[RANT] When Dumb rules the world

For a teacher and a journalist like myself, it is impossible to stay quiet when dumb takes over the world. I apologize. Tomorrow I will be back to my old, calm, correct self, I promise.

BY MICHAEL ANDERSEN

There is no polite way to say this, so here goes: It pisses me off – and makes me scared – in equal measure - that the U.S. President is dumb and ill-informed. When the U.S. President does not know that his own country shares a border with Russia, or who Columbus or the Pilgrims were and did, or that Spain is a member of the European Union. Or that Putin and Russia invaded Ukraine and not the other around.

‘Well, Michael, can’t you just look the other way, and stop being so European snobbish and intellectually condescending? Anyway, Trump is not the president of your country, so what do you care?’

Just laugh at Trump and the Americans like the rest of Europe, but otherwise stay out of our business?

Well, no, I can’t. Because this time it is different:

While Americans over the past few decades have established a pattern of electing subpar presidents every second time, at least till 2025, those presidents (Reagan, W, Trump One) have, although often decidedly dim, been on our side, acting mainly against Commies and Terrorists.

Plus - both Reagan and W were always surrounded by people who knew better (than them. Not difficult. Both Reagan and W understood that they needed cleverer people around, you have to grant them that. In contrast, Trump has literally repeated over and over that he thinks that he is never wrong.)

Today, a delegation from my home country Denmark and Greenland will show up at the White House – to discuss the president’s claims on Greenland. They will be meeting a vice-president and his team - and persistent rumors have it that Trump himself will also grace the meeting with his presence.

But few among the Trumpistas are on our side any longer. Most have thoroughly gone over to ‘the dark side’, the one ruled by Mr Putin, either siding with Russia on specific questions like Ukraine and/or accepting Mr Putin’s way of running his part of the world – that might is right, democracy is unimportant, actually more of an irritant for efficient rule:

- Trump states that the U.S. “must have Greenland for national security,” and that “we will take it, one way or another,” refusing to rule out a military solution. But experts – as well as ministers from the government of Greenland have stated unequivocally that “the U.S. already has access to all the military installations and rare earths that it wants.” So why threaten to invade?

- Trump says that otherwise “Russia and China will occupy it”, “and we are not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor…” One, look at a map, Mr President, you already have a border with Russia. Two, experts say that there is zero sign of the Russian and Chinese military/naval presence “in the waters around Greenland” that Trump keeps lying about.

- Just about anybody who has studied international relations is warning in dire tones – very dire tones - that a U.S. invasion of Greenland would mean the end of NATO.

- It seems that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are the only two people in the world who do not understand the risk?

- In fact, many observers are now warning that the mere threat of a U.S. invasion of Greenland (and thus of Denmark), one of Washington’s staunchest allies, has already harmed the alliance, perhaps even erased the last bit of belief in Europe that Trump would in fact come to the aid of NATO allies if they were attacked. Many are predicting NATO’s imminent death. It took Trump just under one year.

- On Ukraine, Trump says that “Putin is only doing what anybody would do”, meaning that the strong in this world should be allowed to do as they wish. For all Trump care, Putin can keep the 20% of Ukraine he holds occupied right now - after having killed probably 200,000 Ukrainians and forced 12-14 million to flee their homes. A frightening signal of the death of international law to send to a lot of smaller countries being bullied by big neighbors. Venezuela is the latest example - at the time of writing - Trump and Rubio are already openly threatening Cuba and Columbia. Taiwan and China. Russia and just about any for-now-independent former Soviet republic.

- Trump has, on several occasions, accused Ukrainian President Zelensky for starting the war, despite the fact that the Russian dictator went on TV that fatal morning, 24 February 2022, and himself directly declared that he had given the order to Russian troops to cross the border into Ukraine, in what he called a ‘special operation.’ So, not Zelensky, Donald, not Zelensky.

- Trump also never tires of repeating that he feels that his friend Putin is more ready for peace than Zelensky, despite the fact that Ukraine has agreed to all the six ceasefires that Trump has suggested so far, while Putin’s answer every time has been only to increase his bombing of Ukrainian cities.

- Possibly, the best (worst) illustration of the utter cluelessness of the U.S. President is his endless repetition of “Putin is my friend, he respects me”, and his promises to end the war “in 24 hours”, or “next week”, or “within the next two weeks”. Donald Trump is simply too stupid (combined with megalomaniac) to understand that the Russian dictator has no respect for him – and that, as Kamala Harris predicted, “Putin will eat you for lunch, Donald.”

- People working for the U.S. President have in interviews talked about him not knowing the difference between the Baltics and the Balkans, and being shocked when he – after a couple of years in office – was explained NATO’s article 5.

- His deputy sheriff Vance scolds Europe for a lack of media freedom and civil liberties – at a time when his own boss is suing both the Wall Street Journal, NBC, Paramount and the BBC for tens of billions of dollars (yes, billions), the whole world is watching the horrific ICE excesses – and Trump, Vance and co lying about what we can all see with our own eyes.

- Add to all this dumb; Gaza Trump malls, threats against Canada and Mexico and…. the list goes on.

The result of all this dumb is danger. A break-down of international relations as we have benefitted from them since the Second World War.

And that is not ‘just’ dangerous for Americans, but for the rest of us too

= making dumb Trump my problem as well.

End of ranting (for now)