If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
This little kindy tune came to mind at the weekend as US President Donald Trump readied himself to meet his friend Vlad at Alaska’s Elmendorf-Richardson military base. Bobbing about on the red carpet, Trump clapped as the Russian president made his appearance. Clapped. Like a child.
It’s something Trump does at big public events. He claps when he enters a roomful of admirers. He claps on stage at his rallies. He claps. All the time. What’s he clapping for? Or, more specifically, who’s he clapping for? Mostly it appears for none other than himself, the great Trump who has arrived to the adulation of the crowd. He frequently speaks glowingly of himself in the third person.
But the Alaska summit was different. Trump was beside himself about being united with Putin. “Giddy with excitement,” as it’s been remarked. Trump was clapping for Putin. History is coming at us fast, and Trump’s expression of joy for an indicted war criminal is one of those moments that will surely be replayed again and again in decades to come.
Feeding the beast
The sight of the US president clapping is a propaganda gift for a man who is an international pariah and is no doubt going out on high rotation on Russian TV. It adds to other signs of adulation. There was the red carpet no less, set out by the august US military. A flyover of the US’s mighty war planes. Trump gestured for Putin to join him in the presidential car (putting the beast in The Beast, as it’s been styled.) Putin, not Trump, spoke first at the summit press conference. Putin spoke three times longer than Trump. Putin publicly defined the terms and context of whatever “peace” agreement emerges. There was no Q&A with reporters, sparing Putin the inconvenience of a free media.
This contrasts sharply with the nasty reception Trump metes out to other world leaders. Why is the puffed-up president putty in the hands of Putin? The simple answer is that Trump is the archetypal bully: belligerent to those lower down the food chain, but a sycophant to the powerful.
It’s simple for simpletons
Putin is usually portrayed as the evil mastermind, without peer in the dark arts of manipulation. Yet his approach to Trump is absurdly simple: he reflects back to Trump’s view of himself. As tactics go, it’s Sales 101: agree 100% with the customer. In a post-summit interview, Trump eagerly relayed Putin’s assessment that of course the 2020 election was rigged because the US uses postal votes. Of course Trump had won. And if had Trump been president, of course Putin would never have invaded Ukraine.
It was only later that the truth of Putin’s domination became apparent. There would be no ceasefire, as Trump had insisted on only days earlier. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would need to move directly to a full peace settlement. Russia would hold on to significant parts of Ukraine.
Pride and prejudice
In the confused, somewhat opaque, aftermath, Leon Panetta — former CIA director and secretary of defense under former president Barack Obama — had the clearest take on Trump’s failure:
“I think the president really felt that somehow, because of … what he thought was their friendship … that he could somehow be able to schmooze Putin to move towards some kind of ceasefire.”
Trump was mistaken thinking that welcoming Putin on a red carpet might convince him to move in a different direction, he said. In reality, Putin is a “tyrant” and “not to be trusted”.
Turns out that, as usual, Trump’s self-belief was misplaced. And everyone else will pay for his mistakes. After their three hours of private meetings, Trump reportedly looked tired, subdued and a touch sad — the signs, for some, of post-coital tristesse. The former KGB operative Putin had seduced Trump and skewered him on the sword of his own vanity.
Really, it was just child’s play.
Whatsamatta for you David?It was a humdinger of a meeting..everything went according to plan…Vlad’s plan of course.The idiot in chief was handed his baggy arse,as expected,so now everything will be Zelenskiyy’s fault.
Who knew?It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.When is this outrageous fool going to drop dead and do us all a favour?The sycophants around him should be already dead with shame..if they actually had any.
The circus moves on.
Say what you mean, Harry!
Post coital tristesse David?Only one of them had an orgasm, and it wasn’t stupid.
Oh for Christs sake, and for that of the rest of us too, in this nuclear age, dig deeper.
“Jaw jaw is always better than war war.”
Now who said that?
This nuclear age has been with us for 80 years and the only country which has used a nuclear weapon on an enemy nation was the US>
Keep the Trumpster talking for long enough and Vlad will have jawjawed himself into owning most of Europe, whilst the amoral shyster thinks that he’ll get the peace prize.
Trump sold out the West.
Imagine the Cuban missile crisis with Trump?
No. Neither can I.
I am not sure when he will drop dead because he had the fortune to be in the sight of the worst assassin in history.
My prediction is a heart attack shortly after halfway through this term. As Iunderstand it, this would allow the Opus Dei/Thiel/Andreesen puppet Vance to replace him, and still serve two more terms. Call me cynical…
Realist actually.
Played like a fiddle.
or as another commentator remarked ‘played like a kazoo’. There wasn’t much skill or finesse required to outsmart Trump.
