I don't quite understand how he is going to be able to do anything productive in the Middle East, given the facts that Kushner knows little, if anything about the region and that his sole qualification for his job was marrying the boss's daughter.
It's kind of interesting to see all of the conservatives who previously declared that we should stay the hell out of Syria now falling into line behind Missile Man Donald.
Apparently, the airbase that the Navy fired $100 million in missiles at was back in operation in less than 24 hours. If the goal was to render the base inoperable, as proclaimed by Secretary of Being Out of the Loop Rex Tillerson, then it it was a failure.
President* Trump said that he didn't have the runways hit, because they're too easy to repair. Seems that turned out to be true for the rest of the base.
The thing that bothers me is that Trump apparently has no plan, no strategy for the Syrian mess (or any other). He's operating on gut instinct. He ordered the strike because he say disturbing images on television. So that's what it takes to get Trump to do something; put a viscera-grabbing story on Fox News?
That begs the question: Why hasn't Trump given all of his money away to Save the Children or the Humane Society? They both run ads like that.
We're going to get into conflicts because our Commander*-in-Chief sees things that outrage him on television? No policy, no plan, no strategy, just "zOMG, open fire"?
And, from the Right, which would have been in F5-level outrage if President Obama had done the exact same thing, all you hear is the Chorus of Crickets, interspersed with the usual plaudits because "Trump looked strong".
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Asian continent:
The US military has ordered a navy strike group to move towards the Korean peninsula, amid growing concerns about North Korea's missile programme.
The Carl Vinson Strike Group comprises an aircraft carrier and other warships.
US Pacific Command described the deployment - now heading towards the western Pacific - as a prudent measure to maintain readiness in the region.
President Trump has said the US is prepared to act alone to deal with the nuclear threat from North Korea.
Let's see: over the past couple of years Kim Jong has tested a couple of nukes, check; over the past couple of weeks Kim Jong has tossed a couple of nuclear armable ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) into the East Sea (Sea of Japan), check; Untied States sailing carrier group Vinson into the East Sea... This should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteKushner is almost as qualified as Hillary was when it comes to matters of State.
ReplyDeleteShe was, at least, more closely related to an ex president....
Neither has any experience going into the job.
I'd prefer to see us stay out of Syria (and the Middle east, or, for that matter anywhere in the world), period. There is no good outcome coming from this. The issues with Syria is that it is inhabited by Syrians.
She is a politician and foreign policy is more politics than business. Jared's a little more qualified than the average student council president, but just barely.
ReplyDeleteStill, I don't see what good is going to come out of being involved in Syria. I believe that, in that regard, we are in violent agreement.
Hillary had 8 years as a Senator and 8 years as First Lady, to begin with. Add the decades of legal jobs, including Congressional work, she is highly qualified.
ReplyDeleteJared ran a family business for 8 years and a small media firm for 10...neither of which gave any international exposure.
Hardly a fair comparison, and your dismissal of her qualification smacks of sexism or prejudice.
She was also, y'know, "Secretary of State" for four years. Whatever you think of her qualifications prior to that position and/or her actions thereafter, leading the "State Department" definitely counts as substantial experience in "matters of State".
ReplyDeleteWe agree about staying out of Syria. I can only hope that this doesn't go any farther than what was likely Trump's knee-jerk reaction to a TV news report.
Either way I wish he'd followed Obama's lead and sought congressional approval before doing so. Obama got shot down and we benefited. Trump didn't give the legislature a chance to comment and I'm not pleased with the results so far.
BMQ: I was referring to her position (and qualifications for) as SecState. Sorry I wasn't crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteCP: I don't see where either of those positions gave her any experience to be SecState any more than Jared's previous positions.
I think unless you are the child of an ambassador (and one who moves from post to post at that) you can't get any experience in international diplomacy except by doing.
If that makes me sexist or prejudiced so be it. But let us also remember Hillary's "Reset Button, and Kerry's bringing James Brown to croon to the French. Those showed what their brand of experience does for judgement on how to behave in the international arena.
International diplomacy is not the same as partisan and popular politics that a Senator needs to succeed in her job as Senator. Knowing and understanding the other person't cultural and moral background counts for more. Hillary wasn't that good as SecState, and her lack showed.
Ah, my apologies, B. I thought you were equating Kushner's level of influence on the administration's foreign policy to what Clinton's would have been had she won. Honest mistake, anyone could have made it ;).
DeleteIn that case I'll echo the others and agree that Hillary's substantial experience at the federal level left her with a far broader understanding of foreign affairs and policy going in to the job that Kushner's business dealings.
And using poor decisions by experienced people (at least ever you believe to be poor decisions) to argue against the value of all experience in that realm is a remarkably flawed argument. To take it to the absurd one could argue that the numerous crashes by nascar racers are evidence that hiring a child as your chauffeur is a great idea.
Let's see, B.
ReplyDelete1) Spent 8 years involved in international relations as a spouse of the sitting President (and you don't think that involves international relations, you're a fool), spent 8 years in the U.S. Senate (who, incidentally, is responsible for ratifying international treaties and such), years with National and International Organizations dealing with leaders worldwide, not to mention a legal career of over 40 years.
2) Took over daddy's business when daddy was sent to jail, bought a small media company with profits from activists supported by relatives, wasn't even a sperm when #1 was working with Congress on the impeachment of Richard Millhouse Nixon..
So, please explain how the two are in any way comparable with regard to qualifications on the world stage.
Well, the right may be keeping mum, but the alt-reality^H^H^H^H^H^Hright has their manly alpha knickers all a-twist:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2017/04/07/donald-trump-globalist-cuck-alt-rightists-leap-off-of-trump-train-after-syria-betrayal/
Lawrence Wilkerson said it today: "...the second and more important reason can be summed up in a headline I read this morning 'Trump yanks Russia away from Democrats'"
ReplyDelete-Doug in Oakland
Of course, the world's most reliable news source has the real reason why we're mounting the Brooks Brothers invasion of Syria: To distract the press from the Russia investigations. Oh shiny!
ReplyDeleteAnd it seems to be working.
Even more bitingly...
ReplyDeletehttp://taskandpurpose.com/jared-kushner-iraq-storybook-pictures/
BadTux, I'll post that link separately.
ReplyDeleteSatire is dead in the Age of Trump.