I’m an American and I don’t trust the US
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
Donald Trump betrayed Ukraine, Europe, and Americans by serving as Putin’s stooge, blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, and declaring President Zelensky unpopular.
How can the Philippines trust the US? I don’t, right now.
Can the Philippines gain from its alliance with America? Yes, absolutely, but AFP would be foolish to see that alliance as the backbone of Philippine defense. Rather than just a tool.
James Clavell in his Shogun series of thick novels taught us of the two dialogues the Japanese carry on, one public the other private inside the mind. The two may not be aligned.
The Philippines needs to operate with that duality of understandings. One that takes American training and staging as a benefit, if it remains that. And one that develops Philippine defense capacity rapidly and thoughtfully no matter what.
The goal of the first should be to stand as defense against Chinese aggressions, and upgrade AFP’s skill set.
The goal of the second should be to develop a capacity to deliver quick-strike punishment of Chinese aggressions should the US betray the Philippines as it did Ukraine. The Philippines can only win a contest with China by being unimportant to China, or, put another way, by being more costly to China than beneficial should China decide it wants Philippine lands as well as seas.
The US is imperialistic under Trump. And totally self-dealing. Alliances are not loyalties to Trump, they are expediencies.
That is exactly how the Philippines should assess its American alliance.
An expediency, not a necessity.
Not ironclad.
As wispy as the morning haze burning off in the heat of the tropical sun.
_________________________
Cover photo from European Council on Foreign Relations publication “Trump’s senseless capitulation to Putin is a betrayal of Ukraine—and terrible dealmaking“.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
America first policy. No more USAID. This is what Americans voted for.
ain’t democracy great?
I always thought that American foreign policy was about America First. USAID, I believe, was created ultimately to serve American interests. I always thought that the Altruism of America as a nation ultimately served American interests.
Yes, USAID is considered “soft influence”, and I’d imagine was very much appreciated around the world, as it has been in the Philippines. By the way, the peculiarity is not the US pursuing her self-interest, but the idea that she should NOT pursue her self interest, or that she should pursue other nations’ interests ahead of her own. Those are the peculiar ideas.
Not if you are African or Ukrainian. And even American as a lot of Trump voters see prices climbing and their friends and family fired. You’ll catch on soon enough, I have no doubt.
I don’t agree with some of some of the way things are framed here. A sky is falling framing isn’t helpful. But to address some points:
1.) The Philippines needs to seize her own agency. Some of that agency can be helped along by the US, where the political leadership of both sides agree.
2.) The global defense industry consists of the US, EU, France, and Russia. No, I’m not ignoring the fact that other nations participate in the global defense industry. I’m referring to the fact that defense articles are either using US, EU, French, or Russian technology. A lot of EU technology depends on US technology as well. Mocking even a madcap US administration is not a smart way to go, as then that limits possible defense acquisitions to French and Russian technology. The French do not have the capacity, and Russia is the enemy.
3.) The defense relationship vis a vis the US and Philippines under Obama and Biden greatly improved AFP capability. There are now classified, but undoubtedly large, stockpiles of US weapons including advanced ones like Typhon at EDCA sites that the AFP may use in case of necessity.
4.) As a layman who is somewhat informed, I would like defense relationships to be made with Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand. Possibly Vietnam. Wherever the national interest intersects, of which there are many intersections as regards to PRC aggression that threatens all the above mentioned countries.
5.) The AFP is steadily improving but needs to quicken the pace. That costs money. A hard look needs to be taken on improving the Philippines economy overall, in order to afford rearmament for defense. The era of brand new freebies ended a long time ago, after the Vietnam War concluded politically. A mendicant attitude of the political class should not expect anything better than secondhand. With a stronger economy the Philippines can afford to buy defense articles from let’s say, South Korea, provided that the US relationship remains good enough for the US to sign off on it as South Korean technology is based on US technology.
Tell that to Europeans or Ukrainians who are experiencing a sky is falling moment. Even Republicans are as former VP Pence said frankly that Trump was wrong and Russia started the war by invading. As to style of presentation, you are always free to write an article in a style of which you approve. As to your points.
