Posted on 08/10/2018 7:14:18 PM PDT by vannrox
Authored by Kurt Schlichter via Townhall.com,
Of all Donald Trumps many sins against the Great Church of the Transnational Leftist Establishment, his greatest may be his stubborn refusal to subordinate the needs of the normal citizens of the United States to the dogmas of our alleged betters. He rejects the secular civic religion of our betters, one that urges the sacrifice of regular folks interests on the altar of their self-regard and cheesy self-interest.
Trump is a heretic, a blasphemer, and its no surprise they want to burn him at the stake.
Horrors!
He demands that the Europeans fund their own defense at levels that come to about half of what America spends!
Oh well, I never!
He refuses to hobble the American economy as a tribute to the false god of the weird weather religion and he dumped the Paris Climate Grift!
Vapors!
He rejects the notion that free trade is a one-way street into Americas markets and thinks that we ought to get the same deal on stuff we sell to outsiders as they get selling to us.
The bizarre part is that Trump isnt even seeking an advantage over these foreigners who have been getting over on us. He seeks only reciprocity in our relations, and as a result the foreign policy elite is collectively wetting itself.
The mostly unspoken truth which I speak loudly and profanely in my upcoming book Militant Normals: How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy is that the postwar international order which arose in the wake of our victory in World War II was based upon America doing the heavy lifting. Of course, this translates as Normal Americans doing the heavy lifting, both in terms of treasure (the taxes they pay that get spent for the benefit of outsiders, as well as our own) and in terms of the blood they and their kids spill (which also gets spent for the benefit of outsiders, as well as our own). Isnt it weird how when the elite writes a figurative check, it always gets drawn on our figurative checking account?
The post-war order did not start out as a massive scam, but were reallyfar post the war today, and different times require different arrangements. Back in the late 1940s, with Europe in ruins and America relatively unscathed actually, ascendant it made sense for us to pick up the slack to help our allies get on their feet again. It was a hand-up, not a hand-out. The Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Europe, was genius it created a bulwark against communism while ensuring prosperity.
But that was 70 years ago. Things change. The USSR is gone (a spectacular victory of the postwar order). Germany and the rest of Europe are no longer smoldering piles of rubble (another success). In fact, they are now prosperous and complacent, and of course they dont want the American subsidy to end. It allows them to pay-off their barren, soul-dead populations via their bloated welfare states with the money they dont have to contribute to their own defense. America snapping a ball and chain around its ankle in the form of the noxious climate pact lets them virtue signal, while unequal trade arrangements let them take advantage of our markets while blocking access to theirs. They can posture by importing half the Third World because our generosity (and gullibility) gives them the flexibility to do it.
Its a great deal, for them. But after seven decades, its time for something new. And thats where Donald Trump comes in.
The militant Normals, who get the bill for all this coddling, have been ticked off about it for a while. A lot of us actually served over there and we know the Europeans have been able to half-step with their militaries for quite a while. Yeah, individual NATO warriors have been brave, and some have sacrificed their lives in battle beside Americans. We honor them. But their countries as a whole are not keeping their commitments, and the glorious achievements of their outnumbered, under-equipped soldiers do not excuse that basic reality.
The elite seeks to deny the truth. And failing that, it seeks to rid itself of this troublesome president. If you ever needed more proof that the Russia baloney was just a heap of rancid luncheon meat, ask yourself why the same idiots spewing spittle about PUTIN COLLUSION TREASON! are also outraged that Trump is demanding that other NATO countries actually build up their capacity to defeat the Bear in battle. Is the elite trying to keep NATO from getting stronger to own Putin and the cons?
I believe in NATO, and if you dont believe me you can bring over a six-pack of Stuttgarter Hof pilsner (it was my favorite when I was stationed there) and we can drink it while I dig around my Army stuff drawer for my NATO medal. And if you believe in NATO, not just the concept but the warfighting force, then you must demand that its members pick up the slack today instead of reissuing the same vague promises to do better someday that never comes. They used to get away with that until Donald Trump beat Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit. But the fact is our allies refusal to spend on defense has resulted in their general combat ineffectiveness. German Bundeswehr battalions have shown up to training with broomsticks really, thats a thing. Thats unacceptable, meaning we cannot accept it.
If you believe in NATO, you must also seek to maintain the critical support for NATO among the American people. You cannot do that shrugging your shoulders as our allies get over on us. The argument that NATO is both so essential that we Normal Americans must sacrifice lives and dollars for it, yet also that we must excuse the very people who are being protected from pulling their weight is an untenable political position. It makes no sense to Normal Americans (or to their avatar, Donald Trump), but for some reason the foreign policy establishment is totally OK with this bizarre conundrum.
