Interesting Analysis at The Conservative Treehouse. I’m posting only a small portion.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered some rather strongly worded remarks in advance of the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg Germany. Reuters frames the Merkel statements as a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump.
(Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to fight for free trade and press on with multilateral efforts to combat climate change at the G20 summit next week, challenging the “America First” policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In a defiant speech to parliament a week before she will host a summit of the world’s top economic powers in Hamburg, the northern port city where she was born, Merkel did not mention Trump by name but said global problems could not be solved with protectionism and isolation. (read more)
However, seeking control is a reaction to fear. Ms. Merkel, the EU, and the larger multinational global interests therein, fear Trump… and for good reason, he’s winning.
President Trump has put a jaw-dropping U.S. energy platform solidly into place. You can learn more about them HERE and HERE. The announcements last week are tectonic in consequence though seemingly lost amid the chafe of media reporting over twitter spats.
Everything President Trump’s team does is connected to a bigger, much bigger, picture than most people are paying attention to. However, those who control the levers of multinational power are paying very close attention.
At it’s core and central elements ‘America-First’ is about prosperity and national security through the utilization of leveraged economic power. For four decades, as he built out his empire of holdings, every-single-day at every-single-opportunity, Donald Trump voiced vociferous frustration that politicians were allowing the U.S. to be controlled, lessened, weakened and robbed by multinational economic interests.
The historic fact of Trump’s decades-long position must be understood in order to understand the severity, consequence, deliberateness and thoughtfulness of his corrective plan of action. You cannot overemphasize how strong these positions are. Inasmuch as you inherently care for the guardianship of your child, likewise does Donald Trump view the United States with such a disposition of care, concern and stewardship.
In Trump’s mind, failure in his goal to reestablish American economic power, economic strength and economic dominance is no more an option than a mother failing to grasp the hand of her child walking amid edge of a sheer cliff. It just is. It will be. There is no alternative. Period.
While the rest of the chattering class have overlooked it, President Trump, Rick Perry, Steven Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross, Robert Lighthizer, Ryan Zinke and Scott Pruitt have already moved America past “energy independence”.
Stop. Realize what that sentence says.
America has already passed the goal of “energy independence”.
We are now beyond the previously optimistic goal of energy independence. It’s only been 5 months.
We ran past the goal of energy independence so fast, that no-body seemingly noticed it. It’s like a race car lapping the traffic and now positioning for the lead of the pack again. As the crowd watches the race and positioning, the jostling, they seemingly missed, or forgot, the fact the Trump car was so fast it’s already a full lap ahead of the current cars and now back in the pack attempting to lead by two laps.
Stunning.
President Trump’s economic team is now selling energy as an economic export product.
Now, just stop for a moment and contemplate this.
Our national GDP has always been based on the fact we create energy products (oil, gas, coal, renewable etc.), but we have also needed to import energy (traditionally oil). The import aspect reduces the overall economic value of a fully functional GDP. We shipped dollars overseas to pay for energy. Those dollars come from your pocket (gas prices mostly).
The national security angle of this entire issue is transparent, ie. war for oil etc., and we have always been hostage to OPEC pricing, regardless of which political ideology was in power and the relationship therein. In short we’ve always been a customer. No-more.
Dakota Access is approved. Keystone is approved. Multiple new coastal oil refineries are coming on line (Louisiana, Texas), and we are exporting fuel and LNG (Liquified Natural Gas). Light-Sweet Crude is stable at low market value, and U.S. gas prices are at their lowest point in decades with even lower prices yet to come. Oh, and the coal business, driven mostly by export, is up over 7% in less than 3 months.
Hat Tip \robert_g
US oil exports at record level:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/us-reports-oil-exports-rise-to-record-level-just-as-opec-agrees-to-cut-back.html
Read the entire article … the US still imports around 8 million barrels a day and produces 9.3 million barrels of oil a day and so no where near to reaching a state of net export.
If you count the “imports” from our satellite countries (Canada and Mexico) as domestic production, as it kinda sorta is, and you consider natural gas as a very high vapor pressure pre-refined crude, we are a net exporter of oil.
A significant amount of the oil we import is refined for export back to those countries. In other words, countries send us their oil so we can refine it for them.
OK, I realise. I can not take anything you say at face value. I have to check everything you claim.
Okay, let’s suspend the Jones Act on shipping and force California to permit more crude oil pipelines just so we can educate you on logistics and economics.
What you’ve made obvious, repeatedly; is that you refuse to take anything that is not pro CAGW climate team, at real value.
Straw man, after distraction, after straw man, after distraction, after straw man is your typical response; just as your condescending implication that the article referenced above is false.
• Not slightly exaggerated,
• Not a difference of perspective,
• but completely false.
Leaving you, Greg, absurd as usual.
Lots of knowledge with an inability to accept other view points, competing facts, or make an effort to understand.
Chris Riley,
Mexico is rapidly becoming and importer of oil. Canada’s tar-sands are unprofitable. As for the Keystone pipeline, no one wants it any more.
Take a look at Figure 12. Production in North America has plateaued for 3 years. Rig count is 40% of what it was 5 years ago.
http://euanmearns.com/oil-production-vital-statistics-june-2017/
More nonsense in one article, I have rarely seen.
What I find interesting is that there is very little mention of the Israel – Europe gas pipeline. I wrote something about it.
http://classicalvalues.com/2017/06/its-a-gas/
Donald Trump is the first politician that I am aware of who, knowing that these things will reduce hispersonal power, is prepared to limit government, taxation and regulation in order to benefit the wealth and freedom people of his country.
And so far he is meeting his election promises.
He has my admiration!
Cheers
Roger
http://www.thedemiseofchristchurch.com
The key is in the first part of your first statement…Trump isn’t a politician
Trump is absolutely a politician. He has the most important qualification/skill to be one. He lies.
Michael, I cant confirm that Donald Trump lies habitually but he is most certainly correct when he calls CNN liars.
