But the Trains Run on Time
Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross was fascinated that during his visit to Saudi Arabia he didn’t see: “…a single hint of a protester anywhere there during the whole time we were there.” What he didn’t seem to realize (or care) was that protests are banned by the Saudi monarchy, with punishments ranging from imprisonment and torture to death by beheading.
It was an off-hand comment by a member of the Trump cabinet, who surely has grown tired of the constant drone of protest back home. And yet it seems to be an ongoing theme of the Trump Administration, to embrace world leaders with little commitment to American values such as freedom and democracy. A list of state visitors to the White House, including Turkey’s Recep Erdogan, Egypt’s el-Sisi, and an invitation to the Philippines’ President Duerte shows the Trump Administration willingness to embrace strong-arm leaders. And the President’s unwillingness to even shake the hand of German Chancellor Angela Merkel who represents a more “liberal democracy” and his tacit support of Marine Le Pen in France strengthens the concern.
Wilbur Ross, whose original connection to the President who is re-structuring Trump’s bankrupt casinos in Atlantic City, also served as the Vice Chairman of the Bank of Cyprus. That bank had direct connections to Russian money laundering schemes, particularly after the advent of US sanctions against Russian banks (due to the Ukraine incursion) and Deutsche Bank money laundering scandal.
Guardian – Ross and the Bank of Cyprus
It seems clear that the Trump Administration is enamored with leaders who can “get things done” regardless of their commitment to human rights and values. This is not particularly new for the United States; it reflects many of the attitudes we took in the Cold War. It also shows the dramatic influence the “Henry Kissinger School” of foreign policy has on this Administration.
Here’s the next step. The world leader who most directly embodies this strong-arm form of governance is Vladimir Putin. Putin, through assassination, imprisonment, bribery and intimidation rules Russia with an iron hand. The Trump Administration, despite all of the concerns of contact, cooperation and collusion, are pre-disposed to see Putin as a “get things done” kind of guy. President Trump, “hamstrung” as he is by the strictures of American Democracy, sees Putin as the kind of leader he wants to be. As the old tale goes about Mussolini in Italy, folks may have lost their freedom “but the trains run on time.”
