The Stupidest Public Man … Ever? Donald Trump!

June 1, 2017

The Stupidest Public Man … Ever? Donald Trump!

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Many words came to mind this afternoon, as President Donald Trump excised the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. Stupid is the only one I came up with, to describe our POTUS, which gets me past Facebook censors.

I’m taking a pass on the merits of staying in or getting out. Frankly, there’s no intelligent discussion to be had. All of the credible evidence demonstrates the existence of a problem, a problem created by humankind, and a problem for which our country bears a grossly disproportionate share of the responsibility. And a problem whcih threatens the existence we know! (Don’t believe me? Comment below, or send me a message at markdrubin@gmail.com. I do not promise anonymity, and the volume and quality of the responses will determine whether I write a separate post on the issue.)

Merits aside, who leaves a 195-seat table? The other 194 countries represent potential markets for green technologies. We can lead the world in R&D, and we’re telling the rest of the world, “Play with that green stuff; we’re not interested?” Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Then there are the president’s stated future plans. Here’s the transcript of the speech. The future plans part comes here, right after We’re Outta Here: “So we’re getting out, but we will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair.”

When I heard President Trump’s statement I wondered, “With whom will we be negotiating?” (In fact, I interspersed the wondering with a bunch of unmentionable words—recall the censors—shouted at my car radio.) What makes our president think anyone will sit down with us and make a deal about climate change, a problem he has called a hoax and worse. Truly, why bother?

Even if anyone thought they were dealing with a straight-shooter, who wants to do this deal again? President Trump may think every deal looks like a “back of the envelope” land purchase, but that’s just not so. (As an aside, I found myself in the middle of a 90-party settlement of a substantial dispute a few years ago. Most challenging, to put it mildly, and it was all about a lot of money, and nothing more.)

That leads to another tragedy associated with President Trump’s latest bad act. When you’re dealing with others, never overestimate your own importance. Alas, President Trump has bet the farm on the notion that 194 nations can’t move forward without the United States. Maybe, maybe not! But his statements and actions give none of the other nations any reason to think he’s the least bit interested in a new deal. And plenty of other world powers—China and Germany, say—are quite happy to jump into the leadership gap.

Then, as the infomercials always say, “there’s more!” In a business deal, thinking you’re essential when you aren’t—when you make demands, and the other party walks away, and finds a different way to do the deal—means losing the deal. That’s part of the likely outcome here, but we’re also looking at serious, real world problems, for even if everyone else plows ahead, the planet cannot handle our excess carbon contributions.

Overlaying the outrageous stupidity here? President Trump knows all about climate change realities. He owns seaside golf courses, and lots of South Florida property.* (From a year ago Ben Guarino has the goods for the Washington Post, in Donald Trump calls global warming a hoax, until it threatens his golf course.) So, what’s up with this? As best I can figure, our leader believes he can solve his own problems, and … to h*ll with the rest of us

June 1, 2017. Sad! Just sad! But, bigly sad!

*Read Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun, written by Justin Gillis for the New York Times Science section on September 3, 2016.

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