must agree to concessions to the Palestinians, as he pursues “the art of the deal”. Also, he has refused to visit Masada, since he cannot have his helicopter go to the top of Masada, and is unwilling to take a cable car to the Mount. He also plans only 15 minutes at the Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem, which will alienate many Israelis and American Jews.

He will visit Vatican City and Pope Francis, and has been highly critical of the Pope, who has been dismissive of Trump’s rhetoric and his planned Mexico Wall.

He will be at the NATO summit in Belgium, having alarmed members at his on and off attitudes towards the significance of the alliance, and his pro Russian tendencies that are now being investigated, and could lead to his Presidency in flames.

He will also be be at the G-7 summit with our major economic partners–Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, to be held in Sicily, Italy.

There will be plenty of opportunity for flubs, blunders, embarrassments, and Trump is not good at sitting through long sessions, gets bored easily, and is not willing to do the preparation, and reading, required to be knowledgeable and competent at international meetings with experienced and competent diplomats and foreign leaders.

Despite what Trump claims, he is NOT a good student, and clearly has a variation of Attention Deficit Disorder, along with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and a likely possibility of Dementia or Alzheimers.

Trump is not up to this trip, which is too long and detailed, and cannot sleep in his own bed, and he is very intense about actually being seriously tested and challenged, as his Presidency deteriorates around him.

Barack Obama made his first foreign trip to Canada, and George W. Bush to Mexico, and after what is likely to be a disastrous trip, who knows if Trump will not just hole himself up in the White House, and scream and yell at his family and his aides, as he faces the end of his Presidency, as a total disgrace to the institution of the Presidency!

Twenty Nine “Developed” Nations Have Universal Health Care Coverage, But America Refuses To Come Into The 21st Century On Health Care!

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Twenty nine “developed” nations in the world have Universal Health Care Coverage, including the following:

In Europe, 21 nations, including:

Great Britain
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Denmark
Iceland
Switzerland
Austria
Hungary
Poland
Czech Republic
Greece
Slovenia

Also, Turkey and Israel in the Middle East have Universal Health Coverage.

Additionally, in Asia and the Pacific, there are 4 nations which have such coverage.

Japan
South Korea
Australia
New Zealand

Also, Canada in North America and Chile in South America have such coverage.

So why does the United States NOT have it?

The power of the health insurance companies lobby is one factor, and the refusal of the Republican Party and the conservative movement to be willing to accept that health care coverage and the protection of life beyond the pregnancy stage should be a guaranteed part of government policy, through a national health care program that covers all Americans, including even undocumented immigrants, are the reasons.

It is time for America to come into the 21st century, and decide that health care is not a privilege, but a basic human right!

A Sobering Centennial: America Enters “The Great War” On April 6, 1917

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It has been a century since America entered world affairs in a full sense, as on April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson spoke to Congress and asked for a declaration of war against the Imperial German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and allied with Great Britain, France and Italy, in what was called “The Great War” at the time, and later World War I or the First World War.

The controversy over whether Wilson could have kept us out of the war has raged for a century, and his handling of the war effort, and the promotion of restriction on civil liberties during the war has remained highly contentious, and has caused Wilson to decline from Number 6 in the C Span Presidential poll of 2000, to Number 9 in the C Span Presidential poll of 2009, and now Number 11 in the C Span Presidential poll of 2017, all participated in by reputable scholars.

American sacrifices in war had been avoided, as America remained isolated from world affairs and foreign conflict until 1917, but in the last century, we have been in many major wars since then, including World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War, along with many other foreign interventions in Latin America and the Middle East.

No one can be anything but sober to realize that when Congress voted for war on April 6, 1917, it transformed America in a permanent way, helping to create the concept of an American Empire, and America as a world leader since the end of World War II.

And now, with Donald Trump, the whole history of American foreign relations is in flux, and we face many challenges and crises in international affairs, and the hope is that we will avoid further military conflicts in the future, but hard to believe that is the scenario under Donald Trump.

PBS will have a six hour presentation on The American Experience on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings April 10, 11, and 12 on America and The Great War, our nation’s engagement in the First World War, from many different perspectives, highly recommended to all who read this blog.