I am Jacks complete lack of surprise
Paywalled but the headline is true and the subject matter so self evident I can’t be bothered checking if archive unblocks it.
Next subject the bleeding obvious
Spare a moment, please, for the lame-duck superpower. It calls itself the leader of the free world, but the free world no longer believes it. When it extends its hand, nobody rushes to accept. When it threatens, nobody trembles.
After President Trump arrived in Beijing this week, Xi Jinping showered him with pomp befitting a summit of great powers. Yet the Chinese leader permitted potshots at his guest to go viral on his country’s internet rather than suppressing them, as some observers expected he would during a state visit. Xi answered Trump’s lavish praise by sternly lecturing him about meddling with Taiwan. In the end, Xi offered nothing of great substance—no solutions to the war in Iran, no sweeping trade deals, no promises of access to rare earth minerals. Xi used the visit to humor the lame-duck president, waiting for his time to pass.
Michael Schuman: A checkers player meets a three-dimensional-chess master
During the first Trump administration, foreign leaders flattered and accommodated the president out of deference to American power. They feared it; they relied on it. During the second administration, and especially since the beginning of the Iran war, their calculus has quietly shifted—not because the strategy of obsequiousness has failed, but because it’s no longer worth the trouble. Like many of his counterparts around the world, Xi has begun to assume that it’s not just Trump who is term-limited; it’s also his nation.
Well, and the facts they lets photos of trump so old and decrepit to leak… tells you all you need to know
What’s the deal with those photos?
The decomposing hamster he carries on top of his head blew apart due to strong winds, which made him look even older and unhealthier than usual. You can’t tell me that wasn’t a deliberate move, seeing how strictly regulated the media is over there.
His head looks like the tip of a penis
Yeah, but is that how his face actually looks, or is that re-touched to make him look older? (his face, no the hair)
Who’s to know? Personally I suspect this is before he dips his face in a fresh bucket of Cheetos.
But what if it is retouched? Seeing how he hates facts with a passion I’d say he must love these photos in that case.
