Pirate's Cove

Sunday, the Washington Post Editorial Board told us that a President Trump could “deport freely”, which was supposed to be a negative. Monday we learn something interesting (which fails to mention the phrase “leading from behind”)

A President Trump could end the era of American global leadership

IN NO realm is the U.S. president more powerful than in matters of national security. A president may launch wars, conduct intelligence operations and strike deals with foreign governments with minimal checks from the courts and Congress. If he wished, a President Donald Trump could carry out — or at least order — many of the most extreme proposals he has tossed off during the election campaign.

If Mr. Trump chose to “take the oil” of Iraq or Syria, as he has frequently proposed, he could direct the armed forces to plan and launch such an operation, whatever its prospects for success. If he wanted to assassinate foreigners who opposed him, he could unilaterally and secretly change the executive order prohibiting such action. If he wanted to reinstate waterboarding and other torture methods for use on detainees, he could cancel President Obama’s orders governing torture and appoint lawyers to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel willing to issue a secret opinion invalidating a congressional ban.

Mr. Trump could launch surveillance programs targeting foreigners without informing Congress. He could scrap — again, without public notice — the rules Mr. Obama instituted for limiting U.S. drone strikes. He could shut U.S. bases abroad, withdrawing troops from Japan, South Korea and Europe.

Could might may. Last time I checked Trump didn’t start a war in Libya which turned the nation into a hotbed of radical Islam and a truly failed state, nor did he fail to implement the security measures that the diplomatic personnel on the ground were begging for in Benghazi as all the other nations, along with the news media, were abandoning the region due to the threat of extreme violence.

The WPEB spends a few more paragraphs whining about what Trump might may could possibly do regarding NATO and Putin (last time I checked, it wasn’t Trump getting punked by Russia nor seeing Russia take over a portion of Crimea on his watch), ending with

In sum, the election of Mr. Trump would likely bring about the end of the era of American global leadership that began in 1945. The U.S. alliances built after World War II, which have been the foundation of that strength, would be disregarded. A new, cynical, self-interested America would emerge, ready to use walls, boycotts, assassination and torture to achieve its aims, and to partner with like-minded regimes such as Russia. For those who believe in traditional American liberal values, the world would become a much colder — and more dangerous — place.

Obama, with Hillary by his side for 4 years, annoyed our allies and patronized our enemies. Iran is treated better than Israel. Obama downplayed our relationships with England and Germany, and relationships with Japan and South Korea are so-so. The rise of ISIS happened under his watch. He blew off the Iranian Green Revolution and the Arab Spring. He and Hillary held up Bashar Assad as a “reformer.” How’s that working out? They blew out our relationship with Egypt by calling for the end of Mubarek and forcing him out (granted, not the greatest of people) and supported the installation of the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamic organization that had long been banned in Egypt, with hardcore Islamist Mohammed Morsi as President. Obama was upset when the Egyptian military forced him out with a coup and installed people who weren’t radical Islamists, ending with the current president, El Sisi.

Our allies do not trust or respect us, our enemies are taking advantage of us. Obama pushed the idiotic Iran nuclear deal, which simply kicked the can down the road for their nuclear aspirations. Yet, the WPEB is worried about Trump? Please. Perhaps they can explain exactly what Hillary accomplished as Secretary of State.

Just to be clear, I have serious misgivings about Trump as president, though not as many as Hillary. We don’t know what he would actually do. There’s no record. He could be great. Or, he could be miserable, like Obama. We are assured Hillary would be miserable, based on her record. All in all, though, this WPEB piece is deranged.