Thought for the Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
1867 Seward’s Folly
2027 Trump’s Folly ?
Interestingly, both were nearly assassinated.
Considering where Greenland is located, it’s not folly to seek control of it in order to deploy missile defenses, and submarine and air force bases (powered by small modular reactors). This would be a perfect counter to Russian hegemony on the other side of the Artic Ocean.
Take it! Besides using it as a militsry base, a source of incrediable minerals, Trump can turn it into the world’s largest winter resort. Greenland is always covered with snow and ice, so people can go on a winter vacation sny tine of the year, instead on waiting for the actusl season.
Freeloaders don’t typically respect their hosts and find fictitious reasons to think themselves morally superior so as to not realize the stark truth. . While dreaming of what a good job they “could” do, you know… “someday”….
Greenland would be an awesome site to test equipment for Mars explorations.
Giant boring equipment running tunnels in the ice, habitats, a self sustaining economy based on minerals, giant greenhouses, nuclear power systems, Trump hotels…. 🙂
Sorry, no. It has 56,000 residents. Like other places demographically dominated by aboriginals, alcoholism is an issue. Our country has many skills, but building public institutions in overseas dependencies is not one. We have real and almost insuperable problems. We do not need these distractions abroad.
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Don’t want anymore territory. Puerto Rico should have been converted from a dependency to a formally sovereign protectorate decades ago and the low census territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific maintained as dependencies with a more intelligent sent of policies in re labor law, maritime law, and welfare policy. (The District of Columbia should have been retroceded to Maryland ca. 1960). Fifty states with a mean population of about 6.4 million and ~11 insular dependencies with a mean population of about 50,000 should be adequate.
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IMO, MAGA should mean we end absolutely the institutionalized trashing of the majority of the country’s population by educational institutions, that we end absolutely the practice of using the military as a toy theatre for the social fantasies of federal judges and others of the professional-managerial class, that we seal the border, that we deport illegal aliens, that we suspend or revoke the right of domicile of any alien convicted of a crime and deport them the day they are released from prison, that we stop importing guest workers, that we stop importing bogus refugees, that we distribute modest numbers of educational visas and we tell the schools who want to recruit foreigners that they have to bid for a visa for their clients in a multiple price auction, that we hand out settler’s visas in modest numbers to those who have demonstrated English proficiency and waited their turn in a queue, that only the children of citizens may inherit citizenship, that resident aliens seeking citizenship have to spend most of their natural life here living within the law in order to apply for it, that we spit on the Davos class, that we spit on the Fakestinians, that we withdraw from most intergovernmental agencies, that we stop putting our signature on bogus ‘free trade’ treaties, and that we remember in all our policy-making that the threat is China. If China wishes to be businesslike, that’s great.
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/ rant off.
A counter point to Art Deco’s objection to taking Greenland by a certain Jack Watts on FB.
COMMON SENSE: The disposition of Greenland has become a significant issue of dispute between President Trump and the Kingdom of Denmark. Other nations, several of our NATO allies, have sided with Denmark, creating an escalating feud between friends.
Refusing to play the role of appeaser in any way, Trump is playing hardball. To get what he wants, which is Greenland, he has upped the ante by imposing a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark until they make a deal. He is imposing the same tariff on Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland for supporting the Danes’ position. If a deal hasn’t been made by June, the tariff goes up to 25%.
To get what he wants, Trump is throwing his weight around. There’s no doubt about that. Because he is being a bully, many will yell foul, but I think that would be a mistake. It’s the response of those who are politically naïve.
Trump has at least three solid reasons to insist on Greenland becoming an American protectorate. First, if the USA doesn’t take over Greenland, either Russia or China will, and that is an unacceptable outcome. Second, having military instillations in Greenland is required to make the Golden Dome defense system effective. Without it, the defense of our homeland would be compromised. Third, for the same reason, the defense of Europe would also be compromised.
Denmark’s “right to Greenland” is that of a colonial power, and colonialism is a thing of the past. Additionally, being a member of NATO, Denmark and the others consider themselves to be our equals. They are not. If push comes to shove, without U.S. military might, NATO is a paper tiger. They need us, but we don’t need them, not much anyway.
So, feel free to call Trump a bully and an asshole for being so demanding, but he is right to do so. The dogsled defense of the Danes will not deter Russia or China, but the muscle of the USA will.
Trump is practicing “Realpolitik.” By placing US interests above all others, even our allies, Trump is doing what he should be doing. That makes his position right.
—Jack Watts
https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Retaking-USA-Darkness-Depravity/dp/B0CWNH42GD/ref=rvi_d_sccl_1/138-4584143-5248006?pd_rd_w=l6m8N&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=FTBAJ5H36YHS8QZESC6T&pd_rd_wg=siHLr&pd_rd_r=a697d1a0-e06f-450f-a00c-76dc6a3ca75a&pd_rd_i=B0CWNH42GD&isALC=true
“First, if the USA doesn’t take over Greenland, either Russia or China will, and that is an unacceptable outcome.”
There’s no reason to believe that Russia would, although they might want to. As for China, that doesn’t even make sense.
“Second, having military instillations in Greenland is required to make the Golden Dome defense system effective. Without it, the defense of our homeland would be compromised. Third, for the same reason, the defense of Europe would also be compromised.”
We haven’t built it yet, so that’s speculation. But if it’s true, it’s a good thing Denmark is a NATO ally.
Sure it does, which is probably why they’ve already been active in Greenland, attempting inroads along the lines of the road and belt initiatives they’ve put forward elsewhere.
Greenland already is a US protectorate for all intents and purposes … We just don’t get anything for out protection effort.
Pinky- China has been trying to give Greenland their deal with the devil deals they give to African nations- “let us build infrastructure for you, and you can pay us later. Oh you can’t afford those payments? Then we’ll just take over all your infrastructure.” Greenland did make that deal with China in 2017, but Denmark put the kibosh on that. Some have speculated that’s the reason for Trump’s obsession with it this time around.
I’ll also add that China is trying to set up a monopoly on all rare earth metals, which is certainly a national security issue for the US. I have no idea if Greenland has rare earth metals, but I do wonder about that. All that said, I don’t support the US taking Greenland from Denmark. As long as Denmark remains a part of NATO and recognizes that China and/or Russia having any sort of base there is a serious issue for the US and NATO.
The art of the deal. Let’s try to make a deal first. But Miller nailed it.
Russia at this time has proven unable to secure five Ukrainian provinces on their border. (There are 25 Ukrainian provinces) I don’t think they’re in danger of seizing Greenland. In any case, NATO can maintain a base on Greenland without Denmark transferring sovereignty. I don’t imagine China has the capacity to seize Greenland at this time. As to their various devil-in-the-details schemes, they can be scotched by Greenland’s patron, Denmark.
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Note, no country with Greenland’s population has the manpower to maintain domestic institutions which render it thoroughly sovereign. All such countries should have a patron. In the case of Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, Denmark will do. As for the Caribbean islands, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States will do. As for the Pacific Islands, Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand, Japan, and the United States will have to do. As for the Atlantic Islands, Britain, Portugal, and Spain will do. We should have prepared Puerto Rico for eventual sovereignty. They’re left now with a ruined labor market and half the descendants of the 1917 population living on the mainland.