Man of the year and global leader of the year

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 30th, 2017 - 50 comments
Categories: Donald Trump, International, israel, us politics, war - Tags:

Donald Trump is easily global leader of 2017, not just “man of the year” or whatever, because he:

– dissolved the Clinton and Obama legacy in a barrel of acid

– doesn’t give a damn and did it anyway

– accelerated US diplomatic isolation faster than Lindberg

– tore up treaties that were against his policies like he said he would

– forced North Korea to finally take notice of someone

– supported his base on all base issues like he said he would

– got Israel and Saudi Arabia to be firm allies

– held the mainstream media to account because someone had to

– was wildly unpopular and did it anyway

– fired staff at will like he said he would

– reduced Democrat POTUS challengers to ash

– dominated the whole world media better than even Reagan

– achieved transformational tax reform

– used strong diplomacy but little force

– repudiated the intelligence complex

– drained the swamp. Of Democrats

– mastered digital media

– defied the idea of hypocrisy by being open about his own self interest

– has control of all elected branches and a Supreme Court majority and is doing something with it

– pulling apart entire postwar progressive legacy along with most European leaders, Russia, China, and everyone except France

– governs by instinct not briefing therefore rules Washington

– trashed rhetoric and dominant jargon

– is brave

… and many other lessons the left need to learn…

From the master.

50 comments on “Man of the year and global leader of the year ”

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  1. Ed 1
    30 December 2017 at 8:39 am

    It’s December 30th not April 1st.

  2. Macro 2
    30 December 2017 at 8:40 am

    And did all that while spending just 100 out of his 300 days in office playing golf

  4. Andre 4
    30 December 2017 at 8:58 am

    Yep. Here’s the 23-dimensional chess grandmaster laying out his razor-sharp analysis and strategic genius while rubbing it in to a crushed opponent just how badly he’s crushed them.

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/29/16829806/trump-interview-new-york-times

    Mind you, that’s cherry-picking the coherent and vaguely intelligible parts in order to put together a readable story. Here’s a more typical sample.

    http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/12/donald-trumps-mental-faculties-continue-to-erode/

  5. Sabine 5
    30 December 2017 at 9:15 am

    in the meantime

    shortage of IV Bags and saline infusion is the new now in the US.

    cause who needs that shit anyways, what without Insurance and money to pay cash for medical care ya don’t just go to the hospital for surgery or chemo treatment. All ya do is shut up and die quickly. The new Ownership society, yer on yer own. And please bring your own medical supplies.
    http://www.cdapress.com/local_news/20171229/iv_shortage_prompts_local_actions
    http://www.krdo.com/health/health-news/critical-nationwide-saline-shortage/676472530
    http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2017/12/18/mass-general-hospital-iv-fluids
    http://wwlp.com/2017/12/04/iv-fluid-shortage-could-lead-to-crisis/

    oh but how bout Puerto Rica where a lot of that stuff is made?

    http://businessinpuertorico.com/en/invest/industry-snapshots/medical-devices

    https://www.npr.org/2017/12/29/574302787/anger-builds-100-days-after-maria-hit-puerto-rico

    http://www.newsweek.com/puerto-rico-recovery-100-days-hurricane-maria-760965

    https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Puerto-Rico-1M-Without-Power-100-Days-After-Hurricane-Maria-20171229-0013.html

    electricity in Puerto Rico – for some now but for many more not for another 8 month

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/puerto-rico-blackout-continues/549251/

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/puerto-rico-wont-have-power-fully-restored-until-may-8?utm_term=.yjR29ZegZ#.rg4pBeM8e

    nothing says first world country, the richest country on the face of the earth, than not getting your chemo administered with saline fluids, or having surgery cancelled cause there are no IV bags.
    All that winning, so much winning.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      30 December 2017 at 10:51 am

      shortage of IV Bags and saline infusion is the new now in the US.

      But, but, but… Venezuela has a shortage of shit paper so socialism bad.

      /RWNJparody

      nothing says first world country, the richest country on the face of the earth, than not getting your chemo administered with saline fluids, or having surgery cancelled cause there are no IV bags.

      The effects of privatisation and trade.

      Privatisation ensured that no one doing the buying was talking to each other and so planning a distributed supply chain to avoid disruption caused by a supplier dropping out for one reason or another.

      Present trade systems ensured that purchase of needed supplies would be from the cheapest and most vulnerable place where the highest profits could be made.

  6. Antoine 6
    30 December 2017 at 9:38 am

    Interested to see if any commenter here actually picks up on Ad’s message

    A.

