US Politics |OT|

[shavenferret]

SanAndreasX said:

shavenferret said:

Alright, but "taking it seriously" has different levels.  At the lowest, you'll have people laughing but still thinking that Trump is an asshole for ssaying that.  The next hypothetical level would be politicians making speeches over this.  And finally, you'll have the military getting ready for war.  I'm just curious as to whether this has happened or not.  If not, then the remarks should be be dismissed.  

And Ryuu was quite correct, that the remarks will bring some amount of discord and make the United States look very irresponsible.  But I don't care about any of that.  All that concerns me is just how seriously these comments were taken.  In the 80's, Reagan was referring the USSR when he said that the "bombing will begin in 5 minutes."   But everybody knew that he was just being an asshole and i'm fine with that.  It was a bit irresponsible but nothing happened so no big deal.  

There's a big difference between what Reagan said and what Trump says. Everybody knew that attacking Russia would be tantamout to suicide and global destruction. Canada, Panama, and Greenland are entirely different matters. Trump sees them as smaller, weaker targets in "his" backyard. He does see them as strategic assets and like it or not, at least two of them could be easily taken by the United States military if Trump or some other president saw fit to do so. Trump would be counting on the EU to capitulate on Greenland. There's nobody that's going to run to Panama's defense. Canada could at least put up a fight, and the outcry over a large, well-respected nation being invaded by its much larger neighbor might well be enough to deter Trump. But if Trump really pushed it, Canada would fall, albeit it would be a pyrrhic victory. 

There's also the fact that Trump does whatever he can get away with, and we saw this time and again in his first presidency. If it hadn't been for Mark Milley and Mark Esper, there's a good chance we would have seen a scenario in June 2020 where American troops opened up on American citizens with live ammo in the nation's capital. If they hadn't been there to run interference, it would have been down to the rank and file soldiers to disobey the Commander-in-Chief. And Republicans were calling for Milley to be arrested for disobeying a direct order from the President. Service members supposedly have a duty to refuse to carry out unlawful orders, but they have to be ready to tell a judge why they thought that order was unlawful according to the judge's interpretation of the Constitution. Their oath of service states that they "will obey the orders of the President of the United States and those appointed over me."  

And this time, we don't even have a Democratic majority in either house of Congress. There are no guard rails here. Trump is limited only by what just 38 men and women are willing to forgive him for in an impeachment trial. If Lindsey Graham is any indication of the caliber of the Senate, we've got a big problem.

Finally, there are a scary number of American citizens who would love for the US to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, and wouldn't mind Canada being brought under US control. These people have a seething hatred for an American state, California. What makes you think they're going to care any more about Panamanians, Canadians, or Greenlanders/Danes?

This large amount of discussion that Trump generated is rediculous and much more than the comment was worth.  Everybody, including yourself is trying to come up with a nuanced viewpoint over something that frikkin Trump said.  He's drooling over his upcoming self-importance and laughing at how people are shocked at his comments.  Meanwhile, there are actual issues to be looked at within the sphere of american politics.  How can  we make America better and brighter?  That should be the real concern, not the dribble out of Trump's mouth.  

Canada's response:  Send in the 147th Mechanized beaver brigade