1. Yes, exactly the point of the article.
2. Mocking is an excellent form of influence. The US will be cutting military expense 8% per year for 5 years. The US military is already thin with outdated gear, especially in the Navy. The US is totally self-absorbed and unreliable.
3. Yes, which the US can pull on a whim. The Philippines needs her own gear, transportable, effective against ships, and lethal. Secretary Teodoro has already said that is the intent.
4. Agree. These alliances are already being built, one of President Marcos’ more impressive achievements.
5. Agree. Exactly what should be done, and is being done.
That’s not my read on the situation Joe. Trump is an imbecile, and has surrounded himself with even bigger imbeciles, and they are already losing big in the courts. Civil society is starting to wake up, including MAGAs who are now harmed and starting to question what they had voted for. Both MAGA and the Democrats did not reach a majority of votes in the last election, and the difference between the parties was a tiny 1.5% plurality. Hardly a mandate or license to run roughshod. People will, and are starting to push back. Aside from that we forget that states themselves are powerful, and Americans are a well-armed citizenry. We should not make a mistake to assume that only MAGAs have guns.
As to Europe, in my opinion the Europeans as a whole had taken advantage of American largess and protection after the post-Cold War peace dividends. Of course one may argue that this is exactly the system that Truman and Eisenhower had set up after WWII, and that’s true as well, but the world has no longer been in a state of peace for two decades. Europeans have the capacity to contribute more to their own and the collective defense, and they should. The Ukrainians themselves are pragmatic, and are working something out with the UK, France, and Germany in the absence of American leadership at the top level.
No chance Musk can cut 8% of DoD. Most of the Pentagon spending is in Red States. We can look at a map of major US military installations in the continental US and they are all in Southern Red States or Western States like California. This was due to during the build-up during WWII, these states had a lot of vacant land upon which to build large installations. Let’s see 8% being taken away from the Pentagon budget and how fast a mob of angry ex-federal workers and ex-federal contractors would swarm those Republican politicians. Not gonna happen.
For anti-ship weapons and long range fires, I agree fully and have mentioned this before that the AFP needs to adopt an expeditionary posture a la US Marines that is highly mobile. The problem now lies in that fact that only a few countries can supply those anti-ship weapons or long range fires, and even less countries can supply sea or air transport capability. Aside from that, all the technology involved is based on either US/EU, French, or Russian/PRC technology.
Now worst case scenario where the American people can’t beat back Trump and Musk, and the US is lost for a generation rather than 4 years, all those proposed new allies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc. would need to develop their own weapons and defense. This would probably take decades due to lack of expertise and manufacturing base. There is a reason why the defense industries in those countries didn’t develop a fully native defense technology base despite being advanced nations… modern defense articles are extremely expensive to develop and manufacture, which is why those countries buy the major articles from the aforementioned Western countries.
It wasn’t Musk but the Secretary of Defense who ordered the cuts. I can only go by what they say.
A drunk is prone to say many things… If Trump did try to (unlawfully) unilaterally institute cuts, those Red State politicians will be howling as federal dollars drain from their states. Apparently these spineless politicians freak out when more than 20 constituents complain to their office a day. They like dark money, they like relevance, but more than anything they seem to love power. I think we may be surprised at the eventual outcomes. Let’s not go by what they say, but what they do. That’s where the actual danger lies.
They are doing things which are illegal and undemocratic. It’s a gangster administration. The new FBI chief is an obscenity to the idea of justice. The appointments of these cabinet people are acts. Musk is doing acts. Trump is saying things that put the US in Russia’s camp. How, in this flood of nonsense, do I believe in order and goodness. Philippine acts should reflect the fact that it is a new criminal world order that has no reason for backing the Philippines other than temporal convenience. No, I’m going by what they say. And do.
Absolutely they are engaging in illegality and unconstitutional actions.