I cant help but wonder who own whom who has what on whom who has the money
It was to be expected- Trump needs to be dumped and asap
Trump’s behaviour really is that of a toddler – the tamtrums, the lack oof self awareness, everything going on around him all and only about him; his needs being met before anyone else. Putin was probably laughing all the way back to Moscow.
Nicely put Merrie
True enough. But how about the clowns who put us into Ukraine, and Vietnam, and Iraq and…They make whatshisname look like a genius.
We have studiously been “Not in Ukraine” and we won’t ever have another “Weapons of mass hysteria”.
Nothing between the ears, and anyone who suppports him
Russophobia at its best. This is the Democratic Party chant. The Deep State lies. The White West Media propaganda. I expect this rubbish from the MSM – from the ABC, the Guardian, 9, through to Murdoch. I expect more unbiased reporting from the Politics. I can only view this as comedy. Remember the Monroe Doctrine, the Cuban Crisis and what would the USA do if Russia placed missiles in Mexico?
Sure – and why not go back further and wider ? British Empire in India, etc /the French Empire in Africa, Spaniards in America — right back to Romans, Greeks, Persians, etc.
BUT does that mean that we should give Vlad the Impaler a free pass , to do whatever he wants?
Would you be happy for him to go onto to Poland, the Baltic States?
A more valid comparison is to go back to Vlad’s Hero = Uncle Joe Stalin = that’s who Vlad is trying to emulate – don’t take my word for it, read his own speeches.
It’s NOT about having a Western-Leaning Nation on his doorstep = it’s about believing Ukraine has No Right to exist, except as a fully-dependent vassal of Mother Russia. Uncle Joe engineered a massive starvation of Ukrainians in the 30’s = millions dead, wiped out their Officer Class, etc / the Tsars also ruled ruthlessly.
That’s a a lot different to having a Monroe Doctrine, etc.
Google “Holodomor”
I know the SMH doesn’t like using this word. I’ve used it in several articles when people have asked what will happen if Putin wins. The Posts have never been published.
By their actions you know them. Russia and the USA are both aggressors using weapons on civilian populations. However I certainly would not describe the condemnation as Russophobia. Two tyrannical guys meet and one is depicted as more powerful than the one who appears to be feeling the effects of age and a serious narcissistic mental illness .
What!? Russophobia at its best!? Ask the people of Ukraine how they feel about Russia, the loss of their families and about Russia’s war criminal president! There is no comedy occurring here.
Unfortunately, child’s play for Putin is harm and distress for the planet and everything that inhabits it.
It’s also a vanity exercise for Putin as he’s drained the coffers of Russia with this foolhardy vanity exercise and could possibly face A coup d’état, from within the Kremlin in addition to a revolution from his people who must be beyond exhausted.
So, we have three evil old men who have worn out their welcomes in their home countries who are very, very unwell and the other seeking refuge wherever he can find it.
The bottom line is that Trump (for whatever reason) is trying to end a war the US/NATO deep state provoked and backed. And he gets this sort of commentary? Pathetic.
You give him way more credit than he deserves. He is doing it to get the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s all about his ego. He doesn’t give a rat’s arse about Ukraine or what peace might bring. He deserves all the opprobrium heaped on him.
The distress this all brings to Zelenskyy must be unbearable. Two war criminals playing with lives of innocent and exhausted people to soothe their own gigantic narcissistic egos, one with far more advanced cunning than the other, and the other behaving as if he’s sliding into dementia, and both with no evident empathy for the lives they’re destroying. I shudder at the possibilities that follow.
1938 – Sudetenland. History repeats. The so called leader of the free world is a national and international embarrassment. He and his acolytes have no shame and we’re paying the price for this performative nonsense. And yet, despite all the evidence,our Govt persists with its sycophantic support for AUKUS. Rearranging the letters reveals USUKA. Disgraceful!
AUFUKUS is closer.
I thought that was USUKAS.
And Poland, then the Baltic States in 1939/40.
What we were watching in Alaska the other day was a modern day re-run of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Meeting in August 1939.
Trump will go down in history as destroying a large part of the democratic world!
The optics were even worse than Howard when he was in the presence of those other war criminals Bush and Bliar.
Trump is simply jealous of Putin. Putin can get all the power that he wants.
Roland, I agree. And Putin is greatly amused at how easy it is to have Trump fawning all over him. Surely Republicans are extremely embarrassed at Trump’s stupidity.
It is even more worrying that our own Opposition still thinks that we should unfailingly support our greatest ally regardless of what both Trump and his sycophantic Republicans do or say.
Gods help us.
Appeasement. Worked a treat in ‘39. So sad!
I saw the vid of President Pussy Grabber gleefully welcoming Vlad last night.
