Setting Expectations

 

Ahead of today's meeting with President Zelenskyy, Trump has decided to set expectations low, by showing he agrees with Putin.

That's it. That's what he seems to be saying. 

As of my last post, I knew there was more pathetic stupidity as yet unseen in the miserable optics of Trump rolling out a red carpet for a war criminal. And of course there was. His crack team of operational security masterminds left sensitive docs on a hotel printer, and something (we still don't entirely know what) left some members of Trump's staff literally shaken. Trump still sounds like he has no understanding of the situation, confusing the defense of Ukraine for an act of continuing aggression--while Trump's good friend Putin continues to bomb civilians. 

I am heartened that Zelenskyy will have other European leaders with him as support, hopefully to prevent an outright sandbagging, but when I hear talk of "land swaps" and see posts from Trump like the above, well--

Expectations are not set very high. A Starting position that rewards a dictator for an illegal invasion is a hell of a pathetic start. And honestly, Trump should kiss goodbye his dreams of a Nobel Prize,. He is an ignoble jackass.

A Red Carpet for a War Criminal

 

Trump rolled out the red carpet for a war criminal. He did not make a deal. And Putin, formerly of the KGB, apparently amplified the echoes in Trump's nearly empty noggin, because that's what you do when your job isn't to make peace, but to make war by any means at hand. And Trump keeps making himself so handy. Does he really think this is how he gets a Nobel Prize? (Which, being a thirsty little bitch, Trump definitely is politicking for.)

The sad, simple answer is, yes. Trump is a narcissist, and even a failure gives him a supply of attention, which is his oxygen. And all the little toadies he has carefully cultivated to sit around him and applaud him for nearly hitting the potty will continue to applaud Trump even if they are up to their ankles in old man pee. 

As for Russia, they continue to show disrespect to our country, which Trump and his retinue appear to be too stupid to comprehend. (Or if they are capable of comprehending, are too immiserated in Trump's company to still be capable of shame.) 

It was a shambles, and I truly believe we have not heard all of the shambolics involved just yet. 

JD Vance Follows Orders

 

There's something people don't like about J D Vance, and my personal take on it is that he's very inauthentic in some ways. Even his inauthenticity feels fake. Yesterday, he tried to make invading Greenland seem plausible by saying that Greenland is necessary for the United States for...reasons, and Denmark is a "bad ally." 

I don't think there is a convincing argument in there, because, I mean, what did Denmark or Greenland ever do to us?  (I'll give you a minute. There you go. Exactly.) 

Anyway, the Second Lady is part of an "aggressive" delegation going to Greenland this week because the idea of taking over Greenland being sort of stupid isn't actually going to stop this misadministration. No one is loving the idea--it's sort of an anti-diplomacy.

But unconvincing as it is, JD's job is telling stories. So, this is his story until Trump or Peter Theil or whoever needs another one. 

Every Picture Tells A Story

 

https://t.co/4WcVZ6oW4w pic.twitter.com/RvHmjuyWIN

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) March 22, 2025

I am trying not to see Steve Witkoff's interview with Tucker Carlson in the worst possible way and there is not actually a not-bad way to view it. First of all, Tucker Carlson? Second if all--we are just going to pass on with a straight face that the former KGB agent prayed after the Butler incident as if that is not serious applications of narcissist lube?

And of course we are, because Witkoff is another fucking significance-junky looking to get high off ego strokes. This is a personality the Kremlin is totally aware of. But what sends me is the idea of a portrait.

Trump's "charity" slush funds was all about Trump portraits.  All Trump ever wanted to know about himself was that he oughta be in pictures. (Can someone help me with a thing where I wonder why Trump sees himself as Norma Desmond, Grizabella and Evita?) He's a just a diva. And Witlesskopf is playing very stupid and credulous, too.

And it doesn't appear to be an act. 

Not for the first time, I find myself wondering if anybody knows how to play this game? Look, stupid rich fuckboys, I THOUGHT, at least were sent out in the world with some idea that the world was going to try to blow smoke up their skirts and to be careful of being rolled. Ane here these putzes sit, heaven's own bocce balls. Innocent as little fawns in a sunlight-gilded bower in the eye of a sniper rifle. 

Shart of the Deal 2: The Takers

 

This blog (me, Vixen!) understands that Trump thinks of himself as the Deal-maker, and his mishpocha love that for him. We discussed The Shart of the Deal a minute ago, and it's holding up. He imposes a threat, and will accept any terms that make him look like he got his "deliverables". He just got the Mexican president to send 10,000 troops to the border that were going anyway. He got Justin Trudeau to agree to the same kind of commitment he was already making. 