But here’s the thing: rule of law still exists, and the law takes time to sort out the process. Where cases have been brought, and there have been an avalanche of cases, Trump and his cronies have lost almost all of them in the last month. To expect instant change is to be no better than the side of dictators and authoritarians, who have the power to move things at will. Democracy is messy. Democracy takes time. Democracy requires citizens to be engaged, and the signs I’m seeing indicate that people are starting to possibly wise up.
The Philippines cannot afford to disengage from the US, even as Americans need time to fight back a mad man, just like Europeans cannot afford to disengage from the US. I have suggested alternatives and there are no alternatives. The world order as it exists is the result of the framework of international institutions and trade the US painstakingly set up over decades following WWII to promote peace and trade. There are no other leaders. It would take decades to create a new world order even if a country stood up and was strong enough to lead. The only choice now is to bide our time, push back incredibly hard where possible, and skirt the edges where we cannot over the next 4 years.
I was very upset after the November 5th election. You had told me and JP to be calm. Since then I have recalibrated and come back to my senses that it’s better to gird up our loins for the upcoming fight than to throw up my hands in outrage. Outage solves nothing, and I have cut out some social media accounts for promoting outrage but no action. I need to be clear that all these upsetting actions by Trump and his allies is WMD — Weapon of Mass Distraction. Their actions are meant to make you upset so they can carry out their actual plan which is to steal money from the American people while everyone is ranting, raving and gnashing their teeth. Let’s keep that fact in perspective. No one is invading anyone. The US military will not stand for unlawful orders. Trump is so lazy he has gone on vacation 4 times in the 4 weeks he’s been president. I hardly feel threatened by that.
Here in the US, an army of progressive, center-left, and center-right lawyers are fighting it out in the courts against the unlawful acts of the Trump administration. The bureaucracy which is loyal to the constitution is resisting and delaying implementation of orders. States are pushing back, and pushing back hard. Civil society is activating. Our European allies are taking initiative to fill in the gaps, as they should, and I am grateful for that. Democracy by nature makes mistakes, but democracy eventually self-corrects.
I’ve not argued to separate from US engagement or support. I’ve argued not to be dependent on that support. Use it. But don’t depend on it. Develop alliances across Asia, and Europe, and even the Middle East. Chart a Philippine course. Buy or build weapons that make sense for how they will be needed. If the US finds backing the Philippines useful to them, terrific. If the US has other priorities, no matter.
Not sure how this will get around the fact that weapons development costs a lot of money, and are all based on US, French, Russian tech and the accompanying IP license requirements. A lot of UK/EU weapon systems also depend on US tech as this is where the major research is done. Then there’s the question of capacity to build enough quantity and expertise for manufacturing.
Hate to say it but the world is stuck with the US, even if the US federal leadership is a basket case at the moment. The strategy should be to massage around the edges. That’s all that can be done for the foreseeable future.
It’s a path, a plan, a way to order priorities. Funding is a reality, so is capacity, which is substantial if used “right”. I’m not sure why you think the US should control Philippine defense. That makes no sense to me as a kind of sovereign Filipino in my loyalty.
Joe, you may be misunderstanding what I’ve written. I think I’ve been quite thorough as I’ve taken the time to recheck the facts. I would advocate for any country to take as its primary objective the country’s sovereign national interest. That however doesn’t negate the fact I outlined that global defense technology depends largely on US technology, with smaller shares for EU/UK (which often depends on US technology), French, and Russian. The Philippines or any other country is free to develop its own weapons, along with the metallurgy, design, and manufacturing. The French have done this under their prevailing Gaulist policy. Other than that, weapons depend on the technology of other nations, and need to either be bought or licensed. Unlicensed copies may be made, if native manufacturing expertise exists, at the risk of alienating trade ties. All these Asian potential allies use US technology.
The topic isn’t about weapons development which is fascinating in its own right. The topic is about how to manage alliances, particularly that with the US. I’ve not misunderstood anything. You want a strong US role in Philippine defense, I want the Philippines to be the master of her own destiny. What is going on in Ukraine is tragic, betrayal of the first order, and pure thuggery and bribery. How can I recommend that the Philippines unequivocally trust the US. Use them, sure. I’m all for that. Just as the Philippines will be used by the US.