    • dv 6.1
      30 December 2017 at 10:18 am

      Which is?

    • Sabine 6.2
      30 December 2017 at 10:23 am

      according to you, what is Ad’s message?

      Other then being spot on cause all the stuff listed is pretty much what he and his republican controlled congress and senate have done.
      Now the question is, does anyone else but him and his republican controlled congress and senate profit of what he has done?
      Or, did he make America great, white, and insular enough again for those economically distressed, anxiety ridden white male workers ™. Cause that is the voter that counts. Right?

    • One Anonymous Bloke 6.3
      30 December 2017 at 10:36 am

      The phrase “so bad it’s not even wrong” leaps to mind, closely followed by “can I really be bothered rebutting this facile drool?”

    • weka 6.4
      30 December 2017 at 10:41 am

      Lauding fuckwits as far as I can tell. Otherwise we’d be talking about Fascist of the Year.

    • Draco T Bastard 6.5
      30 December 2017 at 10:56 am

      He’s getting stuck in and doing stuff no matter what anybody thinks or the damage that it will do to the US society.

      Just like any good dictator would.

      Of course, all of it only happens because of the GoP controlled Senate and Congress are all for doing the stuff he says. So much for dual government houses ensuring good policy.

      • Sabine 6.5.1
        30 December 2017 at 11:36 am

        Grover Norquist:
        2012
        Quote: All we have to do is replace Obama. … We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.

        The requirement for president?

        Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.” Quote end.

        https://www.thedailybeast.com/norquist-romney-will-do-as-tolddavid-frum
        and this from much earlier
        2001[edit]
        I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.
        Interview on NPR’s Morning Edition, May 25, 2001

        https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist

        And the dotard plays golf.

    • Olwyn 6.6
      30 December 2017 at 11:34 am

      This is what I take to be Ad’s central message: – governs by instinct not briefing therefore rules Washington/ trashed rhetoric and dominant jargon/ is brave… and many other lessons the left need to learn…From the master.

      Trump has barged his way through the stranglehold that has constrained both parties for a couple of decades, even if we don’t like the result. The left, for all its cries of “unfair”, has failed to achieve anything remotely similar. Two reasons spring to mind, though there will certainly be more: (1) The establishment is alert to real left wing challenges to the status quo (as opposed to PR moves presented as challenges), and does all it can to quash them, or failing that contain them, from the outset. (2) The left is divided between those who think the status quo must be forthrightly challenged, and those who think it is better to avoid establishment hostility, and to try to modify things from the inside. The big question, especially since 2008, is how much worse things must get before the left finds the conviction, and a front-person with a thick enough skin, to just go for it, as Trump has done?

      • greywarshark 6.6.1
        30 December 2017 at 12:08 pm

        Useful perspective Olwyn. Thanks for bringing some different way of thinking about Trump besides, as I try to do, ignore him for the benefit of my sanity.

      • Carolyn_Nth 6.6.2
        30 December 2017 at 7:06 pm

        Some good points, Olwyn.

        But Trump has also benefited from the rise of the Tea Partiers, and decades of Faux News. There’s nothing remotely similar in the mainstream meda for the left.

        We’ve had Cunliffe, Harawira (without and with KDC), Turei – and they were all shut down by the MSM and with the help of right wing social media.

        The NZ Left needs to build a ground swell from the bottom – up. The corporate MSM is no friend to truly left politics.

        • Olwyn 6.6.2.1
          31 December 2017 at 11:09 am

          I agree with you about the need for a bottom-up groundswell, as is happening in the UK, the US and with DiEM in Europe. I think the most significant fault-line lies between political representation and management, and bottom-up movements are needed to push the balance back toward representation. But such groundswells also need committed, resilient leadership.

          Trump doesn’t seem to represent his voters in the usual political sense, but he did put himself up as a sort of lightning rod for the contempt that elites tend to visit upon those outside their circle, without caving under pressure. This will have given some people a sense of solidarity from him that they were not getting from the managerial political class.

      • mauī 6.6.3
        31 December 2017 at 11:13 am

        The sad thing is that anyone trying to bring change to the country like Trump promised in the campaign will be hobbled with scandals. The progressives might be loving whats happening to Trump right now but it won’t be so nice to be on the receiving end when their candidate has a chance.

  7. Psycho Milt 7
    30 December 2017 at 10:34 am

    You’re right, but for the same reasons Time was right to make Hitler its man of the year in 1938. Being man of the year isn’t necessarily a good thing.

  8. Psycho Milt 8
    30 December 2017 at 10:37 am

    On the other hand, the left didn’t need to learn from Hitler, they already had Stalin. Personally, I’m glad the left isn’t taking those kinds of lessons any more.

