- It was nice of E.J. Dionne to valiantly try to find some silver linings in the election of Donald Trump. I wouldn’t have bothered.
It got me thinking, though.
We haven’t had a president in Trump’s position since John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960. That’s the last time we had a president
leave office after two terms who was unambiguously popular but nonetheless replaced by someone from the opposing party.
There are other similarities, too …
My response to BooMan’s fp story – How Trump and JFK are Alike.
Brussels Treaty was decided upon in 1948 to contain Germany and prohibit a renewed militarization and threat for a new devastation across Europe. Under Truman, after the Berlin blockade and famous airlift, NATO was founded and soon it was redirected to oppose the threat of communism from the Soviet Union. See also the build-up of the atomic bomb and the powerful hydrogen bomb with the immense fall-out in the upper atmosphere. See also US intelligence employing former Nazis – Operation Paperclip and the Gehlen Project, remnants of which NATO uses for its expansion to the Russian border (see Ukraine).
Eisenhower criticized the UK, France and Israel for the Suez crisis. I applaud him for that. Obama failed miserably in the entanglement of the Middle East. Both of Obama’s nemisis have gotten the full blast of his anger in the last few weeks. Netanyahu for opposing each and every effort by Obama on the Palestinian issue and Putin for Russia’s reoccupation of Crimea with its crucial naval base Sevastopol in the Black Sea. Same for the Russia naval base in the Mediterranean Sea in Tartus and his unrelenting support for the christians and Alawites under the Assad regime. In 18 months, Putin managed to silence the guns in Syria and bring a (momentary) truce. The talks will start between Russia, Iran, Turkey and the opposing political forces in Syria without interference of western powers (UK, France and the US) and the UN.
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Netanyahu hasn't criticised Putin for his antics in the Ukraine after the Maidan revolt
Under Eisenhower, VP Nixon, actor Reagan and McCarthyism … how well was Ike liked in history?