“Then there’s the question of capacity to build enough quantity and expertise for manufacturing.” – Joey
Why not just budget for the cost and buy it from the US or whoever? Isn’t that what Israel does?
Yes, that’s what I’m suggesting. Alternatively, armaments may be bought from France or any number of EU/UK, Japanese, Korean suppliers. The non-French suppliers use all or in part US technology. So ultimately a good relationship must be maintained with the US, unless the Philippines wants to transition to Russian technology, where Russia is a PRC ally.
The Philippines does this. Jets from South Korea, missiles from Israel, likely HIMARS from the US, drones and smart bombs from the US, radars from Japan, helicopters from Turkey.
This list of army gear illustrates the variety of sources for vehicles and arms.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_Philippine_Army
And the Navy, South Korea and the US prominent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_Philippine_Navy
And air force.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_Philippine_Air_Force
I’m familiar with the equipment of the AFP. Even if the equipment is South Korean, to use an example, the technology is largely American and thus requires a US sign-off. Poland recently needed American blessing to buy South Korean light fighters, tanks, and armored vehicles. As for EU/UK origin stuff, European technology often has a high American IP content, as the European defense industry does not have enough money and engineers to develop certain critical modern technologies, and would also need American sign-off. The only Western military supplier that uses very little American technology is France due to Gaulist philosophy, and France can barely arm its own military.
Well, that may be, which makes all the more important to identify alternative suppliers. One ought not get caught being coerced by alliance partners who behave like barroom thugs.
Re 5) Yep, if a country produces something based on the technology of another, there is some kind of permission needed to resell. This right was exercised by Germany with regards to older Leopard tank models that were I think manufactured in some other countries and passed to Ukraine. Some German military vehicles with Swiss components had to pass the approval of the Swiss parliament to go to the Ukraine. I am closer to the war front than Utah is to NYC. I’m just quoting news from memory. Ukrainian car plates are not uncommon to be seen here.
Poland BTW already has Sokor tanks. At least, I hope they are there already. I just know that the Sokor fighter jets that PNoy once bought are based on F-15, F-16, or F-18 technology.
The gun used by both Abrams and Galil (Israeli) tanks is German, from Rheinmetall, I recall.
Joey, I have seen reports of suspected Chinese ships in waters between Palawan and the Visayas recently on reputable Philippine news channels. Also, a report of suspected Chinese ships in Bikol coastal waters, but the Navy clarified it was a joint US-Japan-French exercise.
I am going to work in the home office after breakfast and all, so I don’t have time to look for those reports, but maybe Karl or others know better what I mean as that is the “Asian front.” Anyhow good that Filipinos have more maritime awareness nowadays than a decade ago. Wondering how good the recon capabilities of the Philippines are at sea. The destruction of Clark in 1942 was partly due to the country being mostly radar blind at that time, so US planes tried to look for the reported Japanese fighters and ran out of gas. Again, I quote from memory.
The principles for making small arms to artillery isn’t anything new. If trade and intellectual property rights relationships are ignored, a customer-country could declare its own national interest to nationalize a copy. The hard part though in modern armaments seems to be the metallurgy and a precision manufacturing process. Even when I machined my own AR-15 lower receiver from a billet in the CNC, it required attention to detail, and that was purchasing a pre-cast billet, then a pre-manufactured barrel, upper receiver, trigger assembly, stock, magazines, etc. The rifling alone in a rifled weapon requires a great deal of precision nowadays. Sure 3D printed stuff exists but it isn’t very durable.
South Korea’s defense industry is heavily reliant on US IP. For example the K1 tank has a lot of inputs from Chrysler Defense, General Dynamics for the hull and turret design, its 105mm main gun is US/UK and the 120mm gun upgrade is US/German, while the diesel motor is by MTU (a company you no doubt have heard of). Same story and same suppliers with the K2 tank, which Poland has bought large quantities of to augment American M1 tanks. With the TA-50, which the PAF uses in the FA-50PH light fighter variant, that fighter jet uses exclusively American technologies (Lockheed/General Dynamics and GE) and is essentially a mini F-16. So yes, access to technology is a big issue, and any country that doesn’t have its own advanced defense industry, including the Philippines, would have to tread lightly — there are just not that many defense suppliers as the choice is between US/EU, France, Russia.
