Lets' look at the five "Valid" concerns in this article:
1. The Bolt from the Blue: "Despite their best-laid plans, all presidents face storms they didn’t expect...the biggest risk comes from the way he’d handle a crisis that no one saw coming...restraint and strategic patience don’t figure among his strengths."
Where was this "restraint and strategic patience" in The last two Gulf Wars? How has that "retraint and strategic patience" helped out in Obama's handling of ISIS/ISIL? We certainly exercised great "restraint and strategic patience" in Vietnam and how did that work out for us? Perhaps it's time to put foreign threats on notice that if you poke the bear you will get eaten.
2. The Dollar: "The U.S. benefits enormously from the dollar remaining the world’s reserve currency, the vital asset for central banks and commercial transactions of all kinds around the world...because investors and other governments have confidence that it’s a reliable store of value."
I've only recently come to understand this "reliable value" ideology. That this "reliable value" is the ever growing mortgage on U.S. land and real property created by printing all of this otherwise unsecured paper money. Once upon a time, our money was backed by some tangible exchange medium (typically Gold, but other precious metals/minerals were also used.) This limited the amount of printed notes to the amount of precious substance it was backed by. The faith in it was based on the fact one could always exchange it for the precious substance it represented.
The problem was this limited the maximum amount of cash to the actual amount of precious substance in the government's possession; which fluctuated whenever a foreign government demanded the substance in exchange for cash and vice versa. But someone came up with the idea of money backed by "faith in the government," which translates to faith in the government's ownership of vast swathes of developed and undeveloped "public" lands. (Why do you think land and or real property is the primary collateral banks use for lending purposes?)
I've never liked this idea, but it counters this "world's reserve currency" concern because the faith of foreign governments is actually based on the same faith that come what may, the U.S. will always be able to back it's dollars with coal, gold, wheat, lumber, real property and processed goods. Nothing Trump can do will truly affect this current financial ideology because worldwide Banking interests, led by the World Bank, are committed to this policy and will not allow it to falter.
3. U.S.-led alliances and institutions: "The Obama administration has confused a lot of U.S. allies, who no longer know what sort of leadership Washington is willing and able to offer...many of Trump’s campaign pledges will make it harder to regain the trust Obama has lost. Some of them will inflict still more damage."
Piss on this. I have NEVER supported the idea that America must needs be the world's policeman. That has gotten us into more trouble than transient short term benefits have been worth. We shouldn't be paying the bulk of NATO costs, and using our troops as the final bulwark. It is this very reason that other nations in Europe can devote so much of their financial resources to all those wonderful social programs our liberals keep touting we lack. They simply want us to be their defender, and give as little as possible in exchange.
4. Trade: "For long-term peace and prosperity, America’s commercial partnerships are as important as its military alliances. Trump’s abrasive approach to trade negotiations will push potential partners around the world, including traditional U.S. allies, toward China."
This sounds more like Corporate propaganda, suportive of all those "successful" trade treaties which make money for corporate entities but have turned America into a Rich vs. Poor with almost no middle-class economy. We speak of diversity in society; I speak of diversity in our economy. To be a truly strong nation economically we need to balance service, development, and production aspects. Try a little enlightened self-interest instead of this rapacious self-interest we have fallen into.
That means re-evaluating all these "fair trade" agreements where I have to keep dealing with call-centers in India, Guatemala, and The Philippines, and buying products made for pennies and sold for scores of dollars while my own job opportunities keep shrinking.
5. Terrorism: "Finally, a Trump presidency would make the United States, its citizens and its assets the single most attractive target for Al Qaeda, ISIL, and other Islamic militant groups."
B.S.! Where our business wants to expand, our military and economic forces soon follow. We would not be in this mess in the Middle East were it not for our piss-poor policies about OIL.
Don't blame Trump for situations we have already made for ourselves.
