CommentsTHE DOCTOR IS IN - For years, we heard nothing but Donald Trump's a Putin pawn, Donald Trump will get us into World War III, Donald Trump will ruin our foreign relations worldwide, etc.
Maybe the fears were correct, and maybe they were just "trumped up" for the Democrats to take hold of the White House and Congress in 2018-2020.
And then we had Trump leave the White House, and then we had the elimination of the Keystone Pipeline, and then we had the southern border crisis, and then we had the chaotic and disastrous Afghanistan pullout, and then we had China "own" us by having its Olympics at the worst time in history that we ever could or should let it occur in China.
But it's Joe Biden in the White House now, and it's Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer running Congress now. And anyone who thinks Joe Biden is free of any foreign influence (in particular, China and Ukraine, and vis-a-vis Joe's "interesting" son Hunter) needs to pull off their partisan blinders and face the truth as much as any Trump supporter.
The questions of whether President Biden's approach to NATO, and whether President Biden's domestic and foreign energy policies, and whether President Biden's foreign policies with respect to showing American strength both economically and militarily throughout the world now rightfully abound.
Those questions are timely, and they are relevant.
It's safe to say that former President Trump enjoyed much support throughout the political spectrum by calling out European countries to pay their fair share of funding of NATO, as well as supplying troops and arms to NATO.
So now that Vladimir Putin and Russia are invading and bombing Ukraine whole scale, NATO's need to defend itself is paramount. Did Europe come through yet for the U.S. after years of overwhelming U.S. largesse to support NATO?
In other words, never in the 21st Century has a need for NATO been so vital and critical.
Cities near and far from the Ukraine border are being bombed, deaths and casualties are now rising fast, and we're even seeing Russian troops attack Ukraine from Belarus, a nation for which NATO has a working partnership.
It's to be remembered that Putin and the Russian people do NOT view Ukraine as a viable independent nation any more than they view Belarus and other eastern European nations as viable and independent .
They've made that known for years, even during the G.W. Bush Administration.
"Reset"? Forget it. Former President Obama and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed as much weakness as did President Biden when he shut down American energy production and enhanced Russian energy production via its Nord 5 pipeline.
Because Putin--and Xi of China, to boot--appreciate appeasement as much as did one former and fascist German dictator in the 1930's did. We see compromise...they see weakness.
Period. They just don't think the way we do.
Waste our time on Trump praising Putin but condemning the invasion? Fine, if you want to continue to ignore and misinterpret "Trumpspeak", which does the same "watch me, I'm crazy, so back off if you know what's good for you" as does Putin and North Korean President Kim.
Putin has the upper hand, he's got billions in reserve, and is currently laughing and threatening NATO and the world if any military response occurs. And, like former President Trump, Putin absolutely WILL do the saber-rattling that includes a threat of nuclear bombing.
But let's not lose our heads. Former President G.W. Bush converted half of this nation who hated him after the 2000 election to his side (90% approval rating!) into a uniform support of his response to the events of September 11, 2001.
And President Joe Biden can certainly do the same by effectively confronting Putin. Putin and Russia, as the Soviet Union in the 1980's and 1990's before, will falter not through military means but through economic starvation:
1) Joe Biden can reverse his disastrous mistake by reopening America's Keystone Pipeline and cutting off Russia's Nord 5 Pipeline. It's an admission of his former mistake of undoing even Trump's good and/or popular policies, but it'll work just fine right now. Plus, it'll reaffirm his former and broken promise to reunite the nation.
2) Joe Biden can reverse his disastrous mistake by shutting down the southern border to stabilize our domestic and foreign economic positions, and to reverse the chaos that the southern border crisis that now exists. It's an admission of his former mistake of undoing even Trump's good and/or popular policies, but it'll work just fine right now. Plus, it'll reaffirm his former and broken promise to reunite the nation.
3) Joe Biden can reverse his disastrous mistake by fighting like hell to open up and favor American domestic manufacturing production (and make the U.S. competitive against Russia and China with respect to energy, goods production, and innovation). It's an admission of his former mistake of undoing even Trump's good and/or popular policies, but it'll work just fine right now. Plus, it'll reaffirm his former and broken promise to reunite the nation.
Donald Trump is out of the White House, and the more that CNN and the Huffington Post and all that is the traditional/increasingly left-wing media keep talking about Trump the more their credibility will swirl down the drain into the sewers of American citizens' collective disdain.
Maybe the media is right, and maybe their not. But conservative, independent, and even many moderate liberals are sick of hearing about Trump when the spotlight should be on Joe Biden. It's no coincidence that CNN's ratings and nationwide credibility is plummeting.
It's Joe Biden's turn to prove he'll emulate G.W. Bush's turnaround of American support for their still-new President, but without all the disastrous domestic and foreign blunders of former President G.W. Bush.
Or it will be Joe Biden's turn to be the next Neville Chamberlain of world history.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He was termed out of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) twice after two stints as a Board member for 9, years and is also a Board member of the Westside Village Homeowners Association. He previously co-chaired the MVCC Outreach, Planning, and Transportation/Infrastructure Committees for 10 years. He was previously co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, the grassroots Friends of the Green Line (which focused on a Green Line/LAX connection), and the nonprofit Transit Coalition His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