It's ok--just so long as Trump gets to take credit for something, even if it was nothing he actually accomplished (other than demonstrating to our allies that his government is duplicitous and not to be trusted, ruining our relationship in a completely shartastic way!)  And the 30-day pause probably just means we get another round of Trump drama. 

But the thing to recognize is Trump didn't do anything other than wreck our allies' faith in us Just like him patting himself on the back for the flow of the water (which is idiotic) into lakebeds that have nothing to do with the already-contained LA fires. It's bullshit--but he's a tv president for dipshits who watch too much tv. 

Which brings me to Elon Musk--his avatar Vizier and the shadow-president. 

Trump takes credit. I don't know what Musk is taking--but it's a whole lot, because he's rooting through our servers, gathering our information, and I have no earthly idea what all he means to do with it. But he is using boys young enough to be his sons to do it. 

The Shart of the Deal

 

So, while Elon Musk was in Germany entirely not beating these allegations of being a Nazi, the far-right dipshit he supported here in the States was alienating allies, first, by a really dismayingly confrontational call with Denmark over Greenland, and then by starting a completely unnecessary trade war with Colombia.

For Trump fans, this is one cool demolition derby. For people who give a shit, this is absolutely nutso. None of it is necessary. It's all unforced political and diplomatic errors.

We have a military presence on Greenland. We could get more access with honey than vinegar. We do not have to OWN it. (Don't get me started on the absurdity Trump is putting on with the "Canada/51st state" shit.)  Are we resettling some of our people up north? (Is this a meta-commentary on global warming?  We've had a great trade situation with Colombia, and they have worked with our DEA and immigration authorities historically very well! 

So what is the problem? Trump is! He needs to be a big macher. He needs to make things worse and then maybe pull them out and take credit for the crisis that was of his making.

See? The Shart of the Deal. He makes the mess and pats himself on the back for other people cleaning it up. 

TWGB: Putin First.

 

Citing a Trump aide, Woodward reports that there have been “maybe as many as seven” calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left the White House in 2021. https://t.co/LJGGhxxIux

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) October 8, 2024

Sorry to whoever is on the line, but if Putin wants to dish, Trump is asking you to bounce. I, for one, think Biden is right seeing Putin as the epitome of evil, but the funny old thing is--Trump puts him first. He slipped him COVID-19 tests when they were hard to come by and had as many as seven calls with him since leaving office. 

That's not diplomacy. People who aren't holding any office have no business doing "diplomacy" because they are not responsible for making any pledges about what the government can or can't do. And Trump is in no position unless.

Unless.

It's because he thinks something he can do for someone in the future is contingent on whether they can help him be the one able to help them in the future. 

One dirty hand washing the other with mud, you might say. 

A Cause for Celebration

 

The deal we made to bring home wrongfully detained Americans would not have been possible without our allies.

They stepped up and stood by us.

So for anyone who questions whether allies matter, today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world. pic.twitter.com/KSikbcgnUA

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 2, 2024

In an historic multinational effort months in the making, 16 prisoners detained in Russia were exchanged for eight people held in the US, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. It is a testament to the power of diplomatic relationships and teamwork, and a great day for the former prisoners and their loved ones. 

The above message from President Biden acknowledges our allies, but let's give him his due--this is his expertise and dedication in negotiations finalized while he was making the decision to end his candidacy, knowing there was yet more things he wanted to accomplish and irons that might be left in the fire. This is a man who may be old, but doesn't live in the past and has done his part to try to shape the future. 

A swap like this doesn't occur overnight, and Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva would not have been released without Russia getting prisoners of their own in exchange. It speaks volumes about the nature of the negotiations that Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian dissident was part of the exchange, and that Alexei Navalny could have been (was he murdered so as never to be released--one can't help but wonder). It shows the concern for Russia's pro-democracy possibility.

This diplomatic success is a cause for celebration.

This is a Start

 

There is, at least, a temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange deal. 

The deal will see Hamas release 30 children, eight mothers and 12 other women, according to Axios and Haaretz. There will be a temporary cease-fire that will begin with four days and be extended by an another day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas, The Associated Press added.

Israel is expected to release about 150 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Israel will also allow 300 aid trucks to enter Gaza per day during the pause in fighting in the Palestinian enclave.

The start time of the exchange will be announced in the next 24 hours, Qatar, the lead mediator in the agreement, said.