I have never seen such fabrication on a public news media that is supposed to actually inform us not to mention the name calling and abuse..
rogerthesurf, in his book “The Art of the Deal” he brags about it as “truthful hyperbole,” https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/09/27/why-does-donald-trump-lie-so-much/#141eed413788
“Michael, I cant confirm that Donald Trump lies habitually..”
It takes 30 seconds to confirm that, only those that are not interested in the truth can ignore that fact.
The “free trade” Merkel & gang promote is actually not free at all. This gang’s immigration policy is a suicidal and feckless betrayal of European culture. And their energy/climate policy is destroying the environment, impoverishing their people and doing nothing to Chang the climate. How dare President Trump not join such group think.
Mike, the definition of a lie is not “anything a leftist disagrees with”.
All CEO’s are politicians.
Thank you roger well said. And much more ahead.
“Truthful hyperbole” – I think Winston Churchill called it “terminological inexactitude.”
Let’s see, “global problems could not be solved …” blah, blah, but Brexit can?
Brexit solves a sovereignty issue. So yes it can.
Thank president Trump for green-lighting Keystone, but Obama’s blockage taught us Canadians to be wary of Uncle Sam and his unpredictable policies, so we’re busy putting Canada first by forging ahead with Energy East and pipelines to the Pacific coast. I’m sure you all will understand.
Are you serious? Energy East has been kiboshed by Quebec. The Pacific pipeline is going to be kiboshed by the new NDP/Green government in BC … and let’s not ignore the Indians. link
Yes unfortunately the real Prime Minister of Canada, Gerald Butts, is a watermelon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Butts
http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/ontario-disaster-architects-1.3884108
Trudeau is just a puppet that is wheeled out in front of the public as a diversion
I note, with approval, that he is wearing a poppy in his picture. I take that to mean that he isn’t a total irredeemable left wing weenie.
Robert of Ottawa;
For now you in Canada are lucky ! Making comments as you did above in Germany about a politician would get you JAIL time
( new law in Germany ) 50,000,000 euro fine for “Facebook ” etc if they don’t remove slanderous German political comments within 48 hours !
What does India have to do with Canadian pipelines?
Sigh, perfectly.
Of course, there is a reciprocal to that – WE never know when another Trudeau regime is going to come along up there. So we will continue drilling and mining, just in case…
Go for it. A strong and independent Canada is great news. Eh?
[A wine grape called Chardonn emigrated to Canada, and the world now knows it by a new name!]
That is too funny, not to mention subtle. I guess I will have to drink to that with a cheap California version derided for its buttery, oak tasting goodness. Eh?
Fortunately Obama Energy Policies amounted to nothing more than Constipation and Trump is the laxative this country needed
Trump is the laxative this country needed: Make America Defecate Again.
Certainly seems to be an enema to you, MD !
Good point AndyG55, it doesn’t matter if it’s a laxative or an enema, the result is the same, MADA
Andy, it is an enema to all the Democrats, the the MSM and dark government.
They are all crapping their pants at what may come if he stays in power.
They all thought they had the USA tied up ready for slaughter via Globalisation and he has cut the bonds.
It is not Uncle Sam it is the dam liberals and environmental wack jobs. Remember you have them too–David Suzuki comes to mind.
Hi from Oz. Thanks for the update on President Trump’s progress! As I am sure you know, I cannot see any of this by simply reading the Australian, US and international MSM, it is all ‘Trump bad’ trivia and leftist propaganda. And thanks to Mr Watts and his team for giving us to ‘real’ climate news for all these years.
G’day Cobber,
You can get real news from here
http://breitbart.com
Cheers,
Another Bloody Kiwi
Another bloody Kiwi? Get away with you – he’s an Aussie. If you’re gonna fib, get your facts right!
While the MSM peddles their “infotainment” news with flights of BS on ninja-smoke-bomb “tweets” for ratings (all parties complicit to that game!), Trump’s larger agenda is quietly being enacted under the radar. He is playing 3-dimensional chess while his opponents are squabbling over which color checkers they want. As the old gamer cliche goes, “Wellllcommme to the next level!” MAGA!
Trump with tweets reminds me of Rush Limbaugh’s commentary on playing with his cat with a laser pointer, watching the kitty chase the shiny dot all over the room.
I heard about that…..Rush said Trump was playing the media like Rush’s cat with a laser pointer…and it’s true
I see the Europeans have issue a new denomination bank note ready for the G20 summit so that everyone will understand how much their views are worth.
https://www.iceagenow.info/not-worth-penny/
Trump has the most powerful of weapons that bypass the media and drives the Merkel’s of this world crazy – TWEETS good and bad, that’s why the media and the chattering classes keep saying stop tweeting. No Donald keep on doing what your doing Tweet at 3am that really kills them – your winning!
Heads of state, the two most powerful in the democratic countries, fighting about climate change?
That is how ridiculous this movement has become. Does Merkel really need the green vote to win elections in Germany? I imagine she could consider another path.
She needs her party’s support to maintain his position, and Climate Change is a part of her party’s platform these days. The German system works differently.
It is part of every party platform in Germany except the AfD, a minority right wing group.
Bill. Maybe it is once a Communist always a Communist. And this with climate change appear to be the way she wants to go. Agenda 21, etc..
Yes, she does need the “Green” vote, She also needs to maintain the climate change bogeyman, keep the tax revenues coming in & stop the population from asking why, if climate change isn’t a huge problem, are they paying so much for their electricity from all these windmills that are disfiguring some of the most beautiful parts of the German countryside. Same with all the Western European members of the EU.
No, she needs everybody else to make their energy as expensive as Germany’s, otherwise industry becomes uncompetitive.
She should consider the path to hell. She is the gravedigger for democracy and a free nation-state Germany. She is the impersonated ugly megalomaniac European Union.
global problems could not be solved with protectionism and isolation….really?
