You know what I'd like to see? Trump nominate Obama for the Supreme Court. Not because I think Obama would be good, but simply for the entertainment value...the entire left's collective heads would implode trying to figure out how to react. They'd be like a blender plugged into a 220 socket.
The senate would filibuster the pick indefinitely and Obama would have the dubious honor of being the not only the only president in history to have a Supreme Court nomination stolen from him, but to have it done in two entirely separate ways.
So apparently Trump decided to poke the second most powerful country on the planet not because he had an actual plan he was putting into place, but merely to stroke his own ego:
I think he should just start ignoring CNN. Get a phone call from Taiwan to congratulate you? Nuclear war with China impending! It's like they've become a parody of themselves. This is particularly odd after they spent the last year acting like they wanted to bring back the cold war. Those tweets seem pretty irrelevant to me, but there will be some muscle flexing after Trump pulls out of the TPP, or wants it completely renegotiated. China has treated recapturing Taiwan like a wet dream fantasy ever since the revolution. At this point I'm not even sure if they're serious about it, or it's just a propaganda tool.
Do I think it's impending nuclear war? Of course not. Do I think it is poking China, and doing so before he has picked a Secretary of State much less is in office with a full State department to navigate exactly what we want to do re: China? Absolutely.
To be fair, China isn't exactly holding up its end of the bargain with its actions in the South China Sea. And the Foreign Minister just came out and said it won't affect relations. He blamed Taiwan.
The phone call was meant to be more of a formality than about any substance. Plus, it's not like Trump reached out, Taiwan's president called him. The triangular relationship between the US, China, and Taiwan is the stupidest thing ever. Officially, Taiwan is part of China, so according to the correct political nomenclature we don't have relations with Taiwan, but rather 'the people on Taiwan.' This recognition of Taiwan as part of China, as per US diplomacy, also requires the US to intervene with military force if China invades Taiwan - that is, if China were to invade it's own territory. Officially. Meanwhile we continue to load 'the people on Taiwan' with weapons so they can adequately deter the government they belong to from having any say in how they are governed. China has plenty of morons too, and they like to hear over and over and over how big and great China is, and how much they are asserting themselves. It's a deeply patriotic country. Remind you of anyone? Although it is utterly meaningless, it is of the utmost importance that China be able to declare sovereignty over Taiwan, and for that declaration to be recognized, even if in every action the recognizing state undermines that claim. That might sound like something out of Catch 22, but nope, it's real life.
I still think it was a foolish move on his part, but until they actually respond, it's not worth being triggered on China's behalf.
I think it's fucking awesome that Trump talked to the president of Taiwan. It's about damn time we recognized them as a nation. We haven't done that, but maybe it's coming. Is everyone seriously stating that we should bow to the will of a Communist dictatorial nation whose ousted government fled to an island? Are you all Mao supporters? "Oooh, the Chinese might not like us" is all I keep hearing on the news. Whether you like Trump or not, recognizing Taiwan would go a long way toward spreading freedom in Asia. Everyone has talked about reproductive rights because of Trump's win. Read this to find out how reproductive rights have really been oppressed: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/01/asia/china-missing-girls/ I don't agree with Trump and Pence's stance on abortion, but this is so much worse and is one reason why we should stand up to the Chinese. They cannot exist in their present state without the U.S.
Let's assume the policy is asinine for the sake of argument. Can you convince me that: Trump realized that he was initiating a dramatic shift in US policy towards China re: Taiwan This shift was best accomplished, or at least initiated, by taking a congratulatory phone call before he so much as names a Secretary of State, much less has a full State department up and running and guiding such a shift?
And this (I'm not picking on you zzr, really) is precisely why Trump is out of his depth. Because of course this seems like an awesome idea, theoretically. Right up until the point where you realize that China - a communist nation - holds only slightly less US debt than Japan, whom holds the most. You do understand, as I'm sure Trump does, that in a communist nation, there is no real private property (and yes China is a weird hybrid) but ultimately, China can call all that debt in right now. It's about 1.2 Trillion. Or about 1/3 of our annual revenue. So, yeah, it's not like pissing China off could have poor economic effects for the US. Because it's a good policy! And 'fuck 'em, we're America!' Because Trump knew that when he agreed to accept the call. As did his staff. Wake up, people, you wanted 'to shake things up?' Mission accomplished. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely things will shake out your way.
I thought the US and China are somewhat co-dependent? While China could fuck over the US by calling the debt, that would also fuck them over. So while it's technically possible, it's very, very unlikely to happen... at least from what little I understand of the situation. Am I wrong?
No, you're not wrong. China can't call on US debt. Chinese investors bought up US Treasury Bonds to stabilize the Yuan (called "dollar-pegging"), which means its directly tied to the value of the US dollar in order to control the value of Chinese exports and overall Chinese consumer purchasing power. Another reason that they couldnt just decide to dump all bonds is due to the highly varied maturity rates of US government securities, which are designed to prevent that very thing from happening. Third, if for some reason China decided to do a variation of it, the US would have no problem finding other investors to scoop the bonds up, primarily the Federal Reserve which owns twice as much debt as China already.
When we accidentally bombed a Chinese embassy it was a medium level diplomatic crisis. This has more to do with the media blathering to fill air time and reassure their liberal viewers that Trump is a disaster. If Trump decides to pursue recognition of an independent Taiwan that would be a dramatic shift. I'm not sure accepting a congratulatory phone call is enough to make that kind of leap. China postures about Taiwan constantly. It's in their press every week, and they never take action. I doubt they actually care very much about this incident. I really don't understand where people are getting this idea that if China gets a little upset at the US they're just going to commit economic suicide.
Biden has indicated a 2020 run may be in the cards. Hold on to your butts for the meme-iest election of all time.
He'll be 77 if he runs in 2020. If we can't scrounge up somebody younger by then I will feel as though my generation is failing this country.
Think it has less to do with us producing a younger candidate, and more to do with the oldies refusing to move aside. God forbid Pelosi should find a real job. Term limits, and Mattis' appointment; those are the only ideas I will give Trump credit for.
I hear a lot of people advocating for term limits. I was wondering what everyone thinks the term limit for a congressman should be? I think it should be between 12-16 years.