  9. Takere 9
    30 December 2017 at 11:09 am

    Well he has got all of the lobbyists & shysters worried in Washington DC & “K” St. Theyre all so worried that about the number of nukes directed at Washington so much, that theyre all moving their vast stocks of some of the most expensive ‘wine’ to alternative locations and/or secret nuclear bomb shelters close by! FFS!

    • North 9.1
      30 December 2017 at 4:55 pm

      Antoine @ 6…….you sneeringly remark……”Interested to see if any commenter here actually picks up on Ad’s message”. That was at 9.38 am today. Within an hour you were invited by a couple of people to say what you think Ad’s message is. You do claim to know the message, after all. edge, Nearly 8 hours later……nothing. Methinks you all shit Antoine.

  10. eco maori 10
    30 December 2017 at 11:11 am

    I agree with you weka we have to use the same tools as the fools use against the left.
    I Back The Rock Dywayne Johnson to run for President of USA he will straighten up a lot of the bent policies Kia kaha

    • weka 10.1
      30 December 2017 at 11:38 am

      I was being sarcastic 🙂 I think we need to use the tools that advance our causes and we need to choose them carefully because there’s not much point in winning if you have to be an arsehole to do it, or if you have to abuse power to do it, or if you have to intentionally inflict harm on others to do it etc.

      • eco maori 10.1.1
        30 December 2017 at 9:00 pm

        The problem is the neo liberals will use all the dirtiest tricks they can dream up to get what they want so the left have to have moves to counter them. I no it’s beneath the left to stoup to the neo liberals unethical ways of achieving there goal.
        I should follow the thread more closely just limited time. I speed read start middle and end
        Ka pai

  11. Andre 11
    30 December 2017 at 11:41 am

    Thinking about this a bit more, seems to me his biggest win is successfully killing off ideas that objective truth, facts, evidence, previous statements etc have any meaning whatsoever. The new normal is that any kind of bullshit, lie, fuckery is equal to actual facts and reality. A corollary is he’s successfully spread widespread distrust in reputable media, leading people accepting the idea that all media are equivalent.

    To be sure, the idea that actual facts, reason, evidence , policies etc are meaningful has been in sickly shape for a long time. But he’s gone in, yanked the life support machine cords out of the wall, cut the IV drip tubes, put a weighted pillow on its head and left the corpse to fester.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-year-in-freedom-of-the-press?ref=home

    This little gem comparing Obama lies to Trump lies shows how far we’ve slid down that slope.

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/14/opinion/sunday/trump-lies-obama-who-is-worse.html?_r=0

    • SPC 11.1
      30 December 2017 at 10:30 pm

      He is of the land of

      1. apologetic for a 6000 year old earth and historic worldwide flood.
      2. end time religion, “bowls of judgement” falling from on high, as in the days of Noah and the exodus … to distract people from democratic governance to make the world a better (more just) place for the next generation.
      3 denial of any natural threat to humanity or the earth not caused by God, including global warming.
      4. the deception that wealth is a blessing by God on the deserving (reason not to have progressive taxation, state welfare, a national health care system or provide foreign aid to those who need it).
      5. God (and or POTUS) blesses those who support Israel and curses those who do not.
      6. the party of the lie that tax cuts reduce budget deficits.

      A land where belief often prevailed over truth even when the MSM held sway, and in the post MSM era, it is only going to get worse. Thus it has become the time of opportunity for the conviction politician to pander to the delusions common amongst sectors of the American public.

  12. Stuart Munro 12
    30 December 2017 at 11:46 am

    I think Trump indicates late Roman levels of corruption and decadence.

  13. joe90 13
    30 December 2017 at 4:27 pm

    Addled dotard projects.

    But there’s one thing he’s very clear about wanting everyone to know: He and his campaign did not collude with Russia during 2016. In fact, without being prompted he returned again and again to the topic, repeating the word “collusion” no fewer than 23 times:

    “Frankly there is absolutely no collusion…Virtually every Democrat has said there is no collusion. There is no collusion…I think it’s been proven that there is no collusion…I can only tell you that there is absolutely no collusion…There’s been no collusion…There was no collusion. None whatsoever…everybody knows that there was no collusion. I saw Dianne Feinstein the other day on television saying there is no collusion [note: not true]…The Republicans, in terms of the House committees, they come out, they’re so angry because there is no collusion…there was collusion on behalf of the Democrats. There was collusion with the Russians and the Democrats. A lot of collusion…There was tremendous collusion on behalf of the Russians and the Democrats. There was no collusion with respect to my campaign…But there is tremendous collusion with the Russians and with the Democratic Party…I watched Alan Dershowitz the other day, he said, No. 1, there is no collusion, No. 2, collusion is not a crime, but even if it was a crime, there was no collusion. And he said that very strongly. He said there was no collusion…There is no collusion, and even if there was, it’s not a crime. But there’s no collusion…when you look at all of the tremendous, ah, real problems [Democrats] had, not made-up problems like Russian collusion.“