The opposite of that is what caused the problems
Energy is Everything (Well almost). So if there is a possibility of a new and cheaper energy source it should be explored. We know a lot about our current energy sources so the main effort when reorganising (e.g. for self sufficiency) goes to those. Now Climate Change/AGW is fundamentally about energy too, so clearly any change in energy policy will be VIEWED as a change in Climate Change policy , even if it was not driven by any such considerations.
What will be interesting to see are Trump’s plans for FUTURE energy sources and what timescale he thinks needs considering.What of nuclear and future generation reactors? Where will current so called “renewables” fit in the picture? Can or will action be taken to promote new research into new ideas? Will it be worth drilling a few holes to search for abiotic oil?
The fast actions described in the article are indeed very impressive but they must surely be only part of a long term plan.
Here’s a little info on Trump and nuclear energy:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/29/donald-trump-and-rick-perry-want-to-make-nuclear-energy-cool-again/
Donald Trump and Rick Perry Want to ‘Make Nuclear Energy Cool Again’
No one is pursuing Polywell Fusion. It would cost about $1/2 bn for a yes no answer.
Polywell is being pursued on a shoestring budget under a different name. Their website: http://www.emc2fusion.org/ Other promising fusion projects also creeping along with angel investor money are Tri-Alpha: http://www.ialtenergy.com/tri-alpha-energy.html And then there is the Lockheed project: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/compact-fusion.html And Tokamak Energy: http://www.tokamakenergy.co.uk/ None of these efforts is getting much government support; the research money is all going to the One Big Thing deemed worthy by DOE. That ITER international project is $billions over budget and so far behind schedule that first operation of this research reactor is predicted for the year 2030. Trump would do well to provide some seed money to the small projects, and get the money by reducing the budget of the One Big Thing.
And to think, five short years ago, the conventional wisdom was that “We can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices”.
And they call Trump an idiot. Obama’s belief was so stupid and against the interests of the American people, this quote should go down as the STUPIDEST thing ever uttered by a U.S. president.
https://youtu.be/Z96ZiaQbwqw
Perfect!
I would have posted this myself. It is important to remember exactly the stupidity which caused the problems, so we know what to do about them. Acting in bad faith with the American people on full display here.
Obama…you can make a fool believe anything
The reality is that the climate change we are experiencing is caused by the sun and the oceans. Until mankind learns how to intimidate the sun and the oceans into providing the ideal climate, there is no way to fight climate change. But even if we could some how stop the climate from changing, extreme weather events and sea level rise would continue unabated because they are part of our current climate.
The furnace and air-conditioner are a whole lot better at fighting climate change than is the Paris agreement. And cheaper.
I have been saying this for years. Fighting global warming with aircon has two advantages:
1) It is proven to work
2) It alleviates the problem without starving the plants of CO2, which inevitably leads to famine.
Perhaps President Trump, in lieu of participating in the Paris foolishness, will issue a transferable income tax credit for the purchase of any U.S. made air conditioner. We could call it MECA (make earth cool again).
It is quite possible that AI and robotics will change the economics of production such that small factories will be able to produce goods at the same unit cost as the current large factories. link We’re already seeing China lose its cheap labor advantage as factories return to America. link
It is quite possible that America can become self-sufficient in almost everything.
I would say it’s quite necessary….
Just So.
In the 1990s, it was all the rage to talk about the new “Information Age Economy”, and how getting rid of all those “Dirty Smokestack Industry” factories (like CPU and memory chip fabs) was a Good Thing.
And, of course, all the Old Rules no longer applied in this new golden age. (Whenever you hear that, get your head down.)
Nobody seemed to understand that of you can no longer make what you need, you have become what is functionally a third world agrarian society. And you will eventually have a third world agrarian economy to match.
WWII provided rich lessons in the dangers of the dependence on others for critical resources and manufactured goods, and the virtues of self reliance. Lessons which have been almost completely forgotten, especially in the political classes.
Good comments TonyL. Thanks.
Yeah, apart from all those services…. why do some people persist with the utterly refuted economic notion that only “manufactured things” have real economic value?
Why would you ever want that to happen? And why stop at the US? Why not have every individual self-sufficient? Oh, because that is dumb beyond belief.
So you never buy innovative products from abroad. Then in 20 years you will be far, far poorer.
Oh and good luck with the bananas and the drugs Swiss firms will patent.
Trade makes everybody richer and provides competition to domestic firms, which make them better. Surely the US auto industry has taught you something?
There are some pretty hard limits. Here’s a story about a guy who built his own toaster from scratch, including smelting the ore to get the metal he needed. It wasn’t pretty but it was educational.
Suppose, however, that you could reduce the size of a viable automobile factory to a tenth of its current size. That would surely change the economics of the situation.
WRT drugs: The pipeline is drying up. In any event, most of the basic research is happening in America. link The problem is a bad model for science. All research suffers from the same problems as does climate science, maybe worse in the case of drugs. Anyway, the Swiss drug companies aren’t our problem.
I think a better argument for an interdependent world is that it fosters peace. link On the other hand, that didn’t work real good just before WW2 when the Japanese depended on American oil. YMMV
I read an article a couple of weeks ago that claimed that by 2050, the average work week will be down to 30 hours a week. Thanks to automation and other productivity enhancers.
I heard the same thing back in the 1960s and we all know how that turned out.
Trump has a few things right, but it is not worth the risk of having that guy in office:
“Trump has been ruled by compulsions, obsessions and vindictiveness, expressed nearly daily on Twitter. He has demonstrated an egotism that borders on solipsism. His political skills as president have been close to nonexistent. His White House is divided, incompetent and chaotic, and key administration jobs remain unfilled. His legislative agenda has gone nowhere. He has told constant, childish, refuted, uncorrected lies, and demanded and habituated deception among his underlings. He has humiliated and undercut his staff while requiring and rewarding flattery. He has promoted self-serving conspiracy theories. He has displayed pathetic, even frightening, ignorance on policy matters foreign and domestic. He has inflicted his ethically challenged associates on the nation. He is dead to the poetry of language and to the nobility of the political enterprise, viewing politics as conquest rather than as service.”
