Trump Won't Go To War Against China, But He Might Go To War Against America

[Celerity]

"The Trump thing I’m much more concerned about is his willingness to go to war against his own people."

https://thebanter.substack.com/p/trump-wont-go-to-war-against-china



WASHINGTON, DC -- Once again, Donald Trump blurted two scary-sounding things this week and I’m not sure whether to take him seriously. I mean, he’s the world’s most shameless bullshitter, so when he says anything, no matter how serious, my first reaction is that he’s lying. It’s a safe bet given his track record of mendacity stretching back more than three years -- three decades, if you include all of the bullshitting he used to do in Manhattan. Nevertheless, it’s a smart idea to at least acknowledge what he’s saying in case he wasn’t just doing his usual shrieking eel impression. During an interview with CBS News the other day, Trump, drenched in sweat mixed with foundation makeup, threatened some form of retaliation against China. Why? Obviously because China deliberately “hit us with the plague.” "Look, we made a great trade deal but as soon as the deal was done,” the president began, “The ink wasn't even dry and they hit us with the plague. So right now I'm not interested in talking to China about another deal. I'm interested in doing other things with China." When asked how specifically he’s planning to hold China accountable, Trump replied, “You’ll see. You’ll see.”

First of all, and to be clear, the Chinese government didn’t “hit us with the plague.” There’s no evidence for this ridiculousness, only the wacky-shack street corner rantings of professional sideshow geeks like Alex Jones and the rejected mutants from the slagheap who inaccurately call themselves news reporters for the OAN network. Indeed, the vast majority of the infections in the United States were a consequence of people traveling from Europe. Likewise, if King Joffrey shut down travel from China with tremendous whatever, how could the virus have made it here at all, according to him? There was widespread concern on social media this week about whether this means some sort of military confrontation with China, or another “fire and fury” bluff like he so transparently employed against North Korea. I don’t think it’s that, specifically. But shortly after Trump gave the interview with CBS, he napped his way through an announcement about new sanctions against China, all contained within the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, signed into law by Trump on Tuesday. The legislation punishes China for its crackdown on Hong Kong protesters. Meanwhile, the Trump State Department issued sanctions against a number of Chinese tech companies. So, that’s already underway.

In response to all of this, China’s foreign ministry threatened retaliatory sanctions against Americans and American corporations. Is this the extent of it, or is Trump planning additional sanctions? Perhaps new tariffs, too? Who the hell knows for sure. I don’t think Trump knows. But in terms of the “fire and fury” thing, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about Trump launching an attack. He’s proved himself to be a bulbous sack of cowardice when it comes to war, thankfully. Again, a ton of macho talk but not much action to back it up. The Trump thing I’m much more concerned about is his willingness to go to war against his own people. During an Oval Office presentation this week, which included Bill Barr, who still hasn’t resigned yet after threatening to do so as a result of the Roger Stone commutation, Trump threatened to send federal troops into cities like Minneapolis, Chicago and Seattle. His move here is obviously to further electrify his Red Hat disciples with military occupations of “Democrat run” cities. But, to repeat, I have no idea whether he’s serious or whether he’s going to forget that he mentioned this.

Apparently, though, we’ll find out next week when he plans to announce something during another non-press conference press conference. Once again, who knows whether he’s bluffing, lying or both. My guess is that he’s threatening these actions in order to coerce mayors and governors to deploy their respective National Guard units. But I’m not entirely ruling out federal troops, either. Trump’s entire re-election campaign is being Tinker-Toyed around the notion of “law and order,” so these kinds of actions -- sending in the military to beat up liberals and Black Lives Matter activists -- fit within the campaign strategy. As Rachel Maddow says: watch this space. The overall impact of this unstable, slobbery little homunculus and his constant threats of military and law enforcement violence is to manifest more chaos while keeping us all off balance, amplifying our stress. At the same time, however, more and more Americans are fed up with this constant instability from the White House, especially in the face of the worst healthcare crisis since polio was a thing. Based on the polling averages, Trump’s old tricks aren’t working like they used to and voters are increasingly leaning in the direction of the Democrat’s answer to Eisenhower, former Vice President Biden. Trump could be, at long last, completely out of stock when it comes to fire and/or fury. Let’s hope it stays that way.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. "Unstable, slobbery little homunculus" - gotta remember that one!

[2naSalit]

2. Y'all typed too many words...

Trump Won't Go To War Against China, He Went To War Against America. There, fixed it for you.

Yes, he already has gone to war against us and here we are.