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/12/29/trumps-no-collusion-cry-is-getting-increasingly-desperate/?utm_term=.6a1b5ba6cd1b

  14. timeforacupoftea 14
    30 December 2017 at 5:20 pm

    Unfortunately Trump failed to hang Hillary Clinton !

    1

    2

    3

    Time is still on Trumps side though.

  15. Andrea 15
    30 December 2017 at 6:40 pm

    If Trump’s a ‘global leader’ – exactly who are his global followers? And where is he headed?

    All of that ‘tough’ and ‘charismatic’ leadership in the tradition of the likes of Lee Iacocca.

    It looks splendid-amazing while it’s running. Wow! Very very inflated, etc.

    But after the party’s over?

    However, if he becomes the reason for America to sort out its antiquated political systems, scrape off the muck and corruption, see if any parts are fit for use in the 21st century when most people expect to be included – yep. His time in that ‘dump’, aka the White House,will be worth it.

    However, until there are people/countries following, who are there without fear of loss, then ‘global leader’ is not yet his accolade.

  16. SPC 16
    30 December 2017 at 6:49 pm

    Following in the footsteps of Reagan and Bush he is cutting taxes, increasing the deficit and growing the national public debt. Leaving the USA less able to respond to future challenges (domestic and international) – part of the GOP agenda to make government unaffordable and supplant it with the marketplace of the haves and dependent supplicants on charity.

    Also following on Reagan and Bush he is destabilising the global status quo – Reagan the cold warrior for the better (because the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact imploded), Bush and the PNAC for the worse (the positive, the Arab spring, for most of the ME lasted only as long as the one in Prague), Trump too early to tell.

  17. Ovid 17
    30 December 2017 at 6:58 pm

    I’m not a fan of catastrophism in political theory. The idea that a collapse of the political order will engender radical change for the better. I don’t think that Trump’s success in the 2016 election turned out to be the kind of event that some of catrastrophism’s proponents were hoping it would be.

    I think the system is beginning to self correct – Democrats have seen successes in Virginia and narrowly in Alabama (I think if the Republicans had fielded a different candidate there it would be a different story). With the exception of the recent tax bill – massive though it is – the GOP has failed to advance any legislation of note and much of their time in 2018 will be spent campaigning in the midterms.

    Trump has the lowest popularity of any president one year into his term since polling began. Fox News has taken a hit with the scandals around Ailes and O’Reilly. The NY Times and Washington Post have seen a surge in subscriptions and Robert Mueller is beavering away.

    People have been motivated into political activism too. But I think a shift to social democracy is not on the cards. I think once Trump is gone, the US will revert to the mean, which obviously won’t satisfy many who might be hoping for a massive pendulum shift. But it’s better than leaping into the abyss we’re looking into right now.

    I was despondent for much of the early part of 2017. I’m feeling a bit more hopeful now.

  18. McFlock 18
    31 December 2017 at 1:26 am

    I’m not so sure about his achievements.

    Most of what he’s “done” is actually doing by not doing: it’s easy to not sign a treaty, or run departments down by leaving the higher echelons vacant. Tax reform might go through, but obamacare still lives. Even then, it’s not him that’s doing most of those things – Trump is a walking power vacuum, which returns most of the legislative leadership back to the repug-controlled house and senate. It’s Ryan and co who want to roll back the clock to before FDR. And beyond the first flurry of campaign donor appointments, what are the odds that he gives e.g. judiciary candidate lists more time than it takes to sign the form?

    I will agree that he’s fired a lot of people. He had to. His appointment choices have been catastrophic.

    Also, ISTR he said he wouldn’t really benefit from his tax package, his hoi polloi would. So that’s lying about his interests.

    But he’s almost certainly made the most news of anyone on the planet, 140/280 characters at a time.

  19. left_forward 19
    31 December 2017 at 9:30 am

    Such awards, even mock ones, only serve to reveal the values of the award proponents than anything else – I think my Uncle Steve (who you wont know) is more significantly worthy of Man of the Year from my point of view – but humanism might not be your cup of tea.