Michael Gerson is a conservative op-ed columnist for the Washington Post.[1] An evangelical Christian who served as a chief aide and speechwriter in the George W. Bush White House
Obama was far worse than Trump.
Holder, Lisa Jackson, Clinton, IRS, Loretta Lynch, Benghazi, the Arab Spring, and on and on.
What did you miss with his working for the WaPost and being a former GW Bush staffer.Trump ran against both. One would expect an opinion about that of a Democratic National Committee staffer.
Michael Gerson is not conservative and he has let the Washington Post philosophy and beliefs guide his thoughts and words. Gerson told so many lies in that quote he truly has gone over to the left.
“Gerson told so many lies in that quote he truly has gone over to the left.”
I agree. I don’t think he got anything right in that diatribe. He is describing the evil, vile caricacture the Left and the MSM have created of Trump. A totally false picture.
Unfortunately, millions of people believe in that caricacture because of the propaganda efforts of the MSM. But, not to worry. Trump will eventually prove them wrong and might even win a few of them over to his side in the end. Success has a way of doing that.
Doug, I recommend you click the ‘whole story’ in this article to see what has actually been happening in the world. Also, you’d better get more eclectic in your news sources if you want to know the real news. The left always quotes conservatives as a way to support their arguments and Wapo wouldn’t let a conservative have a say unless they were certified swamp dwellers.
And all those politicians who weren’t like that did such a good Job?
So Obama and Bush did such a good job in foreign policy that Iraq, Libya and Syria were in flames, North Korea had nuclear weapons, Iran was well on its way, ISIS had a huge caliphate, China was building islands all over the place to make territorial claims, Russia had annexed the Crimea and destabilised eastern Ukraine, the Israel-Palestine conflict had got worse, Egypt was back under dictatorship and Turkey was getting there.
I’m no Trump supporter, but the supposed competent and sensible politicians have been utterly hopeless and made an utter mess of everything. Trump can’t do worse.
If you’re a regular working American and both parties have stuck it to you, what are you going to do? You might as well bring the whole system crashing down around your ears. Middle aged white Americans with lower levels of education are in pain. They are committing suicide, they are drinking themselves to death, they are giving themselves cancer by smoking, and they are generally engaging in risky behaviour. They are the only group whose health outcomes are getting worse over time. link
If democracy doesn’t serve the basic needs of the majority of its citizens, what do you expect? We should count ourselves lucky that we didn’t get anyone worse.
Michael Gerson couldn’t be more wrong.
George W. Bush wasn’t much of a conservative.
He only looks like then when viewed by the socialists and communists that infest universities and mainstream media.
Yes sell all your oil as cheaply as you can. Let’s get it all in case it goes off, after all it’s been in the ground for a few million years now.
goes off? like milk?
So you would forgo the economic benefit that selling stuff provides?
But Merkel can not stop the revolt going in in her own country.
On 28. June 2017 Germany’s wind energy industry is suddenly facing fierce headwinds, and wind energy opponents are cheering wildly!
Yesterday Germany’s most populated state, North Rhine Westphalia, voted in a new government. The old government consisting of a coalition between the SPD Socialists and the Green Party were booted out in recent state elections, and since yesterday have been replaced by a new coalition of the CDU “conservatives” and the more free-market-friendly FDP Free Democrats.
Last evening the German ZDF news reported here that FDP party chief Christian Lindner has announced much tougher regulations for wind parks in the state. This sends a strong signal to the wind industry nationally, and now they are worried.
More at http://notrickszone.com/2017/06/28/the-de-facto-end-of-wind-turbine-forests-new-policy-in-germany-send-powerful-signals/
Yes, there’s a minor change in policy there – but it is all about protecting jobs in the power/lignite industries.
Check out the recent auction tenders for new onshore wind in Germany – costs down, very large community energy participation.
https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2017/05/19/10108463/germany-drives-down-onshore-wind-power-costs-at-first-competitive-auction/
https://www.evwind.es/2017/05/23/community-projects-steal-the-show-in-german-onshore-wind-energy-auction/59918
that’s not a change in the prospects for German onshore wind…
Their biggest off shore wind mess still not working after 7 years
Yes news is wonderful. You find your favorite flavor with no trouble. You want a rosy economic outlook or does bottomless recession tickle your fancy. With Big Renewables, you can be sure to find all manner of upbeat stories. The cash involved ensures they get their stories above the fold. These are what used to be called infomercials.
which offshore wind is that Stephen?
It seems to be a success: this is the latest round of tenders which are coming in at record low cost with no need for subsidy!
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-windfarm-offshore-idUKKBN17F1X2
It’s all hilarious! I just read the other day about OPEC scratching their heads in wonderment, over how it is that our energy production can make money at all, but when oil hit $50, they invented a more efficient way to extract the oil. Now, they can make a profit at even lower prices, while OPEC is stuck with older, more costly procedures. They failed to upgrade years ago, and now will be the ones who are going suffer the losses. They tried to ruin the US and our guys turned the tables on them all. HA !
Capitalism is good economics!
It is ‘Making America Great Again!’, as President Trump casts some of the shackles of socialism aside.
Just business. 🙂
The US still imports a sizeable fraction of its oil. North America (including US, Canada, & Mexico) is close to energy independent.
Trump’s approach also has potential downsides — stronger competition, nationalism, and conflict among nations — more like the 19th century.
Correct. If you pay your enemies enough, they won’t fight you, they would protect you.
Still we have the unusually high % of German-sounding names among climate researchers and devoted institutions like Potsdam in there stirring. Almost like it has always been like a German-led plot.
Geoff
Yes, conflict among nations only arose in the 19th century. Brilliant point, simply brilliant!
America did not emerge as a World Super Power until the 20th century
As you sarcastically pointed out, Europe was at peace from 1815 to 1854 when the Crimean War started.
