by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
My congressman, Republican Jason Smith from Missouri's rural 8th district, soybean country, completely missed the mark on Trump's relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping in his weekly email newsletter that arrived in my inbox a couple of hours ago. (Jason likes to start our week out with a smile, but this week mine began with a belly laugh!)
My congressman kicked off his weekly missive - on the front page, so to speak - with this outrageously misleading setup for a discussion about America's relationship with China, historically a major importer of American agricultural goods, and especially soybeans - a crop that puts food on the tables of many people in southeastern Missouri. Jason opened with this paragraph - in large print:
"On Thursday, President Trump brought Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House - part of his decade-long effort going back to his first administration to hold China accountable for undercutting American workers and farmers with little consequence. President Trump understands that China is a strategic adversary, not simply a trading partner, and because of that, America came to the table last night in a position of strength."
As those great Americans, the Three Stooges, used to say: "Salami," Jason. "Salami, salami, baloney!"
America has itself handcuffed to a war-criminal maniac in the Middle East pursuing a war that remains well beyond our ability to control, depleting both our stockpiles of military munitions as well as our credibility with the other peoples and nations of the world, and slowly, but steadily demoralizing our troops. Our fighting men and women in uniform have put their lives on the line to fight a war that appears to have been started on a whim and has objectives that shift faster than the desert sands of the Middle East - while their commander-in-chief prances about focused on constructing ballrooms and arches, putting his name on public buildings, and hosting spectacles.
Trump does not focus on China as a "strategic adversary," but he does see Xi Jinping through the eyes of a fanboy - the same way he sees Putin of Russia and Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Those communist autocrats aren't tied down by the constraints of democracy, and if they want a 250-foot arch built to glorify themselves, all they have to do is point to a spot and say "Put it there!" Trump is in awe of their power.
American farmers and workers were undercut by the blanket of tariffs that Donald Trump placed on imports coming into our country, tariffs that American consumers eventually paid, a nonsensical and tragic maneuver that opened the door to retaliatory tariffs on American exports to nations around the world - on things like American soybeans. Those retaliatory tariffs crippled sales of Americana goods abroad. And Trump's tariff's weren't "strategic," they were bumbling attempts by a man who doesn't understand the dynamics of economics or world trade to show off his big brain and put a few extra bucks in the US treasury - and yet our debt has grown dramatically since Trump returned to office and is now north of $40 trillion!
(American farmers and workers have also been hurt by the rise in gas and diesel prices brought on by the Trump-Netanyahu war on Iran.)
Jason Smith goes on to express sone great rage at China over its assault on the earnings of American farmers, workers, and manufacturers, but none of that rage comes from Trump who continues to wallow in his adoration of the world's most despotic communist leaders.
Yes, America threw a very fancy "state dinner" for President Xi Jinping of China Thursday evening, but Trump was not there to flex American muscle, he was entertaining a personal friend, somebody he openly admires and respects. Xi Jinping and his Missus got a good meal in a fancy setting (courtesy of US taxpayers), a tour of the ballroom construction site - and plenty of high-level attention, and the United States got a pair of pandas - on temporary loan.
There was obviously a lot of "art" involved in that deal!
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