“After many days of difficult and complex negotiations, we announce, with the help and blessing of God, that we have reached a humanitarian truce,” Hamas said in a statement obtained by The New York Times.

This means less death and devastation, and I hope we can all agree that's a good thing, even if getting to that admission was probably the sticking point in the negotiations. I am pretty much persuaded there are people on both sides who, despite the reality that preservation of life and the restoration of people to their families and/or homes should be considered a blessing, still want violence. As if that is what will bring a good resolution.

Is this satisfactory for everyone? No. Diplomacy has long struck me as being the fine art of eating shit to not 100% please everyone but to establish the goal of getting far less stupid and harmful things to happen. And it's necessary and too often unsung, because who celebrates that worse didn't happen when disasters are so memorable? 

Ein "Red" Luftballoon

 

Being a kid of a certain era, of course I thought of the song from Nena when I heard about the Chinese surveillance balloon traversing US airspace. (I also thought of the shooting down by the USSR of Gary Powers' spy plane--a U-2, because this is my brain, this is my Cold War 80's teenager brain, this is my brain on the music of my generation.) Things sure do happen. Sometimes things we know about and sometimes things we don't. The Chinese balloon is supposed to be a weather balloon according to the Chinese, and depending on who you ask, it is both always and never a weather balloon, whether you are talking about spy aircraft or UFOs or anything else. 

I'm a child of the 1980s, but I'm an adult of the 21st century, and I'm like, "how quaint is a fucking balloon"? I'm not talking about how zeppelins are weird since what happened in New Jersey and all, but more like, shit, there are satellites all over the night sky, and I don't know how many dumb MFs got TikTok on their phone. Information gathering has taken some leaps over the decades. What the hell are you all surveilling with a fucking big ass balloon? An obvious large as a couple tractor trailer ass balloon up over the whole continental US?

Could it be our reaction to it? Because that's a fun little test balloon, right there. 

I Do Not Understand the Point of This

 

"A group of 30 House liberals is urging President Biden to dramatically shift his strategy on the Ukraine war and pursue direct negotiations with Russia, the first time prominent members of his own party have pushed him to change his approach to Ukraine."https://t.co/jswa9SZgXf

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 24, 2022

More or less in line with my feelings previously expressed, I just don't see where direct negotiations with Russia right now have any value when they aren't exactly radiating goodwill and honest dealings, and when Ukraine is the party that is currently facing an existential threat. Is it to signify to those on the left that hold the view that peace is always an option (bugger the facts on the ground) that these 30 folks are definitely going to point out that war is bad and talking is better?

But Biden's State Department is in touch with Russia. And I think a ceasefire might actually do more to help Russia get their shit together than help Ukraine (especially given that it's only likely to be honored on one side--and guess which?). And it looks like a "Democrats in disarray" moment in the regular political narrative. 

Pointing to things like the disruption the war is causing to food shipments to the global south is acting like the responsibility for that is not Russia. They are disrupting that. Stopping them, fighting them, is an attempt to get that control out of their murderous hands. They already have expressed their intentions in that regard. What they are doing now is their version of what will be. Talking them down with humanitarian ideals is dumb when they do not share them. 

So, when I see this:

“We are under no illusions regarding the difficulties involved in engaging Russia given its outrageous and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” the Democrats’ letter states. “If there is a way to end the war while preserving a free and independent Ukraine, it is America’s responsibility to pursue every diplomatic avenue to support such a solution that is acceptable to the people of Ukraine.”

The letter was signed by some of the best-known and most outspoken liberal Democrats in Congress, including Reps. Jamie Raskin (Md.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Ro Khanna (Calif.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.).

I'm cringing.  What is it for? What does it do? Is it a political statement for anyone at all? Is it a diplomatic statement for anyone at all? Whose bright idea, and what is the wattage on their bulb? Because do not say you are under no illusions and then post a delusionary hope. Do not call out the leadership of your party over some shit that is not happening. America's responsibility is the support of democracy--and not peace. That limpness isn't awake (I won't talk about "wokeness") and aware of the threat of totalitarian power, and if you give that quarter anywhere, you are not looking at the global right-ward trends* that made Brexit, Trump and Meloni happen, and could give us Le Pen in France, etc. 

This is not a public comment forum. This is international policy. This is almost as dumb as the 47 jackasses who signed an open letter to Iran over the JCPOA. I cannot believe Democrats are stupid enough to follow that example at this time and I see them trying to cover up their dirt right now. 

