During today’s announcement of the opening of trade between Israel and Sudan (a big step towards normalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries), what should’ve been a pure win got spoiled by a moment that proved that Trump doesn’t represent America — just himself.
Here’s the video of that moment:
Trump: “Do you think Sleepy Joe could have made this deal, Bibi, Sleepy Joe?”
Israeli PM Netanyahu: “Uh … well … Mr. President, one thing I can tell you is we appreciate the help for peace from anyone in America.” pic.twitter.com/LU02tEOXtK
— The Recount (@therecount) October 23, 2020
The brokering of a deal between Israel and Sudan, an adversary that overthrew its dictator last year and now has a Prime Minister who has appointed the country’s first female ministers, is a foreign policy achievement that Trump could have used in his campaign.
But he can’t use it now, because he made about Biden. The story isn’t about the Trump administration brokering a mideast peace deal anymore. It’s now a two-part story, the first of which is that yet another foreign leader betting on Trump losing the election.
(Netanyahu’s reluctance is part diplomacy and part pragmatism — as the leader of a country that depends on American largesse, he knows how badly Trump is doing in the polls. He’s also aware that the UK government also knows.)
More importantly, it’s about how Trump puts himself above his own country. Between the campaign, coming down with COVID-19, and all the damage control he’s had to do, he likely hasn’t devoted much of his own time to brokering the Israel/Sudan deal. The work was done by other people in the administration, who work under the mantle of the Trump administration, who in turn doing their work under the mantle of the United States.
The President of the United States should not be trying to bait a foreign leader into bad-mouthing any individual American, never mind one who is a former Senator and Vice President. This is the second part of the story: That proved that Trump doesn’t represent America — just himself. He tried to turn government work into a campaign moment, and he took America’s moment and tried to turn it into Trump’s moment.
For the love of this country, vote this narcissistic, incompetent, self-serving man-child out of office on November 3rd.
Further reading and viewing
I saw this on this in Hampton Terrace during this morning’s 10K bike ride.
I think I’ll close this post with something you might not have seen: A scene from Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes that puts together Wu-Tang’s GZA, RZA, and Bill Murray at the same booth in a café:
Halloween should be both fun and frightening, and what better way to combine the two than to re-cast the Muppets as horror film icons, as Jason Beck’s “Muppet Maniacs” did?
And if you need more context…
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