Trump’s Paris Escape, Domestic Troubles And Clorox For The Democrats – OpEd

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By Dr. Arshad M. Khan*

July 14, is Bastille Day. It is the day when the common people of France, despairing their grievances would never be addressed, stormed the Bastille It was a turning point for the French Revolution, and is celebrated annually with parades, fireworks and general festivity.

This year the salute at the military parade down the Champs Elysees was taken jointly by the new President of France Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump. France is the U.S.’s oldest ally — the French navy and French troops helped American colonists defeat the British and achieve independence over 240 years ago.

The two leaders have one significant fact in common: both took on their political establishment and won; Trump even took on the media. Both now are happy to partner against ISIS in Syria, and both favor better relations with Russia. Trump had a two-hour meeting with Putin at the G-20 meeting; Macron met with Putin twice, first at Versailles and then again at the G-20.

Trump also talked trade with Macron and even suggested something new on the Paris Climate Accord.

Back home, another storm in a teacup. Some Russian promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. He met with Donald Trump Jr. and had little to offer. As these things go, the Russian was probably enhancing his own business status by appearing close to the Trump family. The Democrats are back screaming Russian interference in the election. Question: Would Hillary’s people have followed up on such an offer?

Meanwhile, the long trail of corruption reaching back to Arkansas and how Hillary miraculously turned $1,000 into $100,000 trading commodities, a significant figure when her husband was earning about a third of that amount, and many other questions, will continue to dog her. How about the trade confirmations necessary for tax purposes, and something anyone with a spouse in politics would keep to establish propriety. These would surely prove her claims.

Hillary and Bill Clinton have earned $153 million from speech making. In a July 31, 2015 Rolling Stone article, former President Jimmy Carter is quoted as saying, the U.S. is no longer the democracy that made this nation great. What it is “is an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery.” They pay their money and get what they want.

By the way, the Jimmy Carter Center is not sitting on billions collected for a foundation. It has nearly eradicated river blindness (Guinea worm) in Africa, and is fighting other neglected tropical diseases like trachoma. It also monitors foreign elections when asked, fights for human rights, and for peaceful conflict resolution.

While one can disagree strongly with Trump’s policies on health care and climate change and a lot more, one knows they are his policies. He is not beholden to large donors. And while he is constrained in trying to improve relations with Russia, he is trying. It is the only country that can blow us up ending life as we know it, and no one wants that Doomsday Clock edging still closer to midnight.

One also remembers what the hacking did — it exposed the Democratic establishment as thoroughly corrupt — so dirty it needs a ton of Clorox bleach.

About the author:
Dr. Arshad M. Khan
is a former Professor based in the US. Educated at King’s College London, OSU and The University of Chicago, he has a multidisciplinary background that has frequently informed his research. Thus he headed the analysis of an innovation survey of Norway, and his work on SMEs published in major journals has been widely cited. He has for several decades also written for the press: These articles and occasional comments have appeared in print media such as The Dallas Morning News, Dawn (Pakistan), The Fort Worth Star Telegram, The Monitor, The Wall Street Journal and others. On the internet, he has written for Antiwar.com, Asia Times, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Countercurrents, Dissident Voice, Eurasia Review and Modern Diplomacy among many. His work has been quoted in the U.S. Congress and published in its Congressional Record.

Source:
This article was published at Modern Diplomacy.

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