Trump is expected to declare rift with NATO tonight, from what I read. We are not prepared for this, so will be interesting in a Chinese way to see what happens.
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Mr. Snyder is suspicious.
https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/2039397698319613985
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âAnd forever after,
you can hear the laughter
Worldâs being plastered
by an evil bastard
Exterminating faster,
devastating plaster,
fabulous disaster
Now you can see,
what this all means to me
When the bomb
Comes falling
Downâ
Describes the Orange Loon to a tee
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Hmm
https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/2039382233144844394
They read him pretty fucking well, didnât they?
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well played MarcoâŚ
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Do you have any thoughts on China being the only country other than Iran that can open the Straits of Hormuz? A simple call from them and it opens?
That was written by Little Marco. Little Marco is dead. Now there is only Generalisimo Marco
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Bad news on the NATO business, but it has been coming. In all likelihood a proper American withdrawal wonât happen, or it wonât happen just yet, as it needs a 2/3 Senate vote. Mind you, Trump has been testing the limits of his authority since day one, and the three branches of government, with its supposed checks and balances, has been failing again and again.
I know there will be a delay until it is fully up to speed, but one potential silver lining is that this will probably be the shock that European leaders have needed to get serious about an independent deterrent.
I wouldnât rule out stronger ties between Europe and China, either.
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Out of the frying panâŚ
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Between me and Mrs Limie we keep accumulating passports, but always seem to be the wrong ones. @gasband can you get us into Singapore?
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That reads like you are spies or some unsavoury characters. 
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True. And what a strange world we are living in, where China currently seems to be the more reliable grown up actor on the global stage.
Still, letâs swap burgers for crispy duck and see how we go. Chinese hegemony might have some advantages. Iâll take it.
Always reminds me of a scene from âEarly Doorsâ a fun British sitcom from about 20 or 30 years ago. Cant find the clip on you tube though!
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The Senate vote doesnât really matter - a NATO where the US has not withdrawn from the treaty itself but is in the hands of an executive branch that doesnât care to honour any obligations is in effect a NATO that the US has left.
It is making for a damned awkward conversation in Ottawa. Canada is in both NATO and NORAD with the US, and I genuinely think very few people in the military establishment have contemplated one without the other.
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I hear you. Regardless of the formalities, under Trump, America is/will be essentially out of NATO.
If the formalities are not severed, it is possible that another administration will strengthen and rebuild some former ties, though I donât think things will ever be the same again.
Hence the need for an independent European deterrent. And yes, we should loop Canada in with that too, and any other like-minded nations for that matter, as America has lost the plot.
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The problem is that the US does not have to technically leave, just claim it will not honour Article 5, and then it counts for the same whatever Congress says or wants (unless they sack/remove/hang/fly to the moon/dispel the president, but that again is probably not happening).
Itâs about credibility. If you state you will not come to the aid of allies in the event of offensive war, then it doesnât really matter if you are technically still part of NATO in some form or way. What matters is what the Kremlin thinks and how their calculus is shaped. Of course, they would not like uncertainty in their calculus, but Trump is removing more and more even that from the calculus.
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would the following be better in a seperate thread?;
i understand its not going to be a road without bumps, but generationally speaking here, and thinking about the world we leave our kids, but;
along with uncoupling from reliance on oil, is the pain of uncoupling from America now worth it in the long run? im saying yes. i dont think the mentality that made America the driver for change and innovation translates in 2026 where technology now needs to be assessed from what damage it can do, not from what good it can do.
America has left the world with many great innovations and changes, social and technological⌠the age of adventure and individual prosperity, the striving for being the best⌠many positivesâŚit just looks like now its at a dangerous tipping point.
when you have the leader of that empire skewing markets for individual gain, it really is the ultimate product of the system.
time to change the world order?
they also leave us with an amazing music catalogueâŚthat doesnt have to stopâŚ
id genuinely be interested to see holistic opinions on this, not technical details on why the road will be tough
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