This Carbon Based Life

By David Glenn Cox

It is beyond bizarre. Imagine you’re sitting at a Starbucks in Seattle, and they get your order wrong. So you write an angry complaint letter to the head of Burger King in Idaho. “Dear sir, because of your sloppy employees, I’m never going to eat at McDonald’s ever again. Sincerely, Donald John Trump.” Mr. Trump wrote the letter or had it written. Most likely had it written for him because the spelling and punctuation was all correct, while the message was absurd. Writing to the Prime Minister of Norway, he explained that because Norway wouldn’t give him the Nobel Prize, he would now feel free to attack Greenland.

“”Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper’ for the US.”

Translation: Whaaa! I didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize! I’ll show you. I won’t even try to work for peace anymore. I’ll do what I want to do, and it’s all your fault! You’ll be sorry!”

Does Trump really think the Norwegian government hands out the JD Power most dependable car award? Does he think Norway and Denmark are the same country? It is, no kidding, and no fooling around here. A dangerous sign this Captain Queeg doesn’t have both oars in the water. And because he didn’t get his way, he’s going to threaten somebody else. It also indicates that the people around him are slimy little worms, who let him have his way because they are too frightened and afraid of him to try and talk some sense into him.

It reminds me of the joke about hitchhiking. A guy picks up a hitchhiker and comments, “You don’t see many hitchhikers these days, because people are afraid of serial killers.” The hitchhiker answers calmly, “Oh, I’m not afraid. What are the chances of two serial killers in the same car?” So Trump’s staff can’t be as crazy as the boss. What are the chances of two serial killers being in the same adminstration?

The demigod dictator deplanes in Davos, determined and delusional to demand to have his own way. But the Europeans aren’t afraid of him anymore. In a private meeting, our former allies believe he is bluffing. “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow Greenland down!” Then, at the eleventh-hour Mr. Trump will chicken out, claim victory and move on to the next designated Epstein distraction. Trump proposes punitive tariffs and the Europeans are ready with a series of counter tariffs and sanctions. If that doesn’t work, the shooting starts.

On the eve of WW2, Hitler was certain England and France wouldn’t go to war over Poland. He was sure of it. And after they had declared war, Germany took no hostile action. Hoping England and France would come to their senses and sue for peace. Hitler had overplayed his hand and was hoping the other side would flinch and bail him out. Trump wants to buffalo the Europeans and frighten them. He doesn’t want war or a trade war. It’s just another one of his scams. When it doesn’t work, he will change the subject, and let the matter drop.

But in the interim, world financial markets are beginning to melt down. The America First President doesn’t give a damn about America or Americans first, last or otherwise. His foreign policy is slugging it out in a battle with his domestic policy. And all the indicators are in place showing the US domestic economy is in deep, deep trouble, but what is Trump concerned with? Venezuela and Greenland!

US auto manufacturers report a 100-day supply of new cars at dealerships. About three times the inventory they ought to have. Have you ever dreamed of being a car salesman yourself? Here’s your chance! The help-wanted ads are full of openings for car salesmen. Because the current crop has either quit or been fired due to slow sales. Apartment buildings are going into default at record levels because high rents have destroyed occupancy levels. Leaving the only course open to lower rents. Which only pushes them further over the brink. Just like the farmers, whose expenses have doubled while commodity prices have fallen dramatically. Farmers for Trump! America who?

Ironically, Mr. Trump’s bestie friend in the whole-wide world of sports is facing a similar crisis. Putin’s three-week special military operation in Ukraine is grinding through its fourth year. Russia is technically broke. Only through careful manipulation can the Russian government hide the fact that food prices have tripled. Fuel prices have skyrocketed where available. Putin does what all dictators do when things go wrong. He fires generals and cashiers, admirals, because what he fears most right now is their loyalty. Whispers in the dark about coup d’états and partisan activities. Car bombs and people falling to their death from first-floor windows. It’s always best to sleep with the lights on.

But during the last Chechen war, the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov switched sides and became a loyal Russian proxy. 94% of Chechen financial support comes from Moscow. And Kadyrov is a leader for hire. If the money stops. The loyalty will also stop. Kadyrov is said to be at death’s door with kidney failure. If he dies, there will be a power struggle in Chechnya. And Vladimir Putin doesn’t have the money to buy them off or the troops to make them behave. Which only illustrates the absurdity of Trump’s fantasies about Greenland. Putin can’t handle Chechnya in his own country, let alone Greenland.

What Ukraine has done with over-the-counter drones and drone technology would fill a years’ worth of Popular Mechanics. It has revolutionized warfare like the Maxim gun once did. 100-million-dollar fighter jets are big, expensive targets now. Like battleships in WW2, they’ve become too expensive to risk in combat. Ukrainian drone swarms have struck deep into Russia, paralyzing their oil and gas industry. Turning out the lights and shutting off the heat for millions of average Russians. Who never dreamed in a million years it would come to this. Putin has fucked up just as Trump is fucking up. No one ever expects to lose a war, but still, it happens sometimes. Act in haste, repent in world-wide depression.

Putin has focused on winning in Ukraine and has lost Russia. Trump has focused on conquest and is losing the United States.  

“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don’t want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.

Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” ― Hermann Goering