There were also the 1866 War between Prussia and Austria, and the 1871 Franco-Prussian War, but that’s about it for the 19th Century.
— stronger competition, nationalism, and conflict among nations —
As opposed to what? Submission to some vague world government clan? Sounds positively hopeful in comparison, to me.
donb. Nonsense!
The world needs the United States much more than the US needs them. What would happen to the US economy if they embargoed, for example, Germany? It would definitely hurt Germany much worse than the United States. Merkel’s only option, and she knows it, is to talk big. Anything else is economic suicide for her country.
Let us think about this. Donald Trump just recently tweeted a photoshopped video of himself body-slamming a CNN logo. Do you really think you can bully such a person? (He is trolling the media and they are falling for it every single time. And it keeps them distracted while emboldening his ardent supports.) You want to convince such as individual? Don’t make threats everyone knows you cannot follow through on.
Trump is sitting in the catbird seat, and he knows it. Noone is going to push him around. They don’t have the power to do so.
‘Reuters frames the Merkel statements as a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump.’
Merkel warning Trump? Reminds me . . . .
Dr. No: Your attempts failed. I do not like failure. You are not going to fail me again, Professor.
Dent: No. I came to warn you.
Dr. No: Warn me?
Trump Wrestling CNN Fake News! Knocks Out FNN
https://youtu.be/hHvLtn2BhOk
You have to love Trump! He has the MSM completely bumfuzzeled.
I’ve been laughing out loud at the reaction of the Liberals and the MSM after Trump did his CNN video! These people take themselves SO seriously. It’s really comical. And a lot pathetic.
They claim Trump says the News Media is unAmerican. No, Trump says Fake News is unAmerican. Trump is right.
They claim Trump is trying to undermine Freedom of the Press. No, Trump is trying to undermine the lying that is going on in the MSM.
A lying News Media is as dangerous to our personal freedoms as is a foreign enemy. We can’t govern ourselves properly based on lies.
Trump has made it one of his priorities to expose the lying Liberal News Media, and as Commander-in-Chief, that is exactly what he should do, as one of his efforts to keep us free. In this case, free from a lying Leftstream Media.
Shake them up every day, Donald. The harm they do the U.S. needs to be pointed out to the public. Wrestling videos are a good start.
TA. Great comment. Thank you.
I agree with you in general, but one point drives me crazy!
Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” If he had been talking about more than one medium, he would have said, “The media ARE the message”. Media is the plural word for medium.
“A lying news MEDIUM is ” dangerius but lying news MEDIA ARE dangerous.
We is done with our rant.
What’s funny was the media whining about Trump promoting violence by the media.
How many times have various media types wished for Trump’s death? Both Bush and Trump had movies made about them where their assignations were major plot points.
Which one is worse?
Which one is more violent?
Which one mimics entertainment?
Which one mimics brutal murder?
1) Wrestling takedown, ala WWE.
2) Bloody severed head, ala ISIS
“What’s funny was the media whining about Trump promoting violence by the media.”
The evidence is clear, it is the Left that promotes violence. Of course, the Left always blames the Right for the violence, but the evidence is clear for anyone who cares to look.
The Left is much more prone to violence. I attribute it to the Left’s much more emotional approach to everything. They are subject to getting really worked up over things, and a lying Leftstream News Media agitates them to the extreme, which doesn’t help matters at all.
The Right, OTOH, picks up their own trash after they have a demonstration and leave things better than they found them.
The Left leaves a path of destruction in their wake. And they don’t pick up their own trash.
Merkel. A synonym for failure.
Trumps America does not align with the anti-democratic EU. We follow our course. No false claim to world leadership. Just us. Let’s see how it works out.
“For four decades, as he built out his empire of holdings, every-single-day at every-single-opportunity, Donald Trump voiced vociferous frustration that politicians were allowing the U.S. to be controlled, lessened, weakened and robbed by multinational economic interests.”
He damn sure did! Trump is not a johnny-come-lately on the subject of the U.S. getting screwed by other nations in trade deals. Or more accurrately, the U.S. has screwed itself with the way it has done trade deals in the past.
Trump has literally been complaining about this for decades. Now Trump gets the chance to fix this mess. 🙂
Somebody please tell me the up side of globalism again. We were told it would lead to less expensive products and upgrade our work force to a more “service oriented and higher calibre” workforce. We got the cheaper products but how many throw away toasters do you need? The workforce “upgrade” was eclipsed by H2B visas, answer centers in other countries, and loss of industry. There was no workforce upgrade for the US. It was nothing more than wealth redistribution (like Climate Change). We were lied to and everyone accepted it. The US, Japan, and Europe handed China the personal electronics industry. What did we gain from it? The world has been duped by outsourcing and the world is being duped again by Climate Change and thank God for Trump on both accounts.
You are confusing globalization and a raft of domestic policies that have nothing to do with globalization. Many Western industries off-shored due to regulation and energy costs, not globalization per se. The reaction if Western governments to globalization has been corporatism and suicidal energy policies, rather than liberalisation.
Don’t forget taxes.
If you want to pay more for stuff. That’s your business.
It’s an economic certainty that the US cannot produce the best of everything.
If you deny our industries access to the best, at the best price, then you deny our industries the chance to compete internationally.
PS: High tech competes with the US where ever they are located. An Indian programmer competes with an American one whether he is in India, or here in the US.
Merkel, the Hamburgler leading the EU theft ring, is upset because President Trump removed the deft EU hands that were picking American taxpayers pockets, by rejecting the wrongheaded Paris Climate Agreement that Barack Hussein Obama chose to commit the USA to without submitting it to Congress for a vote.
“President Trump’s economic team is now selling energy as an economic export product. … and the coal business, driven mostly by export, is up over 7% in less than 3 months”
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to fight for free trade…”
I don’t see why there should be a problem then.
Yeah.
For many people, it’s only free trade when their country is winning.
“…German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered some rather strongly worded remarks in advance of the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg Germany. Reuters frames the Merkel statements as a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump….”
