If the Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) is not available for your board (the link to the FAQ is shown always below each post whilst reading it), send one to Shrewd'm using the contact link
- Manlobbi
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 10
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the following late last week:
The greatest threat to the transatlantic community is the ongoing, internal disintegration of the NATO alliance rather than external enemies.
He isn’t engaging in hyperbole. He’s issuing a warning and a verdict.
The cause of that disintegration has a name: Donald Trump.
The United States withdrew 5,000 troops from Germany — not as part of a grand strategy, not as part of a coordinated alliance posture — but as an act of pique in response to criticism from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who dared to question the competence of American war planning in Iran. Here is what Merz said last month:
The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result.
An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible.
This isn’t statecraft. This is petulance dressed up as policy.
The result? Shock across Europe. Alarm inside NATO. Open concern — even among Republicans — that the move weakens deterrence and emboldens adversaries.
Perhaps most telling of all is that allies are beginning to ask whether the United States can still be trusted.
Let’s be clear about what’s happening.
Since 1945, the United States has been the organizing power of the democratic world. NATO was not simply a military alliance. It was the backbone of global stability.
Today, that backbone is cracking.
European leaders now openly say they must go it alone.
NATO itself is scrambling to understand the details of unilateral American decisions.
The alliance is strained, not by external enemies, but by internal fracture.
That’s what decline looks like.
And let’s talk about weakness — real weakness, not the chest-thumping nonsense of MAGA rallies.
The war with Iran has stretched American resources, limiting strategic flexibility and depleting key systems.
Troops are withdrawn from critical theaters, not based on doctrine, but on personal grievance.
Countries are refusing base access. Others are hedging. Some are preparing for a world where America is no longer reliable.
This isn’t strength. This is retreat disguised as bravado.
Then there is the debt.
The United States is now carrying historic levels of debt, while simultaneously weakening the very alliance system that underwrites its global economic leadership. The architecture that sustained American power — alliances, trade relationships, forward deployments — is being dismantled in real time.
A great power can survive debt.
It can’t survive isolation.
Yet here we are — more isolated than at any moment since the end of World War II.
This is the political opening of a generation. If Democrats fail to seize it, it will be an act of historic malpractice.
There’s a roadmap for this moment.
It comes from John F. Kennedy.
In 1960, Kennedy understood something fundamental: that elections are not just contests of policy, but contests of strength. He attacked the Eisenhower administration for a so-called “missile gap” — not because the numbers were the whole story, but because the perception of weakness was politically decisive.
He seized the mantle of strength.
He made national security the central argument.
He defined his opponent as complacent, outdated, and dangerously unserious.
Democrats must do the same now.
They must say, clearly and relentlessly:
MAGA isn’t strong. It’s weak.
It isn’t patriotic. It’s reckless.
It isn’t strategic. It’s impulsive.
They must hammer this truth: Donald Trump is the most pro-isolationist, alliance-destroying, strategically incoherent commander-in-chief in modern American history.
They must say:
Donald Trump weakens NATO.
Donald Trump alienates allies.
Donald Trump empowers adversaries.
Donald Trump confuses ego with national interest.
They must never stop saying it because this is the great inversion of our time.
The Republican Party — the party of Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan — has become the party of retreat.
The Democratic Party now has the opportunity — in fact, the obligation — to become the party of American strength.
Serious about alliances.
Serious about deterrence.
Serious about global leadership.
The world is watching.
In Warsaw.
In Berlin.
In Kyiv.
In Taipei.
They’re asking a simple question: is America still America?
Donald Tusk has already given his answer. “NATO is disintegrating.”
History will record whether the American people accepted that verdict, or rose to reject it.
The choice is coming.
It couldn’t be more stark
Stephen Schmidt
Are Dems up to the challenge?
They’d better be.
Sometimes the situation creates the needed leadership.
This may be one of those times
No. of Recommendations: 7
They must say:
Donald Trump weakens NATO.
Donald Trump alienates allies.
Donald Trump empowers adversaries.
…
Yes. And it must go further. Donald Trump is all that Schmidt claims here. But the same applies to far too many Republicans in Congress. Too many have failed to stand up to Trump and exercise the authority Congress has to check and balance a President’s authority.
Individual Representatives have weakened NATO. Individual Senators have empowered adversaries. It’s not just the head of the fish that has rotted. The whole fish is rotted.
If Representatives and Senators are not held to account at the ballot box, reigning in Trump will not happen.
—Peter
No. of Recommendations: 2
Too many have failed to stand up to Trump and exercise the authority Congress has to check and balance a President’s authority.
This morning, I flipped on the TV so I could watch a DVD while I pedaled the exercise bike. The TV lit up, to the notoriously left leaning "The View". They were running a clip of Tucker Carlson talking about how Trump intimidates and bullies everyone. Even the panel of "The View" agrees with Tucker Carlson, on this topic.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 5
talking about how Trump intimidates and bullies everyone.
If you are easily intimidated - or even subject to intimidation under some duress - you don’t belong in Congress.
Of course, everyone has their limits, so I wouldn’t blame a few Congress critters for giving in. But the whole damn GOP is afraid of Trump, even after many of them spoke out against him in the 2016 election. They weren’t afraid of him then, but they kowtow to his every whim today.
That’s not doing your job as a member of Congress. That’s being a toady to Trump.
And THAT is what democrats need to do in the mid terms. Sure, a bit of Trump bashing is fine. But the real meat of the issue is the current GOP failing to stand up to Trump when he is doing things that harm America and its citizens.