I have seen the updates from Ray Powell about the PRC CCG ships off of Palawan. AFAIK, the CCG has stayed to the west of Palawan, not between Palawan and Western Visayas as you may have heard. GMA and PNA reported this as well. But yes, the Philippines needs to wake up to the fact that despite how much Trump spouts imperialist-sounding bloviating, Trump is in the end an imbecile and has surrounded himself with imbeciles. Trump is all talk. The PRC’s intention was always to push the boundary of the so-called 9/10-dash line right up to the edge of the 12nm territorial sea (aka “internal waters”). The PRC intention is to steal all of the 200nm EEZ of each affected SEA country, and the first targets of course are the Philippines and Vietnam due to proximity. My policy is to watch what others do, not what they say.
Speaking of nothing new.
http://adroth.ph/licensed-manufacture-the-key-to-survival-for-srdp-companies/
But looking at the automotive industry and jeepney, we have a long ways to go.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1244302
One thing to note, using the example of South Korea’s successful local arms industry. My godfather is recently retired engineer (jet engines/turbines) who had worked for General Dynamics then retired from Lockheed Martin (Lockheed and Martin Marietta has bought General Dynamics aerospace and space business, respectively, before merging into Lockheed Martin). My godfather had mentioned that the TA-50 program was essentially an upskill and jobs program for Koreans, as the majority of the design was derived from the Lockheed Martin team who was officially a “partner.” Similarly, the Japanese F-2 is another advanced F-16 variant (“Agile Falcon”) that was never produced for the USAF. The F-2 program saw General Dynamics largely supply the design, and have a 45% work share. Japan was a much more comparatively technologically advanced nation in the 1990s during the time of the F-2 design, than compared to South Korea during the 2000s for the T-50. IIRC, the T-50 work share split is about 60/40 between South Korea and US.
Those automotive investment numbers are sobering once it is converted into USD. P5.5 billion is “only” $95m. A pittance once spread over multiple years… about a decade ago, I recall Mitsubishi funded a wholly-owned manufacturing plant in Java that cost nearly $600m in mid-2010s money to build. For the Philippines, Indonesia provides a model to emulate for car manufacturing… but note that the tax and tariff model is much more incentivizing in Indonesia. The Indonesian model actually attracts foreign manufacturers to set up shop locally rather than trying to import. The Philippines model is one of official autarky, but in practice very little was done to use the short term revenue of tariffs to setup industries. Tariffs and limits on foreign ownership hurt the Philippines economically. Hope things will change.
As the song goes- it is not too late to Change.
Yep, MTU makes motors and turbines. One could compare them to microchips in complexity, meaning only a few manufacturers worldwide know how to make them in the needed quality. Especially turbines of ships and jet engines. Most commercial jet planes have either Rolls Royce or Pratt and Whitney engines based on my casual observations out of plane windows. MTU is IIRC more on ships, and it seems the heavy-duty engines needed for military vehicles.
Wondering how strained BTW the Russian-Chinese relationship is given that China has often practically appropriated Russian jet fighter designs and more. Indonesia might have a very good relationship with Germany as its defense industry (ships and planes) was built with technology transfer from Germany thanks to Dr. Habibie’s German industry contacts. What I can imagine is that core components of Indonesian ships are German, so Germany is not screwed in that working relationship. The Philippines needs to cultivate similar partnerships. Not just be dependent on one, even as finally a lot still depends on the US and will continue to.
The Russians don’t really have a choice about PRC copies of Russian technology, even if they are displeased. Russia was and is desperate for foreign military sales as a way of obtaining currency. Russian technology was never that good even the USSR days. For example Russian turbine technology has roots in reverse-engineered first generation British designs. The Soyuz has roots in the Nazi V-2. The main Russian strategic bomber (Tupolev Tu-95) has roots in the US WWII B-29. Russia made up lack of advanced metallurgy, precision manufacturing process and more with sheer ingenuity. The Russian, PRC, and North Korean strategy also does not value service member lives, so their stuff only needs to work for the current meat wave.
