I understand the concern that many have about seemingly endless American commitments overseas. We still have European military bases nearly three quarters of a century after the close of Second World War, for example, and we still have large numbers of troops in Korea more than sixty five years after the American “police action” concluded there with an armistice agreement.
(There was, of course, this little thing called the “Cold War.”)
But President Donald J. Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw all United States military forces from Syria, apparently against the strong urgings of his Secretary of Defense and his Secretary of State and his national security advisor and others, strikes me as, first, remarkably Obama-like and, second, as one of the best Christmas gifts he could possibly have given to Vladimir Putin.
Here’s some commentary on the topic:
National Review: “Trump Administration to Withdraw Troops, Evacuate Diplomats From Syria”
CNN: “In Syria withdrawal, Trump discards advice from allies and officials”
CNN: “Trump is leaving the fight against ISIS (and influence in the Middle East) to Russia and Iran”
National Review: “Stay in Syria”
CNN: “Graham: Trump’s Syria withdrawal a ‘stain on the honor of the United States'”
Fox News: “‘Fox And Friends’ Host Calls Trump’s Syria Withdrawal ‘Stunning And Irresponsible’”
The New Yorker: “Trump Named Man of the Year by ISIS”
***
I have to admit that I’m not impressed with Republicans who praise Donald Trump no matter what he does and who defend him no matter what the accusations against him may be. Among other things, many of them are outing themselves as shameless hypocrites. If Mr. Trump were a Democrat, they would have been all over him with a vengeance. Since he’s the titular leader of their party, though, they split hairs and rationalize in the most embarrassing fashion. Where they once stood, at least publicly, for moral rectitude in a chief executive, now they find it of no importance whatever. I was once something of a Fox News fan, but I often find it difficult to take these days. And Sean Hannity? I can’t endure him at all.
But the situation is serious:
“Yes, Donald Trump Is in Real Legal Jeopardy for Campaign-Finance Violations”
And it remains legal to say so, for at least the next while:
“SNL Making Fun of Trump Absolutely Is Legal”
Nor am I surprised that his administration is embroiled in legal and ethical controversy. I mean, we’re talking about Mr. Donald J. Trump, right? Is there anybody out there, for example, who finds it inconceivable that Mr. Trump might have cheated on his supermodel wife with a porn star and a Playboy playmate?
But I’m equally unimpressed with Democrats and others on the Left who seem to me to be suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. CNN — to say nothing of MSNBC — is utterly fixated on Trump and his family. And, to take a very specific example, the over-the-top criticisms of Melania Trump’s Christmas decorations seem to me extremely weird:
And I’m aghast at people who seem to welcome a possible impeachment. Do I wish that we had a better man as our president? Yes. Absolutely. Every day. I didn’t — couldn’t — vote for him, even though I was a lifelong Republican until the Party nominated him, and even though (or, perhaps better, because) I’m a lifelong and very serious conservative.
But an impeachment trial would be awful for our country, and, in the end, while a Democrat-controlled House might impeach him, the Republican-controlled Senate would almost certainly not convict him unless there’s far more decisive evidence against him than we’ve seen thus far.
So it would rend the country but it wouldn’t send Mr. Trump packing.
***
Okay, who covers the journalists?
***
I wonder whether the obsessive crank who’s been sending me crude and insulting emails for the past six and a quarter years was also communicating (in his fashion) with the senior United States Senator for Maine:
“Susan Collins reveals vulgar, threatening voicemails left during Kavanaugh confirmation”
I wouldn’t be surprised.
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