May 6, 2020--Yellow Peril
The one foolhardy thing Trump has not (yet) tried to distract the public and rescue himself from responsibility for making the coronavirus crisis worse is "wagging the dog."
Traditional wagging the dog involves getting the U.S. military involved in a small scale war against a feeble opponent. All designed to elevate presidents' approval ratings.
Like the small war in Grenada during Ronald Reagan's administration, in Panama when George H.W. Bush was in office, and in Kosovo when Bill Clinton was president and ensnared in a sex scandal.
As in all such situations the message to the world is that America is not to be messed with. More accurately, President So-In-So is a tough dude and not reluctant to carry and use a big stick.
He might even be represented as a little crazy and thus extra dangerous. With Kissinger shilling for him, Nixon played that card.
In regard to Trump and wagging, keep an eye not on Iran but China. Yes, China. By no means a feeble opponent.
Then why China?
From even before he was elected it has been apparent that Iran is in Trump's crosshairs. He unilaterally abrogated Barack Obama's deal with them to limit for 15 years their nuclear weapons' program and recently there has been an intensification on both sides of saber rattling.
But this emerging confrontation seems to have calmed since Iran-hawk John Bolton (remember him?) left the Trump Cabinet.
The focus now is preposterously shifting to China. Not just to it's cheating in the acquisition of purloined intellectual property and its unfair trade practices, but also in response to our charging them with the intentional fabrication and spread of COVID-19.
This, in an effort to shift blame from Trump's inability to limit its impact by attributing it to the "Yellow Peril," the way conservatives and American isolationists during the Cold War in a racist way referred to the Chinese Communists.
Secretary of State Pompeo has been mobilized by Trump to assert that there is "enormous evidence" that the virus "originated" in a lab in Wuhan and to imply to the Chinese leadership that unless they cease this behavior the United States is even prepared for military intervention.
In response the Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused the Trump administration, in their words, of "shirking responsibility for their own epidemic and prevention and control measures and divert public attention."
In other words, classic wag the dog. In this case a very big dog but Trump has a big crisis to wish away and an ego out of control that is bigger than the island of Grenada.
Traditional wagging the dog involves getting the U.S. military involved in a small scale war against a feeble opponent. All designed to elevate presidents' approval ratings.
Like the small war in Grenada during Ronald Reagan's administration, in Panama when George H.W. Bush was in office, and in Kosovo when Bill Clinton was president and ensnared in a sex scandal.
As in all such situations the message to the world is that America is not to be messed with. More accurately, President So-In-So is a tough dude and not reluctant to carry and use a big stick.
He might even be represented as a little crazy and thus extra dangerous. With Kissinger shilling for him, Nixon played that card.
In regard to Trump and wagging, keep an eye not on Iran but China. Yes, China. By no means a feeble opponent.
Then why China?
From even before he was elected it has been apparent that Iran is in Trump's crosshairs. He unilaterally abrogated Barack Obama's deal with them to limit for 15 years their nuclear weapons' program and recently there has been an intensification on both sides of saber rattling.
But this emerging confrontation seems to have calmed since Iran-hawk John Bolton (remember him?) left the Trump Cabinet.
The focus now is preposterously shifting to China. Not just to it's cheating in the acquisition of purloined intellectual property and its unfair trade practices, but also in response to our charging them with the intentional fabrication and spread of COVID-19.
This, in an effort to shift blame from Trump's inability to limit its impact by attributing it to the "Yellow Peril," the way conservatives and American isolationists during the Cold War in a racist way referred to the Chinese Communists.
Secretary of State Pompeo has been mobilized by Trump to assert that there is "enormous evidence" that the virus "originated" in a lab in Wuhan and to imply to the Chinese leadership that unless they cease this behavior the United States is even prepared for military intervention.
In response the Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused the Trump administration, in their words, of "shirking responsibility for their own epidemic and prevention and control measures and divert public attention."
In other words, classic wag the dog. In this case a very big dog but Trump has a big crisis to wish away and an ego out of control that is bigger than the island of Grenada.
Labels: "Yellow Peril", China, COVID-19, Iran, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Wag the Dog, Wuhan Lab
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:26 AM
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