I expected (suspected paedophile) Trump to start rooting Vlad’s leg.
Up until then I thought Trump was shithouse rat cunning.
Now he’s shown himself as the useful idiot
What I find really fascinating is the personality of Trump. What it must be like inside his head which appears to have been conditioned by a loveless father devoid of empathy, where only winning counts, but not just winning as normal, but winning defined only in his own mind. He hasn’t the slightest interest in this war. He has a burning desire for a Nobel Peace prize because he is jealous of Obama. He has worked out the middle east is too hard, and if Zelensky plays it right he will simply suck up to Trump bigger than Putin did and get Trump to realise he can’t fix this either.
Without doubt Trump is a deeply unhappy man full of misery and spouts this misery out over whoever he can bully. He is really living his own he’ll on earth but making he’ll for so many in his orbit of control
Bullying blustering lying phoney.
The Ukrainians must be despairing that Russia will ever be forced to end their invasion. It is to be hoped that the European leaders can push Trump into taking real action.
Otherwise, Trump’s ambition for a Nobel Peace Prize will continue to slide away!!!
It’s all very well endlessly dissecting the puddle-depth of Trump’s character. The ‘man’ is beyond redemption and worthy only of the deepest contempt.
Far more illuminating to investigate the malignant culture and the moral cowardice that produced him.
As for Putin, the revanchist messianism that drives this product of mediocrity offers equally insightful perspectives into a moribund culture.
What unites both the individuals and the cultures in question is as old as time: Greed.
Imo the only expected outcome of the Trump/Putin meeting was confirmation of Trump’s subservience. Well tick that one off. Entertaining the idea of a ceasefire was in the realms of ridiculous. The most notable thing I’ve heard reported was that those of Trump’s mob who had access to the meeting, came out looking somewhat distressed. To me that is quite significant, what it signifies I don’t know, and as with anything else originating from Trump’s inner circle, I reckon trying to figure out the ‘why’ is a totally pointless exercise. What they do is the only thing that counts.
Nowadays the term ‘like minded’ should only include those who accept objective reality, which puts us and China in closer alignment than us and the USA.
You must be kidding, Putin an indicted war criminal. We send weapons and parts to Israel whose leader is also an indicted war criminal and committing a genocide.
Would you rather war with the possibility of nuclear usage or a peace deal between the two most powerful nuclear weapons states.
Trump is traitorous to democracy, why Australia continues to hook up with this vulgarian turncoat is beyond me. God help the United States of America and its followers with this loser in charge.
These increasingly insane, mendacious, and loony reactions by Daffy Donald Dump and his fellow minions of political thugs and gangsters show the panic and aggression that all great empires go through as they enter an inevitable decline, plummeting, in flames as the Western Roman Empire did if we take into account that the Eastern Byzantine wing, lasted for 1000 years but died with a whimper. The American Empire, modelled on the Roman Republic, is no exception. In the longer term, that footnote to history and with a more sophisticated view of past history will view him as a sawdust Caesar. Daffy Donald Dump may well be the American Romulus Augustus, and if she won the Presidential Election, Kamala Harris possibly might have been the American Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos. In fact, if we take a deterministic look into the future, it may end up being the Asian century, with the two superpowers, India and China, competing for world influence as both the USA and the USSR once did. One point worth mentioning is an organization that is laughingly called. “National Endowment for Democracy”, has either ignored or cosied up to repressive totalitarian US client states from Franco’s Spain, right up to the Thai military regime, still in power, and the current rightwing Central and South American dictatorships and military regimes. THE USA NEEDS TO SEE THE EMERGENCE OF A STRONGLY PRO-WORKING CLASS MASS DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST PARTY NOW!!!!!!! ONE FINAL POINT. I WANT MY LOONEY TUNES COMING FROM WARNER BROS, NOT FROM THE OVAL OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Far queue, Donny! Far queue!
Prior to his meetings with Putin, Trump always talks up big however following the meeting if you look carefully at Trump’s demeanour and facial expressions he looks like a kid that has just been severely reprimanded by the headmaster and had his butt whipped. Its pretty clear there’s a power imbalance between the two and it’s not in Trump’s favour, one can only wonder what hold Putin has over Trump.
Add to this that unlike his meetings with other leaders where the room is filled with a cast of thousands mostly sycophants, Trump and Putin’s meetings are limited to themselves and a couple of interpreters and Trump makes a point of taking the notes at the end of the meeting and destroying them. if this doesn’t create great concern for those in Trump’s orbit, it should. And what the hell did they spend 3 hours discussing. That’s a lot of chit chat with someone like Trump who’s brain, thoughts and conversations ramble all over the place. Are they dividing the spoils and would Trump try to turn Putin away from China?