The PRC have more or less copied Russian land system and fighter designs. But the turbine designs are still a bad copy of the already deficient Russian turbines. A lot of people in the West freak out about emerging Russian and PRC weapon systems that look “big scary,” but one must remember that a convincing copy doesn’t make a good copy. Besides, it has been proven across the ages that a military with less good materiel can often win using better tactics. The top-down command structure of the communist system, which really derived from an imperialist system, does not promote developing and learning new tactics as bright young service members are afraid to provide feedback to their commanders. Not to say that a massive meat wave isn’t dangerous itself. But there are ways to prepare the defense, I think.
The biggest risk is to try to jump to the top, whether in theory or in practice. In some ways the theoretical en grande is even worst because it provides a constant excuse on why there continues to be failure and inaction. “Just do something,” with at least some sort of plan of course, and the ability and humility to reassess along the way to make adjustments. The Indonesians who came up here again do this. Habibie may have seemed magical to Indonesians and envied by Filipinos, but ultimately what he did was to get consensus to “do something.”
Perhaps if Americans don’t push back against the Trump excesses, the US falls, and there are no more elections, in 20-30 years a new world order will emerge with the accompanying technology nexuses. Until then any plausible Philippines alliance and technology partner is still using a US license somehow. And we need to recognize and mitigate for that reality. I don’t understand the headless chicken attitude when it comes to Trump. The late 19th century period in the US was arguably worst in terms of oligarch control, and for example McKinley was an absolute buffoon who was controlled by his cronies, which was one of the reasons why the US ended up in the Philippines. Yet those oligarchs were vanquished. And today’s oligarchs will be vanquished as well. A lot of what is screamed on social media is for likes and reactions, even our democracy-loving and liberal side and doesn’t reflect reality. We must keep that in mind and be a people of action in our own way.
“I don’t understand the headless chicken attitude when it comes to Trump.” Let me know when you do understand. I give it maybe three months. My bookie is off to Macau or I’d get a more precise estimate.
Interestingly, the CSPAN historian panel in 2021 had McKinley ranked 14th and Trump, after his mild first term, 41st. His second term is pure banshee chaos.
Eventually, even feckless leaders tend to have their own apologists.
CSPAN’s historians are apologists for McKinley? Haha, I don’t think so. McKinley may have been a racist feckless buffoon but he did some things well. Historians ranked him high on his relations with congress (10) and administrative skills (12) but low on moral authority (21) and pursuing equal justice for all (26).
“Donald Trump betrayed Ukraine, Europe, and Americans by serving as Putin’s stooge, blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, and declaring President Zelensky unpopular.”
I know where that “blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion” comes from. At a recent press conference, Trump responded to a question. This is the Leftist media’s take on that particular response of Trump:
CNN Wolfe Blitzert :
“Tonight Pres Trump parroting Russian propaganda as he falsely accuses Ukraine of starting the war almost 3 years ago and V Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine”
CNN Anderson Cooper:
“So comes tonight, after an extraordinary sacrifice to save the country, Ukraine today Pres Trump lean down for starting the war”
CNN (I don’t know this guy):
“President Trump falsely claimed Ukraine for starting the war”
The is the way the Leftist media characterised what Trump said, in characteristic cynchronised way.
So apparently you bought into this kinf of leftist news.
This was what Trump actually said at mar A-Lago:
“You know, they are upset at not having a seat, [at the peace talk between Trump and Putin] but they had a seat for 3 years and a long time before that. This could have been settled easily. A half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without, I think, without a loss of little land, without loss of any lives, and without the loss of citizenry …… but today I heard ‘whoa we were not invited..” but you were invited for 3 years. You should have ended in 3 years. You should never have started it.”
CNN said what they said without context. Blatant lies.
