Up Side Down

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

2016 holiday season is here.  Christmas is coming this weekend, and Santa for sure is coming.  Chicago is once again under polar vortex, really freezing and lots of snow on the ground.  Chicago Bears Keep loosing every week, and all Bears gear already in storage for this year, and Cutler is still with the bears, but injured and on the sidelines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Bears. The Chicago cubs in 2016 won a World Series championship after 108 years and probably the right spot for the year for Chicagoans, and die-hard fans world over https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cubs.  Illinois has been going into the second year without a budget and no one seems to care (for those of you who care Illinois is our state), and actually people don’t see any reason to worry about the state budget, local services and whatever the government was supposed to be doing.

The country has a new president elect in Trump, president Obama is just about packing his bags and moving out of the white house, Hillary is enjoying her nationhood and her couch.  The Obama presidency if nothing else has been a good one for families with children, and full of personal and social meaning, along with being hassle and corruption free.  We Chicagoans are proud that the Obama’s are one of our won.

Trump and his supporters (even after the election, and winning the presidency) continue to tweet and air fascinating theories.  Trump’s selection of his support staff at the white house, really supports his election and thereafter tweets.  He really tweets.  Trump is a master of throwing things to the wall and let someone agree with him or something stick.  What facts and who needs them?  He has an abundance of material that no one else can think of tweeting, so the daily (nightly) soap opera continues, and for another four years it is certain we will either be entertained with conspiracy theories or can watch reruns on the television, and stop using twitter, may be the internet itself.  But as it has been for more than a year and half, the television has been one place to keep the remote handy, to keep flipping channels to escape the barrage of conspiracy theories.

Putin and Russia have all of a sudden become Trump’s favorite pals.  As the world watches in amazement, and while Russia continues to support the carnage in Syria, and has annexed Crimea and just about everywhere Russia fingers in dismantling democracies, Trump and his actions think otherwise.  His latest appointment of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, clearly points to his reaching out to Putin.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Tillerson.  He is a very accomplished CEO of Exxon Mobil now leaving the job to become secretary of state.  While an extremely successful oil executive, he is closely tied to Putin, perhaps can be viewed as his biggest asset according to Trump.

Despite the cyber attacks on the USA and its election process, specially targeting Democratic Party, Trump doesn’t publicly accept Russian actions against the USA, and keeps pushing his Russian agenda with every action that he has taken, fully contradicting global posturing towards Russian atrocities internationally.  The atrocities in Syria, Crimea, cyber attacks on the USA, and whatever else that have attracted global sanctions against Russia seem to be same as any other global reality for Trump.  There is nothing here to figure out as Russians wanted Trump to be in the white house, and he is now getting ready to move in.  Neither Russia nor the USA can spin their politics by 100 degrees without causing massive global disruption, but Trump is capable of doing what he feels (tweet) at any given time of the day, and it will not be anything close to conventional for at least next four years.

The largest trading partner of the USA, China is at odds with Trump, and this is a twist that probably unplanned for anyone in the political or diplomatic circles. New game show as Trump embracing Russia, and constantly tweeting (tweaking) against China, as China is the largest trading partner with USA.  Since President Nixon started diplomatic channels with China, each USA administration has threaded very carefully with China, both politically and diplomatically, but Trump tweets otherwise.  China is a powerhouse by itself, and doesn’t follow anyone else’s rules but it’s won, and even before Trump gets into the White House, he has been tweeting perhaps about revisiting pre-Nixon times.  But, there is nothing to figure out as China remains what it is and USA has come to the time of Trump.

We have yet to see the real political, diplomatic, economic, international and domestic turbulence.  The USA can certainly become isolationist and redraw its priorities as simply USA.  There is nothing wrong with domestic policy making to simply be a stand alone nation.  The funny part of Trump’s domestic agenda will force him to shut down all his dealings out side of the USA, and it is a good bet to make that he will never put anything first, but his own name.  When Trump says America first, we have to believe him as he is right, all his assets are American.  Unless he will standup and show us his taxes, and then whatever his interests are will certainly tie with his national interests.

There is some sensibility in his choice of support staff.  Christie, Gingrich and Giuliani are no longer going to be in his cabinet, and new players have come in their place, but conspiracy theories are still abundant and will be huge material for writers and commentators and story tellers for years to come.

God Bless the USA.