Every day brings fresh shocks from what's happening in America. The media is surrendering to Trump’s threats even before he’s inaugurated on Monday. Several leading outlets traditionally supportive of the Democrats refused to publish critical editorials before the election. This happened at the Washington Post and the LA Times for example. Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post owner, has now contributed $1 million to Trump’s transition funding (out of a total of $200 million raised - what does he need all this money for?) and Bezos is not the only media owner to do so. Now we learn CBS is about to settle a $10 billion lawsuit Trump launched against them for simply editing an interview with Kamala Harris because they need his government to approve a merger they want to make.
Trump uses the money he's raised to go after people who disagree with him. He's turned the law into a baseball bat and the quid pro quo and the graft and corruption are now out in the open for all to see. Meta (Facebook, etc) owner Mark Zuckerberg has told a senior Trump aide that he "would do nothing to obstruct the Trump agenda." according to the New York Times. Twitter is already a Trump-controlled organ through Elon Musk.
CNN have switched a popular host, Jim Acosta, who has been highly critical of Trump, to the graveyard slot between midnight and 2 am. Trump is said to despise Acosta, as he does anyone who tells the truth about him. Every time one light is extinguished, it makes things harder for those that remain to illuminate what is going on:
Oligarchs like Zuckerberg, Bezos and Musk are attending the inauguration while past presidents Clinton and George W Bush are not.
This is exactly how dictators behave isn’t it? He is crushing the free press. The populations of Russia, China, North Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, Hungary, Venezuela and so on, never hear criticism of their leaders because nobody would do it, fearing what would happen if they did. America is going the same way.
Many Americans get their news via social media and these crazy right-wing podcasters. Now Trump is silencing even more of what's left of truth, honesty, sense, and reason in US politics. It's terrifying. The institutions that might have stood up to a tyrant are being emasculated. Look at this and weep:
Senators from his own party are 'scared for their lives' and I am quite sure this isn't hyperbole or being used figuratively. It isn't a metaphor. They are literally terrified of the mob who support Trump.
NATO
But this should be an opportunity. Now is a good time for Europe to free itself from America’s blackmail. The alliance was originally created to counter Russian threats and it has served its purpose for over 75 years. Never has it been more necessary, with Putin intent on occupying as much of Ukraine as he can manage, and threatening the whole of Eastern Europe.
But the war has taken a massive toll on Russia. It is as weak as it has been since the early 1990's after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was never an economic superpower. Russia's GDP is about that of Italy or California. As Donald Tusk, the Polish PM says:
Regardless of whether or not Trump pulls the US out of NATO, Europe should step up military spending. There is no reason why Europe needs to cower before Putin if it allocates the proper resources to its own defence. Russia is temporarily a spent force. There is zero risk that Putin would attempt an attack on Poland, Finland or the Baltic states in the short term. His military losses so far are staggering, not just in manpower, but in tanks, APCs, multiple rocket launch systems, artillery, planes, helicopters, air defence, and all the other paraphernalia of war.
Russia has shown its military to be badly led, wasteful, corrupt, and incompetent but it will learn lessons.
Without the nuclear threat that Russia still poses, NATO could take Moscow pretty easily at the moment and with minimal losses. But this window of time won’t last long. Russia will rearm eventually because this is what it does. In five years, Europe must be strong enough to deter Putin or whoever comes after him, otherwise we will never be safe.