What Trump said about “You should never have started it” was in the context of Ukraine’s failure at negotiating. Because of their failure at negotiating, the war started. Trump was not saying Ukraine invaded Russia!
That’s the reason CNN MSNBC CBS are experiencing plummeting viewership. Mmn
‘What Trump said about “You should never have started it” was in the context of Ukraine’s failure at negotiating.’ – Mike Page
A country’s sovereignty is a subject of negotiation? How does that work?
When the school bully get’s your lunch and warns you not to fight back, it is your fault if you get a black eye because you fought back? Something was negotiable?
The USA is now close to the horror scenario in Back to the Future II, where Biff is the billionaire US President.
Of course, Biff as a never grown up high school bully reasons like one.
IIRC Biff from Back to the Future was modeled after a much younger Trump.
It’s remarkable how easy to normalise lies when one hates Trump. You may not share Trump’s views, as I may well be too. But Mike’s point is about CNN mischaracterising what Trump said. CNN lied. That Trump is a bully or is a Hitler has nothing with the point made.
Lucy G, you are a troll, defending a troll. You are probably Mike himself on a different line. You bot-speak nonsense in petulant little posts and really have nothing to say.
What did President Zelensky say? What did Europe say? What did Mike Pence say? Step outside your own bubble, I’d suggest.
Hint, tap the link to the article mentioned in the photo credit at the bottom of the blog article.
DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo had the video interview below with the Voice of Germany at last weekend’s Munich Security Conference:
The main question was indeed whether the Philippines can trust Trump’s USA and, of course, in the 15-minute interview, the Secretary answered that the Philippines continues to believe in multilateralism, all that.
Wow Joe, you need to write more posts even slightly, obliquely criticizing Trump. Then all these random trolls would find your blog, haha.
Funny indeed.
Since January the US federal government… if it calls itself “governing”… has gone bananas completely. It is as if a mutiny sprung not by dissenters but by the lunatics now in power. It is a purge, literal and figurative, less than violent than Stalin’s purge of the Soviet government, and of the Nazi pogrom in the form of Kristallnacht, but nonetheless ruthless and coldblooded.
In declaring war against non-traditional genders and minorities — to please the Christian religious extremists desiring an American analogue of theocratic Iran — and in the supposed name of seizing “lost” taxpayers’ money, the attack dogs have taken apart government agencies, fired what it deemed “undesirable” civil servants, and so pretty much destroying once strong institutions from which some many foreign governments looked up as examples.
So right now, the AFP is in a quandary, as one hand the generals have to just nod to anything Hesgeth talks and promises about, and the other should be planning for alternate contingencies in the event DC and the Pentagon suddenly makes a heel turn.
With trillions of dollars in debt, downsizing the federal government as what the former US administrations had done (Clinton and Obama) IHMO is okay.
Since Reagan, it has been Republicans recklessly increasing the national debt to fund foreign adventures and tax cuts for the rich, while blaming the Democrats who followed and tried to fix everything only to be broken by the next Republican. I am a former movement conservative who left upon this realization. The American people fall for the okey doke every single time, because certain groups want to punish other groups, not realizing that billionaires pit the regular American whose interests largely align economically against each other. Trump’s only major accomplishment last time around was the single biggest tax cut for the rich in a generation, adding nearly $10 trillion to the national debt alone out of the current approximately $31.5 trillion debt pile.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1366899/percent-change-national-debt-president-us/
https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump
That’s the problem when government expenditures exceed than the revenues it receives .
Thanks for those links.
I’m not for wasteful spending. We should all demand more efficient and responsible government. The problem therein is Republicans ever since the party was captured by business interests, the GOP has consistently promoted the falsehood that tax cuts for the rich are good. There was a big inter-party battle between the original progressive faction and the business faction around the turn of the 20th century, which also involved the Philippines becoming an American possession. The remaining progressive Republicans were pushed out by Nixon, who started the alliance between business, poor Whites, and the religious right that had lasted until this day.