Dear Frau Merkel – how do you propose to fight him? The G20 just gutted the “global climate accord” so as to not give Herr Trump any angst. You’ve been a disaster in so many ways. He’s winning on all fronts at this time. I suggest you stifle yourself or get lambasted in a way that could finally jolt sleepwalking Germans awake to “discover” the awful mess you’ve made.
(And I would suggest to all those potentates meeting there in Hamburg, there are enough tight, mature, frackable siltstones/limestones/sands in the European stratigraphy for all of you to shed your Russian/Muslim yoke for a long time.)
“Inasmuch as you inherently care for the guardianship of your child, likewise does Donald Trump view the United States with such a disposition of care, concern and stewardship”
Oh spare us! Matthew 7:11? Trump considered as God?
He’s doing more to quash dangerous climate change driven by ~3% of ~400ppm/v CO2 fear than you.
Over react much?
No. Just as POTUS. I can’t see anything wrong with it. Care, concern and stewardship is by far better than neglect, disinterest and selfishness.
I don’t think readers here appreciate how climate is central at the G20 and that Merkel is serious about opposing Trump – as are other European leaders.
The US is really out on a limb here…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/angela-merkel-donald-trump-g20-summit-climate-change-germany-chancellor-us-president-trade-wilbur-a7813716.html
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU is “more determined than ever” to make the Paris accord against climate change a success following the US decision to withdraw from the agreement, and insisted she would not “overlook tensions” with America on Donald Trump’s first attendance at the G20.
Ms Merkel stressed in a speech to the German parliament that the EU stands fully behind its commitment to the agreement.
“We cannot expect easy discussions on climate change at the G20 summit,” she said. “Our differences with the US are clear.””
“The US is really out on a limb here…”
Absolutely – your Donald is gonna feel a chill wind a-blowing – however hot it will actually be.
He’ll deserve every minute of discomfort he gets.
Griff,
Do you have a naïve, two-part view on relations between nations, with Peace perfect peace most of the time, with an occasional tipping point pushing parties into warfare?
We are seeing a continuum between these 2 end members, with the US calling out that it is leaning near the hostility end. Gloves are off.
There is little importance now given to the nice conventions and diplomatic nospeak. The US has departed from that end. Who cares what Merkel threatens, it has no importance any more. Germany has lost.
Geoff
Germany has lost what?
All you are saying is Trump threatens louder than Merkel?
Trump is the leader, not Merkel.
Expect to see Trump get a very warm welcome when he visits Poland tomorrow. And he would get a very warm welcome in Ukraine, and all the other Eastern European nations, too.
I heard yesterday that Free Syrian fighters who are about to take Raqqa away from the Islamic Terror Army burst out in cheers at the mention of Trump’s name. They like having Trump as an ally. Having Trump as an ally is giving them victory in this fight. Iraqis also have a good opinion of Trump and say they are gratified that Trump is making efforts to minimize civilian casualties in the fight for Mosul, which is also almost over. Trump is on a roll.
Trump is doing so many important things, and the MSM is solely concentrated on trying to assassinate his character. But Trump keeps chugging right along despite their attempts at undermining him.
Well he won’t in the UK, if he sneaks in (his official visit having mysteriously been cancelled)
Nor will he in Paris.
Griff
Do really think these G20 meetings are that important ? They are just talk fests and you are dreaming if you think climate is central to it all. These politicians know where climate issues sit on the long list of concerns of voters —down near the bottom.
Do it without the U. S. , good for the EU. The U.S. isn’t needed, good for the U.S.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has indeed changed the climate in europe with her open border policy.The question is not if europe will change in a hell hole but how soon.
Soon the beneficial co2 will no longer be our biggest ‘problem’ and freedom and cheap energy will be things of the past.
soon we will be an Islamic state governed from Saudi.
Too right, and they are fearful for *the* simplest and most basic of reasons.
Donald Doesn’t Drink (alcohol)
He therefore has a clear head at all times, a quick wit, a good memory for all things (people, places, things he and they have said), a GSOH, can take a position and defend it.
(Girls love that – see how he was engulfed in all those harassment claims/charges, Yeah. From bitter ittle cows who, attracted to those qualities and while ‘a bit tipsy’ at parties a long time ago, sat on his knee and made ‘the first approach’ They were rejected, all of them. But several years down the line they ‘remember it’ all wrong yet how, as the song goes ‘It Should Have Been Me’. No. They Magically Thought it should have been them.)
And he can defend his position without being surrounded by legions of ‘advisers’, without tele-prompters, without folks whispering in ear. Even worse for the folks attacking him, he has the guts (yes it takes guts a-la Don’t Feed The Troll) to say No, to mean it and to walk away.
We see endlessly here just how hard it is NOT to feed the troll. It really does take guts NOT to do something – to go against The Consensus.
Donald has exactly those sorts of guts.
And Merkel and the rest of them don’t like that because the are simply not in the same mental/intellectual league on that most basic level.
Look at Merkel. Fat, sour faced old frump. Sorry peeps but First Impressions count.
So you immediately see consumes a lot of sugar – in its manifold forms and being European, plenty grog as well. See that grey face, no amount of make-up or anything can hide it.
She is chronically depressed. There is *nothing else* she can be.
Hence Donald is a real threat to the cosy little bubble of Magical Thinking she exists in.
How can anyone say she is not guilty of magical thinking? She has swallowed the entire CO2 heat trapping guff and couldn’t explain it to save her own life.
If called on to do so, and Donald being the wild-card, the maverick, might just do exactly that, she will be made to look a total fool and she knows it
As attack is the best form of defence, that is exactly what you see here
Take on a debate with a drunk in a bar any old time you like to experience it first hand. (Not while drunk yourself obviously)
Meanwhile there goes serial womaniser Hawking raving about ‘stuff’ and generally inflating his own willy. Lot like Mick Jagger isn’t he?
But that’s all he’s doing now. He’s swallowed enough Snake Oil to refloat The friggin Titanic.
