@SaintKP Sorry for the delay, I wanted to re-read my previous posts and think about a solid answer. I'll try and be concise as possible; I have a bad habit of over talking.
It's just another example of having a narcissist that's politically inept in the Oval Office. President Trump is good at some things, he's terrible at others. This whole kerfuffle is a great example of the things he's bad at. Vision? Terrible. Leadership? Not great. Speaking off the cuff? Shit show.
America First Political Gain-
1- President Trump needs to be focusing on 2020. Every engagement, every soundbite. Tell me which soundbite is better-
"I won't threaten the world economy over an issue that really isn't any of our business" or
"America is a human rights champion and we will not partner with entities that violate human rights the way Saudi Arabia did. Although my 5 predecessors were weak on SA and blatantly ignored this regime, I won't." The first he actually said to a reporter, which the left jumped on saying, "GASP CAN WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THE PRESIDENT VALUES MONEY OVER HUMAN RIGHTS". The second is me, an idiot, coming up with something better that fits a narrative that's actually useful. The "official statement" put out by the WH (
now with 100% more exclamation marks than needed for official communication) was a shit show. "Listen, I know a guy got killed and dismembered on tape. But SA keeps oil prices low. So, so important for the world. Here is the why it's important for us to ignore human rights violations because here is what else SA does and how much money we stand to make."
2- President Trump needs to hold a theme for about 18 months, and that theme is, "The left is crazy, they're going to hate me no matter what, but I am not as bad as they say and I am making more and more moderate calls." He can use that sort of stance to pivot to literally everything- the border wall? "Human Rights Protector". Immigration? Bam, lemme throw on this cape of me protecting humans BUT wanting strong immigration laws. It's a 30 second soundbite that has massive political gain.But, left to his own devices, the dude trolls and prefers getting press.
3- Every. Single. President since 1970 has been a fucking liar about SA. "They're our ally so we will turn a blind eye to them being shitty." has been the official narrative since forever. Obama was worse with Iran. Bush (both) were worse with Iran and SA. Literally every president has turned a blind eye to the shithole that is SA because it's valuable to us for other reasons. President Trump just said the inside part on the outside because that's what he does. He's ignoring the opportunity to be the first president that actually breaks the fourth wall and do
anything. Wanna talk about how America is the most civilized country ever seen thanks to our Judaeo-Christian values? Solidify those suburban whites that are a little sick of all the whining? Nail evangelicals down? Endear yourself to the wavering right? This is a perfect time to do it
and threaten SA to get their shit together if they want to keep getting propped up by us. More on that relationship in the international section.
4- The president once again took a shit on his intelligence agencies. Read the statement linked above. "Maybe he did! Maybe he didn't! We may never know!" (NARRATOR VOICE): But he DOES know.
The CIA told him the fact of the matter. There's a tape he won't listen to because he doesn't have the stones. For a guy that "really loves the IC", he takes every shot he can to say, "I don't trust you" and undermine them in the most public way possible. It's almost like he
doesn't trust the IC because he refuses to speak out against anyone that treats him well (l
ike the country that he visited first as president) regardless of truth.
He could have fixed that problem here, too. Or at least established that he was trying to fix that perception. Instead, he went 180 out and basically said, "Fuck the CIA. They weren't there, so who knows?" I am sure that MBS denied any involvement strongly, which really seals the deal for the president, at least as far as international adversaries are concerned.
International Gains-
1- We are the stronger partner in the relationship with SA. We can diplomatically affect a human rights violator of the highest regard just by talking tough which seems right in this administration's wheelhouse. "
Stop doing all this shit, or we stop doing business with you. Everyone else, take notice." We essentially just used a shit ton of tarriffs on China for moral reasons (reciprocity and treating each other fairly is a moral argument that led to economic outcomes), but we want to ignore SA because it would "ruin the economy"? Economy is just fine. Use this to our advantage and get a BIGGER arms deal. Get MORE out of SA in the region. This isn't your friend we are making a business deal with, they're an international theocracy we tolerate because they're useful, which means, every negotiation we should be going at their necks.
I don't know why everyone forgets this is the country that aided the 9/11 hijackers. They're a shitty country with better PR and hit the geographical lottery cause oil that we need. Why we treat them with kid gloves I will never understand. Why we don't absolutely destroy them in every trade and arms deal is another head scratcher.
Bottom lines-
1- If you only care about American citizen human rights; if you don't want to be the world police anymore; if the good behavior of allies isn't necessary to you for international economic dealings; if you don't want other countries to emulate our values and be better themselves; if you want to put America First in it's most literal senses; if you feel like we can't action on these issues because "we do the same things"; that's totally fine. I think you're wrong, but that doesn't really matter. We should use our position as the world leader in damn near everything to make others be better, because we are the greatest country in the history of mankind. We should not circle the wagons and shut the borders and pretend like other countries' actions won't eventually affect us here if we don't intervene in some ways.
2- The president needs to handle international politics, issues on race, issues on women and issues with the press better. He needs to win those middle ground votes and this isn't the way you do that. I understand this "might just be a soundbite", but it could be so much more and even naive ass regular joes (me) can see that. I want the administration to be better or they're not going to get re-elected.