Good heavens, what were they thinking in the first place? It served no purpose at all but to make us wonder what the fuck they are doing and I am saddened to see people I thought highly of in that number. 

UPDATE: I realize this part is ignoring the slaughter of Ukrainians for political reasons elsewhere and is insensitive as fuck. Also--you don't fight authoritarians or fascism everywhere by allowing it anywhere. And you do have to fight it everywhere. And that means you call it what it is whether in local elections (the easy setting) or wherever in the world (war--the harder option), and you don't talk peace before you understand whether peace is even possible. 

Vice-President Kamala Harris is Underestimated

 

During a tightly-choreographed trip this week, the VP was determined to assert herself as a diplomatic asset for a president who believes he knows more about the process — and the vice presidency — than most. On the VP’s trips w/ the 💫 @KannoYoungs https://t.co/LuiQs64l8Q

— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) November 12, 2021

For what it's worth, CNN has a story on the Harris vice-presidency that I can not discourage you from reading, but encourage reading with a grain of salt because the network has also decided to raise the profile of "former" TrumpWorld denizen Chris Christie, as if we don't know they are already thinking about 2024 right now in the midst of President Biden's first damn year. 

Harris, as a US Senator, served on the Intelligence, Judiciary, and Homeland Security and Governmental affairs committees. She isn't in any respects under-prepared and the light-weight chuckleheads who talked about her supposed accent failed to note she actually speaks some French and also that their claims are wildly exaggerated because they are actually being basic bitches. 

She has about as much experience as Barack Obama when he became president, and she is not less personable because she is female. She is less personable to people who are less embracing of her other exceptional qualities and need to create electoral drama about a post-Biden primary we are not even looking at yet. They are giving her Hillary Clinton-style hits, and I despise this routine. This demand that women be judged on a scale so unprecedented when the men who came before them were given a handshake in comparison. 

Letters Are Written Never Meaning to Send

 

Apparently, in response to the Iraqi parliament's determination that it might just be best if American take our forces and most of our stuff and just, go, really, the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff drafted a letter that they had no intention of sending as-is, but by golly, it got out here, didn't it? To the effect that in deference to the decision of a sovereign nation, we'd just pack up and git when we weren't wanted. Because we weren't.

Which is something to think about. ISIS fighters are still pressed up against the back screen door of Iraq, but they'd rather sort it out--without us.

Anyways, how does this much of a letter go public without being a good draft, at least? Incompetence--or some kind of message?

UPDATE:  Huh.

Scoop: Pentagon initially told Capitol Hill that the Iraq withdrawal letter was "active disinformation." We have the email. https://t.co/jji1zvxdGu

— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) January 7, 2020

Reaping the Whirlwind

WATCH: Thousands of Iraqi protesters furious over deadly U.S. airstrikes storm the American Embassy in Baghdad, breaking down doors and setting fires https://t.co/zS7HQXjDyF pic.twitter.com/MO3UnaG06q

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 31, 2019

There isn't a lot that feel optimistic about, because ultimately, this is situation in in the hands of the Trump Administration, and I just have doubts about their priorities and especially where Trump's head is. Trump isn't strategic, he's reactionary. Trump's blowing up of the Iran deal wasn't strategic, for example, but because it was "Obama's plan" (even if it was a multilateral deals years in the making). Abandoning the Kurds to Turkey showed no strategy. And there's a real risk things can get worse because, as a wise person once said, "he can be baited with a Tweet."

So what kind of provocation does this look like to someone who already has other things on his mind?

The Democrats will do anything to avoid a trial in the Senate in order to protect Sleepy Joe Biden, and expose the millions and millions of dollars that “Where’s” Hunter, & possibly Joe, were paid by companies and countries for doing NOTHING. Joe wants no part of this mess!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019

That was what was on his mind first thing this morning. He might be a little bit wrong about the benefit of a trial with witnesses to himself given the recent New York Times story that goes deep on Mulvaney, Pompeo and others in his inner circle knowing about his intention to stop the aid to Ukraine, and might not be fully mindful that the results of the dismissal of the Kupperman case regarding subpoenas means that Bolton et als are more likely to be compelled to testify, but that's because, I think, Trump has never internalized that he really can be found at fault for his own foul-ups, that they can be indelible and have lasting effects.

That's bad enough for a person reckoning with the political results of his conduct. But as for the results of his conduct with respect to our relationships with other countries, and the mission of our military and diplomatic forces? I wish there was more evidence that he thought hard and long about such things. He's not the one who directly catches the blowback.