Call that out loud and clear at every opportunity.
—Peter
No. of Recommendations: 5
The Democratic Party now has the opportunity — in fact, the obligation — to become the party of American strength.
Serious about alliances.
Serious about deterrence.
Serious about global leadership.
While that kind of message might go over great with many readers of this board, I doubt that it’s a winning campaign strategy.
Alliances, deterrence and global leadership meant a lot to voters who fought or had parents who fought in World War II. It still means a lot to anyone who understands national security or foreign policy issues. But I’m guessing that most voters wind up thinking about wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Iran when terms like this get thrown around in a campaign.
It sure didn’t help Hillary Clinton any to campaign on her foreign policy chops. Right wing media simply painted her as a warmonger, allowing Trump to campaign on “no more stupid foreign wars.” All of the low information voters I know lapped this message up.
No. of Recommendations: 3
While that kind of message might go over great with many readers of this board, I doubt that it’s a winning campaign strategy.
Agreed. Saying "we're against MAGA" would be a better strategy, and that isn't a good strategy either.
We have low-information, and increasingly low-education, voters. The only thing they seem to care about is how the economy affects them. Anything more esoteric, and you lose them. They don't care.
So everything should be tied back to "prices are going up because of them". Which should be easy, because that is the truth. And will be through at least the mid-terms. I'm not sure anything could improve much before 2028, given the present administration's incompetence, and intransigence.
No. of Recommendations: 8
There's also this little point that they all swore to uphold and defend the Constitution - the basis on which our country has been built. That extends to not only Congress but the Supreme Court and the President.
We became great by our system of checks and balances on human nature. No function, is upholding their vows. When individuals try they are attacked. Does the Bill of Rights still mean anything?
Have we lost our courage as a nation? The upcoming election will tell.
I've said this before. I've lived longer than one third of our nation. This is the first time I've really been worried about it. Can the center hold?
No. of Recommendations: 6
They weren’t afraid of him then, but they kowtow to his every whim today.
You ever work for a really toxic "JC"? I have. You live in daily fear of losing your livelihood. They are probably watching what is happening to Comey: paying for lawyers, over and over, to defend against every brain fart Trump decides to prosecute him for. Trump's resources to persecute his enemies, and reward his friends, are essentially, infinite. He can financially destroy anyone who displeases him. I remember Clinton talking about how he just about went broke, defending himself against everything the Ken Starr fishing expedition tried to pin on him. Everyone in Congress, in both parties, should realize they are in the hands of a tyrant.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
But the whole damn GOP is afraid of Trump, even after many of them spoke out against him in the 2016 election. They weren’t afraid of him then, but they kowtow to his every whim today.
That’s not doing your job as a member of Congress. That’s being a toady to Trump.
I mean...maybe?
The job of being a Congresscritter involves a lot of different, sometimes contradictory things.
One of the main functions is to be a representative (literally, in the House). You're there to represent your constituents, and to be the voice in Congress for what they want. Most Republicans don't want their representatives to be speaking out against Trump. They like what he's doing. They support his proposals. They don't mind when he does things that violate the Constitution (either because they don't believe they are violations or believe, like man other folks up and down the spectrum, that the President should fight fight fight on their behalf and let the Courts stop him if he goes too far rather than bargain against themselves). Generally speaking, speaking out against the sitting President is the job of the opposition party, not the President's party. Most GOP Congressbeings are from districts/states where most of the people don't want their representatives to be attacking Trump, or weakening him for other fights.
One of the other functions is to advance policies you think are correct, regardless of whether they are popular. But that function does not necessarily involve disagreeing with the President in public. The President has not had his every whim kowtowed to. The filibuster still stands, the ballroom remains unfunded, almost no Congressional funds were successfully impounded, Congress hasn't created the tariff power he sought to wield, he's had record numbers of nominees (most recently Casey Means) have to withdraw, he's had to change his personnel in response to unhappiness on the Hill, etc. He's gotten virtually no legislative agenda, and had some losses even outside the legislative agenda, because of the GOP in Congress QUIETLY refusing to go along with some things.
One of the other main functions is political. You do things that are performative. You bring bills to the floor that can't pass in order to help your party, or hinder the other party, or put pressure on the Administration, or demonstrate where you are to your supporters. Again, though, it is usually not the job of the President's party to do these sorts of things against the President. It's the opposition's job.
No. of Recommendations: 4
One of the other main functions is political.
I would regard that as more of an aberration. Their (the House) primary (and, really, only) function is to represent their constituents. Everything else generally detracts from that.
No. of Recommendations: 4
They were running a clip of Tucker Carlson talking about how Trump intimidates and bullies everyone. Even the panel of "The View" agrees with Tucker Carlson, on this topic.
Tucker is sniffing around in the preliminary stage of launching a presidential campaign.
No. of Recommendations: 6
Everyone in Congress, in both parties, should realize they are in the hands of a tyrant.
Some are too stupid to realize he’s a tyrant.
Some know that he’s a tyrant and are perfectly fine with that.
Some are hiding under the bed, afraid of the tyrant
And some are opposing the tyrant as they realize the threat he poses to the country.
No. of Recommendations: 5
Well, the U.S. stationed troops in Germany to keep the Nazis from resuming power and also to keep the Soviet Union at bay.
The Soviet Union no longer exists, Russia is tied up in Ukraine, and all the Nazis are now in the Democrat Party.
