Although NATO may not be the worst alliance ever conceived, it probably deserves most of the criticism that has been leveled against it. But this post is not about NATO.
This is about that orange-haired, self-declared "stable genius" Donald Trump, who, referring to some NATO members not meeting their defense spending targets, recently proclaimed, "You gotta pay! You gotta pay your bills!"
Well, NATO doesn't send out bills or issue invoices. It sets targets. For whatever reasons, only 11 out of 31 members achieved those goals.
But this isn't about NATO's expectations. It is about the widely-admired but even more widely despised has-been president of the United States, who apparently, and hypocritically, doesn't follow his own counsel. As of 2020,Trump had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for his companies, mostly casinos, six times, with another filing pending. (Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows companies to restructure or wipe away much of their debt to other companies, creditors, and shareholders while remaining in business but under the supervision of a bankruptcy court.) In 2015 he crowed, "I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, my employees, myself and my family.” But according to the New York Times, Trump "put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses, and other payments. "The burden of his failures," according to the newspaper, "fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen."
Trump went on to invite Russia and other adversarial nations to "do whatever the hell they want" to the 20 of 31 NATO allies who didn't "pay their bills."
This front-runner in the Republican primaries has his foot in his mouth so often that it's a miracle he is able to walk at all. Most amazing is that Democrats have been unable or unwilling to come up with anyone much better to run against him.
At this point, the idea of making America great - whether 'again' or at all - seems to be a non-starter. It is a political nightmare that the nation has brought upon itself.
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