There is a common misperception that a government should run like business, or even like a household. A government exists in actuality to provide services to the public. The US was, and still is, in the unique position of being the most powerful economy and the USD is the world reserve currency, which allows room to leverage public debt that no other country has. That debt can be used to provide public services for the many, but it is often used to serve the rich for the few. That I cannot agree with, even as I am part of the affluent class that receives the large part of the benefits from Republican tax policy. I also don’t agree with far-left ideas of giving handouts to everyone; public money should be used to give the public opportunities to improve their own lives. The far-left is but a tiny faction of excess elites though in the American context, and their influence is overblown by the right. Most Americans exist between center-left and center-right, yet the GOP has been captured by their far-right wing.
The problem is that it was Trump who ran up that debt, and to believe he can bring it down seems to me unreasonable. He wants to extend tax cuts for the rich which expire this year. That’s why he is shrinking the Federal government. It is telling that his first fires were in justice, law enforcement, and inspectors general so there are no brakes, no oversight.
Heel turn- You watch wrestling.
Gen. Miley situation is WWEesque.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3jd798kpzo
Feeling “nabastos” siguro , being the Commander in Chief of the military. Thanks for the link Sir Karl.
Much of what Trump does is “kayfabe” — performative actions that don’t match reality. Trump of course features heavily in the culture of professional wrestling and MMA. The problem exists when the fans can no longer discern between what is entertainment and what is real. Kayfabe is not supposed to be real. The phenomenon is the culmination of “suspension of belief.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe
Acting the role.
That is exactly the point of the blog, except I would say the alternate path should not be a contingency but a commitment. It can run parallel to the US alliance, for whatever can be gained from it.
I really like to have AFP explore other options in any event support from Pentagon evaporates as that real estate plunderer ever decides to isolate the US, get rid of Posse Comitatus Act, and make further war against minorities as the white power elite bleach and re-Christianize with the Krag the 48 states
So the AFP (and if they are ever pragmatic) do have to strengthen alliances with other countries who are in the shadow of the Middle Kingdom. Further military cooperation with Japan, Australia, South Korea or Taiwan — or any non-BRICS countries — are to be pursued.
We are totally in sync, madlanglupa. 100 percent.
I should have added Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, in that he nearly had all the intellectuals violently removed from government because he considered them threats to his rule.
Kamala will win the next election and unite the world against Putin and Xi. She will bring humanity into a golden age. Kamala will be the greatest leader in human history.
I think she would be a stable leader. Greatness is determined by events that we cannot forsee right now.
Reading about this Federal Shrinking.
https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/washington-dc/tens-of-thousands-of-federal-workers-take-buyouts-dozens-fired/
Education Department retirees can end up with zilch?
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/05/education-department-staffers-trump-resignation-offer-00202742
Yeah, the firings are also telling in that agencies considered progressive are targets for the purge.
Dismantling publicly-funded science, the arts, and education… so as to make worse, as besides possibly allowing private entities to replace those agencies (and anyone needing data may have to pay for it through subscription), as curbs on social media are to be removed, allowing further brainwashing and brain-rot in the fashion of Brave New World; encouraging home schooling so as children end up with more uneven comprehension of the world, with parents inculcating whatever ideologies they have upon their offspring.
Just to gjve further perspective, Indonesia is now holding a multilateral naval exercise with meetings involving 38 nations near Bali. The video below is from Voice of Germany.
Below video is an interview of Sec. Gibo Teodoro with the Straits Times.
” For them it’s okay (to arm up) but for us it is not? They are the thieves.” (pause for effect). . . . ” We will do what we need to do.”
Says China likes to lecture ASEAN but we shouldn’t listen to them. Terrific.
Oh, whoopee, the latest in the big purge. Kicked out the JCS chair. Sure to replace him with a blind loyalist.
https://x.com/AP/status/1893100150823800947
This on top of the puppet in the White House turning 180 on Ukraine, which is also unsurprising.
These are greedy heartless bastards, no question. Betrayal is fun for them. What is interesting is that Republican legislators are starting to get blasted by voters in their home states. They have bowed to Trump to win re-election, but it’s the voters who will throw them out. So it is hard being a Republican today as Trump’s base starts to turn on him.