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« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2018, 05:16:06 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 7-24-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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In one sense, Trump’s tweet is part of a detailed strategy28 to increase pressure on the Iranian regime just two months after Trump nuked Barack Obama’s nuclear deal29. Indeed, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also making relevant declarations Sunday, all but urging the Iranian people to revolt: “I have a message for the people of Iran: The United States hears you. The United States supports you. The United States is with you.”
Yet as we have said before30, Twitter is not a medium that lends itself to thoughtful, well-considered public statements. Quite the opposite — it lends itself most readily to juvenile, petty insults hurled in a moment of anger, which fits perfectly with President Trump’s style and temperament. Such statements from ordinary citizens may lead to nothing more than public embarrassment. But coming from the president of the United States they can lead to far worse consequences.
One such consequence now looms as a result of the president going all-in with his tweet. “Never, ever threaten the Unites States again” draws a line in the sand, as does the threat of “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.” Obama once set a “red line” that he had little intention of enforcing and it yielded catastrophic results.
What happens when an Iranian official sends back an equally fiery reply threatening to sink the entire Fifth Fleet if the United States dares to impose more sanctions? What happens if Rouhani claims that any action blocking Iranian oil exports will be considered an act of war? The president has boxed himself into a situation in which the only options are: backing down; continuing to belittle both himself and the position of president of the United States by engaging in a contest of schoolyard insults; or following through and unleashing said consequences “the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered.” None of these options are appealing. His tweet may play well to his loyal base (some of whom in our experience are rather fond of the caps lock key), but it might just make a deadly serious situation even more fraught with real danger.
The Washington Examiner’s editorial board gets it right31:
Trump’s Iran strategy is rightly focused on a new nuclear arrangement that ends Iran’s long-term access to nuclear weapons, constricts Iran’s ballistic missile program, reduces Iranian terrorist activities, and empowers Iran’s young, impoverished population. That strategy is well-defined and eminently achievable. We also celebrate Trump’s departure from his predecessor’s delusions over what the Islamic revolutionary republic of Iran is. After his appeasement of President Vladimir Putin, Obama’s gravest foreign policy mistake took root in his assumption that Iran’s leaders are moderates waiting to be unveiled. Where Obama wrote letters to [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei seeking friendship, Trump treats the Ayatollah with the disdain his policies have earned.
Yet a policy of focused strength is poorly served by the presentation of tough-sounding yet vague threats.
And as Rich Lowry observes32, “The last time Trump theatrically threatened a regime with destruction, he quickly turned around and had warm talks with Kim Jong-un in Singapore. Since then, his Twitter account has lost some of its deterrent force.”
The president would be well served to stick to a strategy of specific carrots and sticks with Iran that serve legitimate U.S. interests. Significantly, Trump has successfully increased economic pressure on the Iranian regime. As with other things, his policies are working; the same can’t always be said for his rhetoric.
Be cautious, indeed. The president should heed his own advice.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/57293-advice-for-the-president-on-iran-be-cautious
OPINION IN BRIEF
Dennis Prager: “If truth mattered to the media, their ongoing narrative would be: ‘Democrats and the Left still do not accept Trump victory.’ If truth mattered to the media, every American would know Trump has been harder on Russia than former President Barack Obama was. Every American would be reminded that Obama reassured Putin’s right-hand man, then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, that he wouldn’t be too tough on Russia. … If truth mattered to the media, every American would be reminded that Obama sent Army meals to Ukraine and Trump has sent anti-tank missiles and other arms to repel the Russians. If truth mattered to the media, every American would be reminded that Obama watched Syria burn and Russia come to dominate that country, while Trump has bombed Syrian military installations, including one where Russians were killed. If truth mattered to the media, every American would be reminded that it is Trump who has weakened Russia’s ally Iran, while Obama immeasurably strengthened it. Instead the media scream ‘treason,’ ‘impeachment,’ and the like 24/7; Hollywood stars curse the president; others curse his daughter or the first lady (one of the most regal in American history) and show President Trump in various death poses. Meanwhile, leftist mobs shout at administration officials and Republican members of Congress while they eat in restaurants, shop in stores, and sleep in their homes. If you vote Democrat this November, you are voting for hysteria, lies, socialism, and even the cheapening of the Holocaust. But more than anything, a vote for Democrats in November is a vote for hysteria — the greatest and darkest in American history.”
SHORT CUTS
Demo-gogues" “Democrats, please, please don’t lose your minds and rush to the socialist left. This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership.” —James Comey after being outed as a partisan hack33
Friendly fire: “Hey Jim, we got this covered. No one is asking for your advice. As we saw during the campaign, your judgment isn’t great! All the best, everyone.” —former Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor to James Comey
A blind squirrel finds a nut: “We have got to get away from this constant effort to destroy a presidency, whoever’s it is. It is tearing our country apart, and I think it is very, very dangerous for our democracy.” —John Kerry
Braying Jackass: “If [Brett] Kavanuagh would have let Nixon off the hook, what is he willing to do for President Trump? This should set off alarm bells.” —Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Alpha Jackass: “This is textbook treason. This is what treason looks like. The fact that it’s been so brazenly committed, and on an ongoing basis over a two-year period, is blinding. … I think after the Helsinki summit people … now have to see the light of day. We now have to realize and call this what it is. This is treason.” —University of California, Berkeley professor M. Steven Fish
Non Compos Mentis: “One of the terrible realizations of the last year and a half for me is that the damage that the Russians have done to our democracy by meddling in our election is nothing compared to the damage our own president is doing to our democracy by attacking the Justice Department and by denigrating our press. … It’s … quite possible that the Russians have compromising material on him, that the Russians were laundering money through his businesses — and he knows that, and they know that. … But in terms of the United States and our national security and our interests, what matters most is the president’s actions. And he is acting like someone compromised.” —Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
And last… “It’s pretty depressing that the quickest avenues for success as a conservative pundit are hysterical anti-Trumper or hysterical pro-Trumper. Neither of which are particularly conservative positions.” —Bethany S. Mandel
https://patriotpost.us/articles/57294-tuesday-short-cuts
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