Post inauguration Trump:

[David]

^ It is indeed a crazy system as many have noted, but it�s not really about Trump � Obama and Clinton oversaw lengthy government shutdowns too. Basically the laws need to change so operation of government isn�t contingent on short-term budgetary bills. Practically no other country in the world allows something like this to happen, for obvious reasons! America is a bit of a joke sometimes, let�s face it.

[Wokko]

Supply can be blocked in Australia too see: 1975 constitutional crisis.

[David]

Yes, but I believe government services continue in such situations, don�t they?

[stui magpie]

^

Pretty much. Budgets and funding is normally allocated at the start of the financial year for the whole year, not drip fed.

The USA has some.........interesting ways of doing things.

[David]

I don't usually find much to congratulate Trump on ��and when I do, it's usually "even a stopped clock" kind of stuff ��but here's a case of Trump very much being Trump and doing an unequivocally good thing.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/14/trump-says-he-will-devastate-turkey-economically-if-it-attacks-kurds

[watt price tully]

Yeah but nah but yeah but nah

What we know so far is that Trump has made:

1. Russia
2. China
3. North Korea
4. Iran ( and Hezbollah) great again

This bumbling rhetoric is meaningless in my view when he is pulling out of Syria. In other words after you continue kiling innocent Kurds, after the US gives up on assisiting Kurds to have their own part of the world then he'll allegedly wreak havoc with the economy of Turkey (which is managing to do a decent job itself of having a poor economy).

As time progresses, conservative Chris Uhlmann's words ring even louder especially that ending

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6_ckWZCHW4

Trump is continuing to cede power to the dictators of the world. The US is increasingly diminshed for Trump's nacassism.

Sad especially for the Kurds

[David]

^ I don't completely disagree with all of that, but there's a genuine progressive case for asking whether the US should be playing their customary world police role in the first place. We know the carnage that they have caused everywhere from Vietnam to the coups in Latin America, and frankly it's hard to argue that the world was a better place because of their many interventions. So is it really clear that pulling out of Syria is wrong? Many reasonable people didn't think they should have been there in the first place.

If Trump is serious about moving away from that kind of meddling and instead taking a more conciliatory approach to the countries you list (and not simply trading old repressive alliances like Saudi Arabia and Turkey for new ones), then there would be good reason to think that that is making the world more peaceful ��and I say that as someone who is staunchly opposed to Putin, Assad and the theocratic Iranian regime, but also to the madman Erdogan, Mohammad bin Salman and the old fascist mobster Netanyahu. The US's comparative relationships with Iran and Saudi Arabia tells us all we need to know about the morality of realpolitik.

Unfortunately, for any good Trump does, he'll insist on doing something stupid like ripping up a perfectly good deal with Iran or declaring a full-fledged trade war with China, so the last thing you can expect from him on this front is anything resembling consistency or ongoing common sense. Nonetheless, world peace is much too fragile to look at such things through a solely partisan lens, so I just want to give credit on the (rare) occasions when credit's due.

[stui magpie]

^

On the other hand, while I agree about the Kurds and getting out of Syria, it's also possible that some/many of the other things he has done are either good or will have a good result but you just don't agree with them.

[Wokko]

Watching leftys tie themselves in knots supporting perpetual global warfare is hilarious. Kudos to you David for recognizing that Trump ending wars that have no actual end point is a good thing.

[Culprit]

The Pressure is on, running a Country is different than running a business. If 10% of what out there is true then it's only a matter of time before we see the end of Trump.

[HAL]

out there something.

[swoop42]

Trumps desire to leave Syria is much more about his nationalist rhetoric of America first than anything else.

I just hope the US doesn't turn there backs on the Kurdish people like they've done before.

Personally I worry that Trump is merely setting up an alibi for Turkish aggression with this tweet.

[David]

[Culprit]

David, the trouble is the part of America who idolise Trump will simply believe it's all just a huge conspiracy and the Country will become even more divided, if that's possible.

[David]

^ For sure, but ultimately the law is the law and even the president isn't above it ... sometimes.