At least it saved him from swallowing too much sugar and grog so, obviously, he actually does have that GSOH and why women flock to him.
But what (professionally) has he spent his life searching for and what Einstein and legions of others looked for – if not A Grand Unifying Theory Of Everything.
It exists all around us. It is so common and pervasive no-one sees it.
It is called sugar (poisoning)
Peta – I bet you feel better for that!
“Look at Merkel. Fat, sour faced old frump.”
Yep – you’ve been taking Trump’s teaching to heart alright. If no amount of makeup will cover, maybe Donald could lend her some of his orange stuff – perhaps she could use what he forgets to spread around his eyes.
Typical Trump hater remark, nothing constructive, just pointless Ad Homs.
Just a data point – the enlarged Panama Canal locks have transited over 1600 large ships so far – more than double what was expected. 30% of them have been LNG tankers shipping US not gas to where? China? Japan? Looks like the energy export boom is already under way.
“not gas”?
At those pressures it is more of a liquid.
First I’ve heard that new refineries are being built. Source please.
Actually, America transitioned from an energy importer to an energy exporter several years ago. That’s not Trump’s doing.
“That’s not Trump’s doing.”
It’s not Obama’s doing, either.
The “free trade” Merkel & gang promote is actually not free at all. This gang’s immigration policy is a suicidal and feckless betrayal of European culture. And their energy/climate policy is destroying the environment, impoverishing their people and doing nothing to Chang the climate. How dare President Trump not join such group think.
“The “free trade” Merkel & gang promote is actually not free at all.”
What the U.S. and Trump want is FAIR trade. Free trade can lead to huge deficits for those on one side of the agreement, whereas Fair Trade does not result in huge deficits for either partner in the deal. We want Fair, no-trade-deficit agreements.
News just in – Germany raised the proportion of its power produced by renewable energy to 35 percent in the first half of 2017 from 33 percent the previous year
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-green-technology-record-power-generation-35-per-cent-renewables-solar-wind-turbines-a7820156.html
“News just in – Germany raised the proportion of its power produced by renewable energy to 35 percent in the first half of 2017 from 33 percent the previous year”
Think of all the dead and dying birds. I don’t see an increase in their destruction as being a good thing.
Except there aren’t any: the EU has regulations about turbine siting which prevent the sort of thing seen at a few old design wind farms like Altamont Pass in the US.
All the stats on bird deaths are based on that one site… If you believe the figures on Eagle deaths, then all US Eagles have been made extinct more than once.
In the UK more birds of prey are illegally shot than are killed by wind farms (illegal shooting/poisoning is in the low dozens, thankfully)
The U.S. Interior Department head said just the other day that between 650,000 and 750,000 birds are killed by windmills annually. I think I posted a link about it at the time. You probably read it.
That Donald Trump would lie is also always asserted on one side. But never proved. Except in crude constructions from unnamed (unknown) sources as it CNN so gladly produced. You can also receive CNN in Germany (in English) and there I sometimes turn around the stomach. Ninety percent of the domestic political stories are negative about President Trump.
What I see as a German citizen is the fact that Trump is perhaps implementing 80 percent of his electoral promises, compared to 20 percent from other politicians in the world. This is already a difference and a truth for itself.
One might say that this truth does not please the normal liar. For nothing hated liars as much as the truth
“That Donald Trump would lie is also always asserted on one side. But never proved.”
That is correct, sir. The lie is that Donald Trump has lied while in Office.
The announcements last week are tectonic in consequence though seemingly lost amid the chafe of media reporting over twitter spats
He does seem to have developed this to the level of an art form.
One can just imagine him arriving at the podium for a press briefing …
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, we all have a busy day and I’ll be brief”
(Trump uncaps a flare and rolls it to the far corner of the room … the horde chase after it pushing and shoving to get a good look)
“I would like to talk first about our progress in re-writing The Constitution. Secretary Farage has been duly sworn in and assures me that we are on schedule to meet our August deadline ..”
(flare fizzles out and the horde slowly drift back puzzled at the knowing grin that greets them)
” … Food labels are, of course, a matter for the respective departments of state and I will make no attempt to color their choice. Early this afternoon I have a face to face with the Gambian Ambassador … “
“I would like to talk first about our progress in re-writing The Constitution. Secretary Farage . . .”
That’s funny! 🙂
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/03/12/game-changer-huge-alaskan-oil-find/comment-page-1/#comment-2449438
Merkel is from East Germany, correct?
Her loonie-green energy policies also favour Russia and hurt the German people, correct?
Maybe she is not so crazy; maybe her energy policies reflect her loyalties, which also lie to the East.
She’s also doing her damnedest to flood the East with third world Muslims which kind of argues against any noble Eastern loyalty.
I’m sorry, but that is complete nonsense.
A interesting and detailed account of her early life:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-19/angela-merkels-early-years-in-east-germany-shaped-her-crisis-politics
Did she rat on her neighbors and family?.
The Stasi was big on that.
If you read it Rob you’ll see she refused to join the Stasi
@Griff
I do assume that you do not speak German. If you had enough proficiency of that language, you’d check this:
https://menschenrechtsverfahren.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/im-erika-neues-foto-der-genossin-angela-merkel-aufgetaucht/
http://marialourdesblog.com/merkel-und-gauck-als-stasi-agenten-tatig-im-erika-und-im-larve/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328536/Angela-Merkel-Communist-links-new-image-uniform-released.html
There is quite a lot of evidence and many more clues that the allegations of Merkel being IM Erika are true. Check the German sources.
Happy Glorious 4th of July to all my American friends!
Reprise from before your election – when almost nobody in the press said Trump could win.:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/08/14/president-obama-begs-america-not-to-tear-up-the-paris-agreement/comment-page-1/#comment-2277845
[excerpt of my post on August 14, 2016]
As a Canadian, I think I have the right to make a brief comment on your election – my justification is the War of 1812, where you burned Toronto and we burned the White House. Nobody here likes Toronto, so we still think we got the better of that deal. 🙂
For most countries, I suggest that the question of a Hillary vs a Donald would come down to “who gets energy right (Donald), and who gets it utterly wrong (Hillary).”
