Syria: Trap or Opportunity?
Derek the Last grabs a bottle of something—we aren’t certain what; the label was obscured in a century of cobwebby dust—pours himself a carefully measured shot into a small glass, and proceeded to drink directly from the bottle until it was empty. Then he drank the shot. He squinted on eye, pointed a finger first at a light switch and then corrected his aim to point at us, and said:
| Ваше Императорское Величество, The reason I have survived as long as I have is that I tend to not underestimate my enemies. Well, after Trump launching Tomahawk missiles at Syria last night I realize that I have vastly underestimated the Left and I apologize for ever having done so. I never believed the allegations that the Russians were responsible for the DNC leaks because it never made sense to me. What would they have to gain from Trump winning over Hillary? Did they want an unpredictable guy who only understands politics from a boardroom winner take all perspective instead of the person that they had already given millions of dollars to through their foundation, who they had dealt with as Secretary of State and knew how much they sucked at making deals? With that in mind I always assumed that the leak came from someone in the DNC that knew how Team Hill screwed Bernie and wanted her to lose the election and not some Russian hacker. Now that Trump has been president and how the Left is just constantly squawking about Russian Hacking every opportunity they get I just assumed that the sole reason for it was to make his election appear to be illegitimate. You know something they can rally the base with like the old Bush stole the 2000 election bit. After last night I see there was something beyond just being a sore loser behind it. I had forgotten that the Left has hated Russia ever since they gave up the dream of a world Soviet in the 90s. When the Soviet Union cracked open and the world could see the fetid innards of a country infected by 70 plus years of socialism they hated them. The fall of the Soviet Union exposed the lie and they were more upset at the lie being exposed instead of the lie existing. Just like they were more upset that the DNC information was leaked and not that the information that was leaked was true. Russia has further gone on to be tough on Islamic terror and seems to have no problems brutally stomping on members of the Left’s newest darlings. In their eyes the Russians keep committing unpardonable sins over unpardonable sins and must be punished for it. Trump had indicated that he wanted to work with the Russians when it comes to combating ISIS before the election. I am all for that as I felt that we have too long shouldered the burden for this job. I am also a bit tired of Russian and China wanting to pretend to be international players without having to pay the price that we do. I was pleased when Russia decided to expend their own blood and limited treasure by involving themselves in Syria. “Let them get their hands dirty for a bit,” I would say. Now I would have welcomed Trump working with Russia to help carry the load of fighting Islamic terrorism, but the Left cannot let that happen and while using the Russian hacking to handicap Trump at home it also made any attempt he would make to work with the Russians internationally a handicap as well. Every time he would engage them or work an agreement then they would hit the airwaves about him being Putin’s lapdog. The attack on Syria last night showed me that Trump has fallen into the trap the Left has laid out. Instead of letting Syria be Russia’s problem or working with them on the problem he virtue signaled that Russia has no influence over him. Given the bipartisan support he received this morning I am fairly certain that this is the case. In the future it will be harder to work with Russia and now the left knows they can push Trump into a corner. Both the Russians and Trump have been punished and now that they know it can be done expect it to never end. As always I could be completely off the mark with this or seeing things that are not there. This is just my gut impression. I eagerly await any insight that you my have. Loyalty until death, |
Wow! Well, a couple of things. Maybe more than a couple.
First, the Czar presumes that the Left would happily like to choose between Soviet obedience and Islamophilia. They would definitely prefer Communism over Islamism: the two reasons they don’t: (1) like you say, Communism is pretty well humiliated, and (2) Islamists intend to cut the heads off everybody they don’t like. Believe the Czar when he says the Left secretly loathes Islam; they just hope to fend off their own beheading by pretending to be nice, even though the Left invariably finds itself at the front of that line, every time.
Also, the Czar isn’t so confident that the Left is disappointed in worldwide socialism by the fall of Communism in the 1990s: the Left has rarely learned from the benefit of historical hindsight. Yes, the Soviets collapsed and demonstrated for all to see what a pathetic, inept, and brutal mess it was. Of course, the Left just ignores that much like they ignore anything else that suggests they’d be better off taking care of themselves. Hell, if World War II didn’t teach them anything about cults of personality, not sure that botched privatization of military industry in a transitioning economy would do much for them. Besides, what you’re describing happen in 1990-1992. The Left still thinks it’s 1968.
Later, the Mandarin came down for a Blue Sapphire and quinine and joined us. You’ll recall, Derek, the interesting conversation we had that President Trump found a way to screw with just about everybody at one time:
- The Left insists Trump is beholden to Russia. If so, why would he brazenly punch Syria in the face, knowing full well that they are closer to Russia than Trump allegedly is? We still haven’t seen a real response from the Left to this.
- Trump’s explanation that he counterattacked on behalf of the Syrian women and children merely obeyed President Obama’s red line. Wasn’t that the deal? If Syrians used chemical weapons, the United States would respond militarily? If the Left has a problem with that, he’s suggesting, they can ask President Obama whether he meant what he promised.
- And as you know, Trump was meeting with Chinese President Hsi Chinp’ing yesterday on how serious America was on stopping North Korea. Halfway through the meeting, President Trump excused himself, announced the missile attack on Syria on live television, and returned to the meeting to continue the conversation. China, on the other hand, was rumored to be stunned by the action, and not a little off-balance: to the Chinese, a demonstration of casual power (“By the way, you might be getting a text we just bombed Syria,”) demonstrated quite clearly that Trump will use the military. He certainly has China’s attention now.
- The alt-right is outraged that the ultranationalist Trump used the military in an action that served no military purpose, but purely a humanitarian one. Better, days before, he pulled highly dubious adviser Stephen Bannon from his post on the NSC. This delighted the Left, but really sent a more powerful message to the alt-right that their suggestions have limited appeal.
Not all of this is good news: yes, the thumb in the eye to the Obama days of dithering is nice, but the Czar (and the Mandarin) will state that Senator Rand Paul is right: a little humanitarianism is a welcome thing, but if this is going to continue or get bigger, we need Congress to decide.
Anyway, the Left can go fornicate in another direction. In many ways, this was their mess and they’re annoyed to see Trump start cleaning it up, using their own words against them. What the Syrians did was horrible; Trump’s reaction was reasonable. But the potential benefit this can give him against China and his detractors…well, that’s something else entirely.
By the way, Reuters is announcing that due to the Syrian bombing, the Dow is down. It’s actually trending upward, as is NASDAQ and S&P, if anyone wants an assessment of how pissed off the American liberals are right now.
Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.