  20. Peter Bradley 20
    3 January 2018 at 9:03 am

    Absolutely spot on. To me Trump highlights not only the success of the right – but of more concern – the abject failure of the left. The Democratic Party in the US still have nothing to counter the policy platform that the republicans are carrying out under Trump. There is an obsessive hysteria about what a terrible person Trump is and what terrible things are happening but there is no counter narrative. Since he entered politics in 2016 Trump has been the sole focus of the entire US media and he has led the political conversation even when he’s had nothing to say.
    And the left has been sidelined. There is no discussion of change or different policy approaches because the Democratic Party and Republicans are funded and supported by the same business interests and have almost identical policy outcomes when it boils down to it.
    So if you’ve got nothing to offer voters in a democracy then just go on and on about your opponents personality and behavior as if it makes a huge difference to to the lives of ordinary people.

  21. Tanz 21
    3 January 2018 at 2:08 pm

    Trump is demonised by the left, because he says what he thinks and does what he promises. How rare is that! NZ would be lucky if we had such a leader, instead of one that promises fairy dust, miracles and bumper sticker slogans. Go Trump, you are the best President the USA has had since Reagan!

  22. Ed 22
    3 January 2018 at 2:18 pm

    Trump’s broken promises.

    ‘Candidate Trump promised to stay out of foreign wars. President Trump is escalating them.’
    https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/world/2017/8/25/16185936/trump-america-first-afghanistan-war-troops-iraq-generals

    ‘Ditching Nato

    Abandoned
    Before: Mr Trump repeatedly questioned the military alliance’s purpose, calling it “obsolete”. One issue that bugged him was whether members were pulling their weight and “paying their bills”. In one New York Times interview in July 2016, he even hinted that the US would not come to the aid of a member invaded by Russia.

    After: But as he hosted Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House in April, the US president said the threat of terrorism had underlined the alliance’s importance. “I said it [Nato] was obsolete,” Mr Trump said. “It’s no longer obsolete.”

    China as currency manipulator

    Abandoned
    Before: Mr Trump repeatedly pledged to label Beijing a “currency manipulator” on his first day in office, during an election campaign when he also accused the Asian powerhouse of “raping” the US. China has been accused of suppressing the yuan to make its exports more competitive with US goods.

    After: He told the Wall Street Journal in April that China had not been “currency manipulators” for some time and had actually been trying to prevent the yuan from further weakening’

    https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-us-canada-37982000

    Trump’s Betrayal: One Broken Promise After Another

    ‘Job growth is slower than it was during the previous six years. Under President Trump, the economy has generated a little more than 164,000 jobs a month, compared with 187,000 jobs a month in 2016 and 226,000 jobs a month in 2015. In fact, in 2017, average job growth has been lower than it was in any of the previous six years.

    At least 66,000 American jobs have been moved offshore. Since President Trump has taken office, more than 66,000 workers have successfully petitioned for Trade Adjustment Assistance, a government program available to workers who have lost their jobs or are in the process of losing their jobs due to trade. This number likely underestimates the total job loss that is a result of outsourcing. Even Trump’s guarantee to save jobs at an Indiana Carrier plant has proven short-lived, as more than 600 of its workers will see their jobs shipped to Mexico in 2

    Trump wants to give corporations and the wealthiest Americans massive tax cuts, leaving middle-class and working families with the bill. Trump’s tax plan would give away corporate tax cuts that would cost $2 trillion over a decade. The overwhelming majority of these cuts would go to the richest 1 percent of Americans

    https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/news/2017/11/02/442038/trumps-betrayal-one-broken-promise-another/

  23. Tanz 23
    3 January 2018 at 2:20 pm

    Fake news. Unlike Winston, he has reneged on nothing.

  24. Ed 24
    3 January 2018 at 2:28 pm

    ‘Obama and Trump both promised peace. They delivered war

    Before President Trump took office, he didn’t want to intervene militarily in Syria in part because he wanted to avoid a confrontation with Russia and focus on ISIS instead. “I don’t like [Syrian President Bashar] Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS,” Trump argued during his second debate with Hillary Clinton. “Russia is killing ISIS. And Iran is killing ISIS. … I think you have to knock out ISIS.”
    Then the president started bombing Syria in April. Now Russia has reacted to the downing of a Syrian aircraft by warning coalition airplanes and drones that they’re fair game to be targeted if they fly west of the Euphrates river. That includes America’s aircrafts.’

    http://theweek.com/articles/706992/obama-trump-both-promised-peace-delivered-war

  25. The Pink Postman 25
    4 January 2018 at 2:09 pm

    Since when was the Democratic Party Left-wing?