UPDATE: You can see his eyes are really on the ball, here:

Remember when Pelosi was screaming that President Trump is a danger to our nation and we must move quickly. They didn’t get one Republican House vote, and lost 3 Dems. They produced no case so now she doesn’t want to go to the Senate. She’s all lies. Most overrated person I know!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019

Not the little white ball he wanted to smack around the greens today, but the Senate trial he is demanding. And if that how he wants it, well? I reckon he'll get it.

The Script that Flipped

Just so that this does not get lost amidst the impeachment-related stories, Chairman Kim just issued a statement regarding the possibility of future talks with the US:

In a blunt put-down Monday, North Korea rejected what a senior adviser to Kim called another “fruitless” one-on-one with Trump. It was the latest reminder that Trump’s open-door policy for bargaining with authoritarians means those leaders can slam the door in his face.

“We are no longer interested in such talks that bring nothing to us,” said Kim Kye Gwan, a veteran diplomat and Foreign Ministry adviser. “As we have got nothing in return, we will no longer gift the U.S. president with something he can brag about.”

But what about all those love letters? What about the historic DMZ visit?

Trump legitimized Kim and Kim wanted nothing more than that, and nukes. He can have both, and Trump gets nothing, precisely because Trump wanted to accomplish something with North Korea (or to appear to be accomplishing something) so much. In the meanwhile, our relationship with South Korea appears to be impaired.

A future administration will be at pains to sort through the damage this administration has caused diplomatically--just to see what can be salvaged.

UPDATE: South Korea has signed a defense agreement with China.

Grief is Not an "Opportunity"

The family of Harry Dunn wanted justice. The White House wanted a win. https://t.co/RJyt0k0amB

— Slate (@Slate) October 16, 2019

I can easily see how the Reality Show President's brain made the leap from "this is a meeting to resolve a difficult diplomatic situation involving a grieving family" to "this would work for me" (he's empathy-deficient and optics-obsessed), but I really can't fathom the people who would simply go along with it. From the story:

The Dunn family arrived in Washington, D.C. this week to personally make their case to President Trump. During a meeting at the White House, Trump tried to get the family to meet with Sacoolas, who he revealed was in the next room. The Dunn family refused for a host of personal and legal reasons, but the attempt to broker a meeting with the grieving family felt like “an ambush,” Radd Seiger, a spokesman for the family, told the BBC.

“I thought we were coming down to have a debate on the diplomatic immunity law and it soon became clear to us that the real reason for inviting us down was to try and get [Dunn’s mother] and Mrs Sacoolas in a room together,” Seiger said. “And then I looked to my side and I saw at least three photographers ready to almost… do a press call.” “I think the family feel a little bit ambushed to say the least,” he continued.

They were going to use these people for a photo op? Sure, it's been done before. But didn't they even consider that they should have given warning? Obtained consent?

Ghouls. The whole White House, at this point.

Pining for the Fjords 2: Makes Sense to Them!

I thought it might just be a one-weekend weirdness kind of story when Trump's Greenland obsession came to light, although it was cute, at first, watching the slightly-blitzed Larry Kudlow defend it in all seriousness. It took a bit of a turn when he postponed his trip to Copenhagen and then put the Danish PM on blast, but Darn it all! He had apparently been thinking about this thing for a long time. Why, it's prime real estate!

(The joke about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland is a bit dark, though.)

But now that it's become a diplomatic incident, apparently, the Republican party thinks this is definitely very legal and very cool, and are fundraising off of it. I guess it's life-support-system for an Adam's apple, Senator Tom Cotton, though, who really takes the old birthday cake by admitting to be the person who gave Trump this tremendous brainstorm.

Oh, Tommy. What kind of super brain genius is going to take you seriously now...

Ah, right. He's still after a Trump cabinet position. Loyalty! He shows it!

Yeesh. I really did not think I'd still be blogging about this.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

WATCH: President Trump says that he could win the 18-year Afghan War in 10 days, because he has plans that could wipe Afghanistan off the face of the Earth and kill 10,000,000 people, but "I don't want to go that route." pic.twitter.com/IftsRmBjpG

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 22, 2019

A lot of people would tend to doubt the diplomatic chops of someone who suggested they've given thought to ending a war by glassing 10 million people, but then decided it wasn't fair, and this is probably why India's government wasted no time in responding to the idea floated by Trump that he could mediate a resolution between that country and Pakistan regarding Kashmir to say, albeit more diplomatically, "like hell he will."