Cheap, reliable abundant energy is the lifeblood of society, and our very cheap fossil fuel energy should provide our two countries with an overwhelming economic advantage, IF the greens would stop sabotaging our economies.
Since the USA is a global power, there are more issues than just the domestic economy – I don’t think you need any more foreign wars for a long while, except to exterminate terrorist gangs. So you might ask yourself who is more likely to start a needless foreign war that will further bankrupt your treasury.
The USA should stick to token “weekender” invasions like Grenada. You might consider Quebec – they’re nearby, they’ve been acting up for quite a while, and you’ve already done Toronto.
Best regards, Allan
For what it’s worth, the War of 1812 was against the British, and at the time Canada was still considered part of the British Empire.
Technically correct Mark.
But many of the battles were fought with our Canadian militia and our native allies complimenting the British regulars. This included The Battle of Queenston Heights, The Battle of the Chateauguay, and The Battle of Crysler’s Farm.
At the decisive Battle of Crysler’s Farm in 1813, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Militias, the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles, the Canadian Voltigeurs and the Tyendinaga Mohawks played a significant role.
If you are interested in history, Glengarry County is of particular importance in Canada. The explorers David Thompson, Simon Fraser and Alexander Mackenzie all lived at times in Glengarry, the oldest County in Upper Canada (now Ontario). Major rivers in western and northern Canada are named after these three intrepid gentlemen.
Lewis and Clark had copies of Thompson’s maps of their destination on the West Coast.
Trump seems to be handling our current wars well. The Islamist Terror Army is on the run, about to be kicked out of their central headquarters, Raqqa, and they are also about to be kicked out of Mosul, Iraq.
All this took to accomplish was a few tweaks to the policy, and Trump made those tweaks, like arming the Kurds, and instituting more coordination with the Free Syrian forces. Trump has also defended these troops with American firepower when necessary, and they love Trump for it.
This success is part Trump understanding the situations he is faced with, and part because he has appointed some of our most accomplished generals to do the military operations planning. Trump does not micromanage. He allows the military to decide which way is the best way to go after Trump gives them his goal. The good results are obvious.
Trump is well on his way to shutting down the Caliphate of the terrorists in Syria and Iraq. One of his campaign promises.
The big problem is going to be North Korea. We may have to go to war to fix this problem. We cannot allow ourselves to be put at the mercy of Kim Jung un, a person who has no mercy. We cannot allow him to develop the capability to strike us with nuclear weapons.
Kim Jung un is real close to developing this capability. The decision-making time is short.
Obama handed Trump a lot of very serious problems. The good news is we have Trump, not Hillary, dealing with these problems now.
It just got worse…
“North Korea claims to have test-launched its first ICBM”
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/07/04/north-korea-claims-to-have-test-launched-its-first-icbm.html
The big emerging problem is China in the South China Sea. They are building military bases with air fields throughout the area, heavily fortified and with air defenses.
Look for them to declare the entire ocean an international no-go zone, except by their permission, some time in the 2020’s. It might be a causus belli, of the hot sort.
Yes, North Korea is a problem. Seems that China has good reasons to end this nonsense. Beijing is close to North Korea, less than a day’s drive away.
Remember the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia? One day they were there, and then they were gone.
It doesn’t look like China is helping much with North Korea. Trump says Chinese trade with North Korea *increased* by 40 percent in the first quarter of this year.
The Chinese may need a bigger incentive.
The Chinese should take note that even some liberals in the U.S. are very unhappy with these developments in North Korea, actually very fearful of this, as they should be, and they are not making anti-war noises right now. They are not promoting war with North Korea, but they are not throwing cold water on the idea, either. China should consider that as being significant.
A U.S. war with North Korea is definitely not in China’s interests. China should stop playing games, and get real and do something to rein in this North Korean madman, or they may have a huge problem on their hands in the near future, when Trump and the U.S. have to rein him in ourselves.
It’s time for China to pick a side.
@TA
After Kim Jung the Un-person now has launched his first ICBM, the Chinese are completey within range of North Korean warheads. They will have to decide quickly how to handle that nasty problem, caused by an incalculable dicatator. In their very own interest, they will stop him. I excpect they’ll manage it in a quiet way that saves the face of all powers concerned.
Given that the EU is a protectionist, as opposed to free trade, customs union it is a bit rich that Merkel claims she will fight for free trade.
“Trump faces delicate diplomatic dance with Putin meeting, on G-20 sidelines”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/07/04/trump-faces-delicate-diplomatic-dance-with-putin-meeting-on-g20-sidelines.html
OCD kicking: One tab, one space, never more in the same place. (The tripled-spaces stand out like strobe lights to me.)
ChasTheModerator says, “President Trump has put a jaw-dropping U.S. energy platform solidly into place. You can learn more about them HERE and HERE.”
Many thanks for those links. I got busy and had not watched the Energy Dominance speech.
— Total transformation of domestic energy production, and “liberating” towns from MS thirteen too!
http://i51.tinypic.com/15ewhud.jpg
I thought that would work.
Gasoline prices are not the lowest in decades, either by purchasing power parity or absolute cost.
Natural gas is, but that was well before the Trump onset.
“Gasoline prices are not the lowest in decades, either by purchasing power parity or absolute cost.”
I remember when Obama first came into Office, the price of gasoline was about $1.80 per gallon. Then, over the course of time, the price went up to over $4.00 per gallon.
The last time I filled up my car, a couple of days ago, I paid $1.83 per gallon. I’m loving it! 🙂 And everyone who has to buy gasoline loves it.
Hit Girl, go play with the EU climate mafia. My little girlfriend likes playing with her guns 🙂
There’s a post on the Paris Accord and Trump here:
https://internationalaw.wordpress.com/