Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

Someday historians will explain to us why President Trump had a relationship with our number one adversary that defied conventional wisdom. The president’s relationship and mannerism that he has exhibited with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stands in stark contrast to presidents from the past who had to contend with the Russians on a global scale. Almost from day one of his presidency, Mr. Trump has shown a propensity to avoid saying anything remotely harsh about Mr. Putin, but he has no reservations calling out this nation’s European allies. Why is that? That’s the question everyone wants an answer, as the only two people that can supply that answer, are the two leaders. On paper, President Trump wields the upper hands in practically every area of economics, standard of living, medical advancement and military readiness that the Russians may lack. But when it comes to taking a “strong principled” stand against Mr. Putin, for the things that have been proven that the Russians led by Putin has done, the president is almost non-existent. Not only has President Trump been relatively quiet on the Russian front, he also exhibits the same behavior with other strong-arm leaders such as North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Again, why is that? There is no more “Rocket Man”, or “my button is bigger” than your button, but of being in love. That’s right, the president of the U.S. said, "he and Mr. Kim have a bromance that has “brought’ the two nations closer together, even though the two leaders have not agreed on anything of substance." Now the president is faced with a situation where he will have to take a stand (we hope) in the face of what the Russian government has done against the U.S.

The world and the nation are awaiting President Trump’s next move concerning Russia, as it has been revealed that they offered bounties(money) to Taliban led insurgents for killing American soldiers in Afghanistan. We now know this because the nation’s leading newspapers broke the story of these events that have been going on for some time. Intelligence agencies, we are told, alerted the president as well as other high-level officials who serve on the president’s foreign policy team. But the president has said that “nobody briefed” him, which is extremely difficult to believe. A matter that sensitive would have been brought to the president’s attention, especially after it had been verified. We know the intelligence agencies go through a process that is supposed to remove any doubt regarding their investigations, so that the president doesn’t look embarrassed if what he says is not true. The credibility of those agencies and that of the U.S. is on the line, as well as that of the president.

There is outrage among members of Congress including some Republicans, who may have no choice but to “stand up” to the president and demand answers on what he intends to do. Even if we give President Trump “the benefit of the doubt” that he wasn’t briefed, he knows it now. Where is the outrage from the president? All during the protests following George Floyd’s death, the president’s mouth and fingers have shown where he stands on those matters. The president has taken a stand on where he is on racial matters and it appears that it is not for bringing the nation together. If only he had that kind of fire against this nation’s military adversary. Why does he appear to be afraid of Putin? Why? There is a photo of President Obama standing, facing Mr. Putin that President Trump might want to emulate. The photo shows President Obama looking down (Putin is not tall) with a look that can only be best described with a street talk warning. Don’t. President Obama and President Putin had a mutual dislike for each other. Maybe it was because Mr. Obama stood up for the nation. The question is, when will the president stand up. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.