Love-bombing the dictator
A Times editorial Tuesday took issue with Trump’s lovefest with Sisi…
…a man responsible for killing hundreds of Egyptians, jailing thousands of others and, in the process, running his country and its reputation into the ground.
The expressions of mutual admiration that permeated the Oval Office were borderline unctuous. Mr. Trump praised Mr. Sisi for doing a “fantastic job” and assured him he has a “great friend and ally in the United States and in me.” In return, Mr. Sisi, who had been barred from the White House during the Obama administration, and who craved the respect such a visit would afford, expressed his “deep appreciation and admiration” for Mr. Trump’s “unique personality.”
Trump all but crawled into Sisi’s lap. So unlike the reception he gave Angela Merkel, including boorishly ignoring her invitation to shake hands for the cameras.
Mr. Trump acknowledged that the two countries “have a few things” they don’t agree on, but he pointedly did not mention the abysmal human rights record of Mr. Sisi’s government, which the State Department and human rights groups have accused of gross abuses, including torture and unlawful killings.
Because he prides himself on not giving a shit about human rights.
Mr. Sisi first cracked down on the Islamists, including a 2013 massacre that killed more than 800 people, then turned his sights on secular opponents and nongovernmental groups. The United States suspended delivery of a modest amount of military aid and asked for improvements in human rights and democracy, which never happened.
Mr. Trump has now made it transparently clear that human rights and democracy are not his big concerns and that he places more value on Egypt as a partner in the fight against the Islamic State. What he does not grasp is that, while Egypt is an important country, it cannot be a force for regional stability nor the partner Mr. Trump imagines on counterterrorism or anything else if Mr. Sisi does not radically change his ways. Mr. Sisi’s repression against enemies real and imagined, his management of the economy and inability to train, educate and create jobs for his nation’s youth can only fuel more anger and unrest.
Sorry, that’s too complicated for Donnie from Queens.
Maybe he imagined he was talking to the AI-Siri? He may have a hard time with writings, remember.
Oh, and also with remember. Plus one or two more things …
In Trumpworld, killing brown people is a win. People who kill brown people are great people. Actions that help terrorist organizations (read: armed angry brown people) recruit just mean more brown people Trump gets to kill. It’s all super, super great.
Did anyone tell Trump that SISI spelled backwards is ISIS?
And forward it’s “Yes, yes” in Spanish?
I figure that might count for something in his little world. Maybe he should call Alex Jones about this. I believe he has the required expertise.
That is a very interesting point. For all his over-the-top rudeness, most of it seems to be directed towards representatives of democratic Western allies (Germany, Australia, UK, Mexico, etc.).
After the Obama interlude, Trump is just returning to the standard practice of distinguishing friendly bloodstained dictators from the unfriendly variety. In other words Sisi is ‘our-son-of-a-bitch’.
Speaking of bombing – did you see that we launched missles against Syria?
I saw it… I’m kinda seeing “Assad made me look bad, Obama was weak, fire ze missiles!”