Trump stoops to primitive brutality when announcing withdrawal from intl' community (Der Spiegal)

[Amaryllis]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other G-7 leaders did all they could to convince Trump to remain part of the Paris Agreement. But he didn't listen. Instead, he evoked deep-seated nationalism and plunged the West into a conflict deeper than any since World War II.
By SPIEGEL Staff
June 2

Until the very end, they tried behind closed doors to get him to change his mind. For the umpteenth time, they presented all the arguments -- the humanitarian ones, the geopolitical ones and, of course, the economic ones. They listed the advantages for the economy and for American companies. They explained how limited the hardships would be.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the last one to speak, according to the secret minutes taken last Friday afternoon in the luxurious conference hotel in the Sicilian town of Taormina -- meeting notes that DER SPIEGEL has been given access to. Leaders of the world's seven most powerful economies were gathered around the table and the issues under discussion were the global economy and sustainable development.

snip

But Donald Trump remained unconvinced. No matter how trenchant the argument presented by the increasingly frustrated group of world leaders, none of them had an effect. "For me," the U.S. president said, "it's easier to stay in than step out." But environmental constraints were costing the American economy jobs, he said. And that was the only thing that mattered. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

At that point, it was clear to the rest of those seated around the table that they had lost him. Resigned, Macron admitted defeat. "Now China leads," he said.

Still, it is likely that none of the G-7 heads of state and government expected the primitive brutality Trump would stoop to when announcing his withdrawal from the international community. Surrounded by sycophants in the Rose Garden at the White House, he didn't just proclaim his withdrawal from the climate agreement, he sowed the seeds of international conflict. His speech was a break from centuries of Enlightenment and rationality. The president presented his political statement as a nationalist manifesto of the most imbecilic variety. It couldn't have been any worse.

Much More:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/trump-pulls-out-of-climate-deal-western-rift-deepens-a-1150486.html#ref=nl-international

[Voltaire2]

1. "Now China leads".

Indeed.

China is going to surpass the US as the dominant economic power. They are investing massive amounts of capital in their infrastructure and their people, and they are conducting a fairly brilliant foreign aid program, again investing in infrastructure and people rather than guns and bombs. They are gaining allies and friends around the world, and Trump is driving the EU, the third economic giant, into alignment with China.

We are at the end of the American Era that began with WWII, and also at the end of Western global economic domination that started in the 1700s. Trump and the Republican Party are reacting to the new reality by denying it and simultaneously exploiting it to nurture xenophobic nationalism. It is rather clear that this is not going to end well for us.

[The Blue Flower]

2. Long but excellent read

We're at a tipping point internationally. Resist the madness.

[pansypoo53219]

3. it had obama cooties. they should have changed the name to the TURNIP agreement

so he could PREEN. he LOVES to PREEN.

[Volaris]

4. Ye Gods what an absolutely vile and truly worthless human being he is.