Friday, May 26, 2017

America's King Lords It Over Europe

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

While Donald Trump's notable deference to King Salman of Saudi Arabia may have made some of his Muslim-hating supporters back home uncomfortable - or even angry, and his massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia will undoubtedly make one of the world's most dangerous regions even more unstable, it has been our Dear Leader's behavior in Europe that has really frosted the cake of American ugliness abroad.

Donald Trump is arrogance personified.  Nowhere was the American leader's sense of privilege and entitlement more apparent than in Brussels at the NATO summit where Trump shamelessly pushed aside Dusko Markovic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, so that he (Trump) could be at the center of a photo op.  Trump's sense of diplomacy played out as "Get the hell out of the way.  This is all about me!"  It was certainly not America's finest hour on the world stage.

Another interesting juxtaposition of Trump's cultural values versus those of the civilized world occurred when he arrived in Vatican City for a visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican library.  Trump showed up in all of his glory being chauffeured in an armored Chevy Suburban.  The Pontiff was also chauffeured to the meeting, but he arrived in his personal 2008 Ford Focus.  Of course, in Trump's defense, he probably could not fit in the backseat of a Ford Focus.

Meanwhile as all of that was taking place and most of Europe was averting its eyes from our embarrassing leader, former President Obama was entering Berlin like a rock star, drawing crowds of cheering supporters that stretched for miles.

Now Trump has moved on to the G-7 conference in Sicily where he no doubt is busy impressing the leaders of the other big industrialized nations with his superior knowledge of world economics and matters relating to climate change.  Surely nothing embarrassing can come of that!

Trump's ultimate coup de grace in Europe, however, may come this October when His Magnificence has an official state visit to Great Britain.  British Prime Minister Theresa May issued the invitation, a move which proved to be unpopular with a large segment of the British population.  More than a million people signed a petition on the government's website asking that the invitation be rescinded, with more than one thousand people per minute signing the petition at one point.  Prime Minister May decided to ignore the petition and the will of her constituents - and the invitation still stands.

Trump, in showing his deep understanding of the sensibilities of the British people, is insisting that the upcoming visit to Great Britain include a ride - with the Queen - to Buckingham Palace in her golden coach that is drawn by six white horses.

An American King is demanding his royal due.  God save the Queen - and the horses!

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