Tucker Carlson, a voice of reason in a wilderness of hacks intent on shoring up the edifice of a 70-year old world order no matter how much it costs the United States, famously asked a guest, Why should my son die for Montenegro? Now, I have an answer (I served under NATO in the Balkans), but the point is not the answer. The point is the question Tucker got heaps of grief for even daring to ask it. But its hard to imagine a more important or legit question for an American citizen to ask. It demands a straightforward and clear answer, not the furious condescension and abuse it received. How can we expect any American citizen to die, or to send their children to die, yet be told he or she has no right to even inquire as to why?
But the establishment is so flabby and so frightened that it cannot frame a coherent and compelling answer (again, I can, and in terms an 11B infantryman would appreciate), so the elite seeks to simply shut down the argument.
How dare you even ask that, you NATO-hating peon! I wont dignify your question about how this arrangement benefits America with an answer. Now write your check to the Treasury and give me your kid and dont worry your hooded little heads about these questions!
Sound familiar? Its similar to the establishments response to our cries for help in the face of unequal trade arrangements:
How dare you even ask why we should accept high tariffs against American goods while not imposing identical ones to defend our markets! I wont dignify your question about how this benefits America with an answer! Now go learn coding, since your factory job just moved to Oaxaca.
And its also a lot like the establishments response to our legit concerns about the effects of unrestricted legal and illegal immigration in terms of crime, jobs, and cultural disruption:
How can you even ask why we allow so much immigration! Why, youre clearly a racist and I wont dignify your question about why all this immigration is a net benefit to actual Americans with an answer! And sorry about your kid getting shot by the gang member from El Salvador who the local cops had already arrested and released five times previously.
Of course, the elite does not want an honest and open conversation about the basic premises it operates under, whether in terms of foreign or domestic policy. It understands that its policies are indefensible. They are indefensible because they are manifestly designed not for the benefit of Normal Americans whose interests every US government policy should seek to serve first but for the benefit of that same elite.
Donald Trumps common-sense policy of putting America first appeals to Normal Americans for the simple reason that it corresponds to the proper purpose of the United States government to protect and benefit Normal Americans. We are not seeking to harm our allies the American graves that dot the European countryside prove our friendship better than mere words ever could but neither will we tolerate being exploited, no matter how uncomfortable it will be for our foreign policy hacks to explain that to their Eurobuddies over champagne in Brussels.
We see this today in both American and EU elites, who are not in the least reluctant to scold the nations that built them and to whom they are nominally accountable, for short-sightedness, eyes on some ridiculous vision of a world at peace under their sage guidance. Nothing of the sort has transpired, of course, nor does it appear to be near or even feasible. Nevertheless, the vision persists, and the elites grow step by step less in touch with the welfare of the individual nations. How else to explain the mystifying emphasis on forced, wide-spread demographic change both in Europe and the U.S.? They're not thinking of their nations, they're thinking of something better, and by extension, they're not thinking of their peoples, they're thinking of something new and presumably better. One has come to wonder if "better" means "more controllable" when all is said and done.
This hasn't gone unnoticed, but only lately has it been resisted, and the elites are furious about that. How dare Britain vote to opt out? That must be undone, and so far they've been fairly successful along that line. How dare the United States opt out of disadvantageous trade agreements and insist on a realignment of spending priorities among the comfortable welfare states? Until Trump came along that was just as vulnerable to crushing at the hands of World Opinion, itself an instrument of control.
This isn't victory over that, it's only the first major battle, but it does look as if the smug assumptions of internationalist moral superiority are at last under question. It's going to be a long struggle - entrenched elites have never gone down easily and these are bigger and more entrenched than any in history. They are also more vulnerable.
The elites in America, both rats and GOPE hate what Trump is doing for us, the deplorable/non elites.
Also, we love him and what he has done for America and his voters.
Thanks for posting this great oped!
MAGA!!
Many of those who complained were, in the sixties, asking, "Why should I die for Vietnam?"
I'm tired of the US paying in both blood and treasure, for those elites of Europe and American to hobnobb in the great resort and holiday visas few of us "little people" will ever set foot, all the while they frown upon us when we ask them to live up to their promises and treaties.
F'm and let the Ruskies or the Muzzies swamp them.
I have a serious man crush on Mr. Schlicter. Id love to toss back some fine bourbon with him.
L
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