Which is really just as well. There are definite reasons to doubt his understanding of the political, geographic, and religious considerations involved in a meaningful dialogue, in addition to his undiplomatic personal tendencies. Even if he does think he might rather like a Nobel Prize someday.

Trump is a Groveling Shit

Russia says Trump initiated Friday's 1.5-hour call with Putin https://t.co/bMDqZzJhuP

— Bloomberg (@business) May 4, 2019

I really wanted to post something with a better title than "Trump is a groveling shit". The idea that Trump not only had to boast to Lavrov and Kislyak in the Oval office that FBI Director Comey got deep-sixed over the Russia investigation is one thing, and the Helsinki declaration that Trump believed Putin regarding his strenuous denials that there ever was any interference (over the intelligence provided by our own people) is another. And now this little phone call, initiated by Trump, to declare to his good buddy Putin that the Mueller investigation seems to have cleared him?

A 1.5 hour call that made Daddy Vladi smile. How fucking nice. Maybe they talked a little about Venezuela and maybe they talked about the price of cheese in Milwaukee--my impression is that Trump is a groveling little shit. He wants to tell us he thinks it is very good that he has a nice relationship with Russia and a nice relationship with China and it's all about trade and you know what?

They scare the shit out of him because he doesn't know what he's doing, and that's exactly what makes him a groveling little shit. This isn't strategy, unless the strategy is constant retreat. Appeasement much?

Take North Korea--please! We all know the Trump crew's pretending that these talks where Trump has so graciously let Kim Jong-Un voice his concerns are making all this progress, but the truth of the matter is:

Trump is getting owned. Let's face it, he's not getting anything more from the little pie-faced dictator that he would have if he just ignored him. The nuclear talks are stalled, it is revealed that the one diplomatic supposedly good thing, getting back the ravaged body of Otto Warmbier, came with a price, and the best line his spokespeople can come up with regarding it is that he never intended to pay? As if saying the word of the US government is good for this: we could pay for hostages, but also our word might be good for nothing.

Genius. Just genius. And when North Korea in a fit of not being talked about for a minute decides to launch projectiles--Trump will say he is with Kim Jong-Un. I'm sure South Korea and Japan are so glad to hear this.

And like I've been saying, Iran's government is appalling, totally, but Trump gives them the opportunity to look like they have the high road. And all the while, Trump's government is still okay with what happened to Jamal Khashoggi. And he vetoed the decision to end our support of KSA's genocide of Yemen, which, because the GOP is also full of groveling shits, the veto was not overcome.

Trump and the fetid, feckless, useless people who surround him are fucking up foreign policy so much. Bolton and Pompeo are worthless. If I could wish these ass-first sniveling hot messes into a cornfield to never deal with our reputation abroad ever again, you know I would.

This is What Should Happen

Tense exchange between Ilhan Omar and Venezuela envoy Elliott Abrams over his support for US-backed coups in the 80s.

"I fail to understand why members of this committee of the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful." pic.twitter.com/BeprHzPkfy

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 13, 2019

In my humble opinion, if someone's history involves covering up a massacre (El Mozote in El Salvador), supporting a dictator later convicted of genocide (Rios-Montt, in Guatemala) and withholding evidence in Iran-Contra (where the Reagan Administration sought to extralegally arm the Contras in Nicaragua), maybe that person's diplomatic expertise should very well be questioned.

This is very different to how "old hands" in the foreign policy business have often been treated, and Abrams' response to Omar shows it. And there have been no small number of supporters of Abrams who know him from CFR or other associations who somehow don't think that there's something about being tangentially connected with atrocities in countries (whose people still try to seek asylum here due to the very long-term destabilization that shitty diplomatic policies exacerbated) that might, even a little, let's say, be disqualifying.

Well, no. If his work in these areas had really bad outcomes that were appalling for human rights and involved mass graves, maybe whether he's otherwise a decent and well-educated chap who pays his bar tab and scintillates at social gatherings is not really germane here. Maybe it takes an outsider to the Washington culture who appreciates the import of bad diplomacy, mass killing, and population displacement, to say the thing that ought to be said.

There's reason to believe Abram's judgement with respects to Venezuela might be already influenced by past information.  I'm no fan of Maduro, who looks to me to be a thief. I just believe that a hand less bloodied should be involved in a region where the people have already suffered so much privation.  In any event, he was only subjected to a harsh question--and that should not be considered out of bounds. It is what should happen, because our diplomats abroad should be answerable to the people they represent and report honestly and deal faithfully.