Day: October 28, 2020
Stevenson’s army, October 28, 2nd edition
As a kid, I got to read two newspapers every day — the Rocky Mountain News [r.i.p.] in the morning and the Denver Post in the afternoon. In the spirit of those days, when many cities had a t least 2 daily papers — and because there’s so much news today — here’s your PM edition.- Pew says only 4% of Trump and BIden supporters plan to split their ticket by voting for a Senate candidate of the other party, This could lead to the 2016 results when Every winning Senator was from the same party as that state voted for President. But be aware, only 6 states still allow straight ticket voting by a single mark.
-WaPo says people criticized by Trump often need special protection.
– Where did the China tariff receipts go? In farmer aid.
-Leaks get action: the inside story of the TR leaks.
And now some good think pieces: Profs Barno & Bensahel on the future of the US Army.
Suggestions for reforming US security assistance.
And great ideas for making better US strategy.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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If you can lie like this, why tell the truth?
Even in Trump’s world of lies, this is a whopper. The irrelevant agreement signed on separate pieces of paper at the White House in September has done nothing to prevent or cure violence between Serbs and Albanians, because there has been very little for the past 15 years. Any professor of social science can nominate someone for a Nobel Peace Prize (and yes, I have, the Syrian White Helmets), along with lots of other people. President Trump has no serious claim to one and will never get one. His nomination for the Serbia/Kosovo agreement came from an extreme right-wing Norwegian parliamentarian. I can’t imagine who might have suggested he do it.
But this whopper tells us something about Trump and his supporters. Neither knows anything or cares to know anything. Ignorance allows creation of a self-image unlinked to reality. Trump and his supporters are living in their own utopia, where immigrants are a mortal threat, discrimination against minorities is not a problem, left-wing socialists are threatening God and country, the Mexicans paid for the wall and the Chinese pay the tariffs, and the President has done everything possible to bring Covid-19 under control. No wonder he can also sell them the idea he merits a Nobel Prize.
Something like 40% of Americans are suckers for this crap. Trump has been entertaining them since his recovery from the virus at mostly unmasked and crowded rallies in states he should be reasonably sure of winning. This is not a viable strategy for winning the election, but it is a viable strategy for assembling a critical mass to protest its outcome if he loses. He famously told the Proud Boys to “stand by.” He is laying the foundation for calling them and their like to arms on November 4 if it looks as if he may have won on election night. He will then try to stop the counting of absentee/mail-in ballots, which are thought to come mainly from Democrats. The Supreme Court, with a 6 to 3 Republican majority, will assist in this effort.
Even if Trump accepts election defeat, there are lots of ways he can use the “lame duck” period until January 20 to feather his own nest and make problems for Biden (and the country), capably outlined by Politico. America is in for a rough ride: violence by right-wing armed gangs, abuse of power, Covid-19 rampaging, the economy and stock market in free fall until President Biden can steady the ship of state and begin the process of restoring sanity and confidence.
Stay tuned. This isn’t over yet. The 40% who believe the lies will want their final moments in power.
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Stevenson’s army, October 28
Dean Cohen warns about the consequences if Trump is reelected.
NYT speculates on a Biden policy toward Latin America.
Some China hands say the China hawks are overreaching.
Politico speculates about what a lame duck Trump might do.
Political interference with VOA feared.
Beef exports to China muddle Montana Senate race
New Yorker has good ideas on how crisis leadership should work.
Review of recent books on proxy wars.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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