LaCrosse Tribune . . . "It wasn’t surprising that liberal analysts freaked out over his nickname for Kim Jong Un and his warning that we’d “totally destroy” Kim’s country should it become necessary. These lines were calculated to get a reaction, and they did. More interesting was the allergy to Trump’s defense of sovereign nations.
"Brian Williams of MSNBC wondered whether the repeated use of the word “sovereignty” was a “dog whistle.” CNN’s Jim Sciutto called it “a loaded term” and “a favorite expression of authoritarian leaders.”
" It was a widely repeated trope that Trump’s speech was “a giant gift,” in the words of BuzzFeed, to China and Russia.
"In an otherwise illuminating piece in The Atlantic, Peter Beinart concluded that Trump’s address amounted to “imperialism.” If so, couched in the rhetoric of the mutual respect of nations, it’s the best-disguised imperialist manifesto in history.
"Trump’s critics misrepresent the speech and misunderstand the nationalist vision that Trump was setting out.
" He didn’t defend a valueless international relativism. Trump warned that “authoritarian powers seek to collapse the values, the systems, and alliances that prevented conflict and tilted the world toward freedom since World War II.”
"He praised the U.S. Constitution as “the foundation of peace, prosperity and freedom for the Americans and for countless millions around the globe.”
" 'The Marshall Plan,” he said, “was built on the noble idea that the whole world is safer when nations are strong, independent and free.” Just window dressing?
"Trump returned to similar language in his denunciation of the world’s rogue states. " . . .
