Raising social involvement, self awareness and self improvement topics, because our communities are the sum of our personal beliefs, behaviors, action or inaction. Only "we" can improve our family, work place, school, city, country, etc.
Trump has broken his promises in ways that were mildly unpredictable, but with utterly predictable effects. I read an article suggesting that what is happening in Iran is the result of an intelligence failure. I find it it hard to even imagine this could be true. Everyone knows that air power alone doesn't win wars. Everyone knows attacking countries by air strengthens the attacked regime domestically. Everyone knows Iran's early reactions would be to attack neighboring countries it perceives as enemies, and to close the Strait of Hormuz. I simply cannot believe America's intelligence agencies advised Trump otherwrise on any of these matters. Considerations like these have always persuaded the president's predecessors, not to take the course of action he chose to take.==Hiram
Concerning inflation. It is the conventional wisdom, to which I myself subscribe is that president's have limited impact on the economy. We had inflation in the Biden years for a number of reasons, but one of them wasn't that there was an inflation button in the White House, and Biden chose to press it. But my CW with regard to the president's power over the economy has it's limits. I don't think presidents can decrease inflation, but they certainly can increase it. President Trump's policies were designed to increase prices. Indeed if they didn't increase prices, they wouldn't have the effects he intended for them to achieve. By imposing tariffs on foreign imports, he wanted to make it easier to increase profitability by raising prices. It is possible he didn't want to make American goods less competitive, but he knew as we all did that such a loss of competitiveness would be inevitable.--Hiram
A while back I heard a General talk about decades of US / Iran war game scenarios. He said Iran shutting down the Strait was in every single one... Maybe our Genius in Chief thought he knew better...
Or Israel dared him to lick that ice cold steel pole and he just could not say no...
One would think the MAGA folks would someday learn that he is not out to help the majority of them...
As talkative as Trump is, it is very hard to know what he thinks. The president was very clear in his campaign, that he was against foreign adventures, endless wars in the middle east. It was a pretty good reason to vote for him. But once in office, that policy predilections simply disappeared without a trace. Consider the Iran War. The Iranian leadership was comprised of bad guys. Their nuclear ambitions were unsettling. Every administration since Carter's wanted Iran from what it is, and that includes President Trump's first administration. But every president, including Mr. Trump chose not to go to war with Iran for reasons that have always been obvious. What changed? How was Iran different from the Iran Trump promised not to go to war against? Why did the intolerable outcomes that argued against a decision to go to war very suddenly become tolerable? For all of the Oval office availabilities, we simply don't know.==Hiram
Trump has broken his promises in ways that were mildly unpredictable, but with utterly predictable effects. I read an article suggesting that what is happening in Iran is the result of an intelligence failure. I find it it hard to even imagine this could be true. Everyone knows that air power alone doesn't win wars. Everyone knows attacking countries by air strengthens the attacked regime domestically. Everyone knows Iran's early reactions would be to attack neighboring countries it perceives as enemies, and to close the Strait of Hormuz. I simply cannot believe America's intelligence agencies advised Trump otherwrise on any of these matters. Considerations like these have always persuaded the president's predecessors, not to take the course of action he chose to take.==Hiram
ReplyDeleteConcerning inflation. It is the conventional wisdom, to which I myself subscribe is that president's have limited impact on the economy. We had inflation in the Biden years for a number of reasons, but one of them wasn't that there was an inflation button in the White House, and Biden chose to press it. But my CW with regard to the president's power over the economy has it's limits. I don't think presidents can decrease inflation, but they certainly can increase it. President Trump's policies were designed to increase prices. Indeed if they didn't increase prices, they wouldn't have the effects he intended for them to achieve. By imposing tariffs on foreign imports, he wanted to make it easier to increase profitability by raising prices. It is possible he didn't want to make American goods less competitive, but he knew as we all did that such a loss of competitiveness would be inevitable.--Hiram
ReplyDeleteA while back I heard a General talk about decades of US / Iran war game scenarios. He said Iran shutting down the Strait was in every single one... Maybe our Genius in Chief thought he knew better...
ReplyDeleteOr Israel dared him to lick that ice cold steel pole and he just could not say no...
One would think the MAGA folks would someday learn that he is not out to help the majority of them...
As talkative as Trump is, it is very hard to know what he thinks. The president was very clear in his campaign, that he was against foreign adventures, endless wars in the middle east. It was a pretty good reason to vote for him. But once in office, that policy predilections simply disappeared without a trace. Consider the Iran War. The Iranian leadership was comprised of bad guys. Their nuclear ambitions were unsettling. Every administration since Carter's wanted Iran from what it is, and that includes President Trump's first administration. But every president, including Mr. Trump chose not to go to war with Iran for reasons that have always been obvious. What changed? How was Iran different from the Iran Trump promised not to go to war against? Why did the intolerable outcomes that argued against a decision to go to war very suddenly become tolerable? For all of the Oval office availabilities, we simply don't know.==Hiram
ReplyDeleteI think the VZ success and the first bombing of Iran gave him a God like confidence that enemies would cave before military might.
ReplyDeleteHe forgot that he is dealing with Religious zealots who believe God is with them... I really dislike religious extremists of all kinds...