Top of the evening everyone.
Today is January 21st, 2017. The United States has just inaugurated a new President. I congratulate my country for yet again defying what has been tragically consistent in world history by having a peaceful transfer of power.
And there were rioters in the streets. They are saying things like "not my President." Well, let's start with a basic. The Constitutional process has been served. To my American readers, Donald Trump most certainly IS your President. In any event, I am not entirely certain what breaking windows and burning cars has to do with the negative sentiment.
President Trump (I have to get used to that also - this is only my blog's second President) spoke of "America First." People are in a tizzy about that. They should not be. That is his job. There is nothing in the President's job description that gives him any permission to work for the benefit of France, or any other nation.
That being said, we no longer live in a world in which any nation can just block out the existence of the rest of the world. There are ripples in the pond of every decision that the President must make. To start a trade war with China, for example, can destabilize what is a remarkably stable nation. That has effects in the US, in Canada, and just about everywhere else. Putting America first is what he should do. There is no such thing though as "America only." I hope that he realizes that quickly.
I do not know how I feel about this President. I am hopeful that he will do wonderful things. I believe firmly that he has the capability of doing wonderful things. I think that the riots do nothing to advance the cause of those who oppose him. It frankly looks like a child throwing a tantrum on the floor. I also must point out to all that more than 60 million people voted for him. I refuse to accept for even a second that more than 60 million Americans are bigots. I refuse to accept for even a second that 60 million Americans are misogynist. Neither is he.
And so we should let him have the chance to accomplish something instead of thwarting him at every turn.
Mr. President, if you are reading this, may you find every manner of good fortune, luck, and opportunity in making America greater than it already is.
Good night everyone.
R/SCG
Rav, perhaps a trade war with China is not unavoidable but needed. Chinese businesses are deeply engaged in a practise called transshiping with the full support of their government – including financial support and if you can come up with a solution to stop these types of practises without a trade war – do share.
ReplyDeleteHere is a Toronto Star article circa 2009 illustrating the problem on a local level –
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2009/07/26/granite_war_being_waged_on_bloor_st.html
Recently, the case of a Chinese billionaire who cornered a significant amount of alum, shipped it to Mexico for reshipment to US so it could be imported into the US under NAFTA. Consequently, the US alum market dived. This just came to light in September but it was really too late to save a number of US alum producers from closures. Mexico is the weakest leak of NAFTA with almost zero enforcement rules against this type of practise.
http://fortune.com/2016/09/09/chinese-aluminum-giant-is-tied-to-a-2-billion-mystery-mexican-stockpile/
Bloomberg carried a report about how Chinese seafood companies are flooding the US markets with cheap seafood. It centered on shrimp but the same horrendous farming practising are being used with factory farmed fish like salmon and then married to Chinese transshiping practises. Consequently, this puts the health and welfare of millions of North Americans at risk – as well as jeopardizing the financial solvency of our own fisheries which are not legally allowed to engage in the type of farming practices the Chinese government routinely allows.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-12-15/how-antibiotic-tainted-seafood-from-china-ends-up-on-your-table
And if I ever recover from this horrendous flu, I will be back in shul.