The World Without the US

[rareboy]

Apparently the JD/Usha Vance trip to Greenland has been stripped down to a visit to a military base, no dogsled race, no photo ops and no contact with Greenlanders.

This comes after Vance's comments about Europe were played for all the world to hear.

Fear and Loathing have a deliciously upholstered take on the entire debacle.

JD VANCE HEADS TO GREENLAND WITH BAGGAGE — EMOTIONAL, DIPLOMATIC, AND POSSIBLY UPHOLSTERED

Vice President JD Vance is heading to Greenland this Friday, March 28 — his first visit to the remote island, and arguably the most awkward diplomatic excursion since Napoleon tried to negotiate from a bathtub.

closertotheedge.substack.com

 

[TX-Beau]

I can't understand why she hasn't divorced him yet, given what his allies think of her and her children and the fact that they got her fired.

 

[rareboy]

Adjacency to power.

She thinks she will be First lady.

 

[TX-Beau]

Adjacency to power.

She thinks she will be First lady.

I always tend to excuse the wife. I have to remind myself that she chose to marry him in the first place. if that's her reasoning, she'll find out just how much power Nazi racists are willing to give to a mud person and her mud children.

 

[rareboy]

NEVER excuse the wife. Or mistress.

They know what they have signed onto. In this case she married a cosplayer who had changed his name and identity a few times and was adjacent to real money and power (Peter Thiel).

I have no doubt that in their pillow talk, they gamed out how Trump won't last his full term, how he can suck the taints of the real power brokers and how she can become Rani of the United states rising up from the humble beginnings of being an SC clerk.

I loved watching them get booed at the Lincoln Center. It isn't just because she's brown. It is also because a lot of people like me who would support the Lincoln Center see her as the garbage arriviste that she is.

Same way as her thuddingly negative reception in Greenland. She is no diplomat. She is no media darling. She is just the quotidian, dull wife of a politician...devoid of charisma and any kind of demonstration of a understanding of what she is elbowing her way into.

 

[rareboy]

I am actually amazed that Carney's speech has apparently hit the core of TrumpCo. And the business community. And the diplomatic community.

He is absolutely speaking for all of us.

We are tired of our abusive, one sided relationship with the US.

At the end of the day..I think we identify more with the Europeans than with the MAGAts that seem to represent the US.

 

[Araucaria]

Apparently the JD/Usha Vance trip to Greenland has been stripped down to a visit to a military base, no dogsled race, no photo ops and no contact with Greenlanders.

This comes after Vance's comments about Europe were played for all the world to hear.

Fear and Loathing have a deliciously upholstered take on the entire debacle.

JD VANCE HEADS TO GREENLAND WITH BAGGAGE — EMOTIONAL, DIPLOMATIC, AND POSSIBLY UPHOLSTERED

Vice President JD Vance is heading to Greenland this Friday, March 28 — his first visit to the remote island, and arguably the most awkward diplomatic excursion since Napoleon tried to negotiate from a bathtub.

closertotheedge.substack.com

Leave it to the Trump administration and Vance to resurrect the specter of the ugly American. It amazes me how full of American exceptionalism those in power and their apologists get, that they can't even conceive of the possibility that others might not want to throw themselves at our feet, begging for American domination. Trump/Vance is just the latest iteration of this. The G. W. Bush people were astounded that the Iraqis didn't welcome American troops with open arms.

And a couple of generations ago, American troops were told that the Vietnamese people would throw themselves on them in open welcome, showering them with flowers for "liberating" them. When they got there, the soldiers were shocked to find that the Vietnamese wanted to have nothing to do with them. In fact, they found that Vietnam was determined not to let the U. S. take over their country, and were willing to fight, kill, and die to prevent it.

 

[rareboy]

I think that Greenland should seriously consider making the US shut down their base there.

It represents and open door for a hostile military takeover.

Their PM is echoing the words of Canada's PM this week.

The US now represents an existential threat the same way that rrrZZZia does.

 

[rareboy]

An update on the countries with travel advisories to the US.

I don't know what the impact will be overall, but I know that a 75% drop in bookings from Canada means millions of tourists aren't making the perilous trip across the border.

 

[TX-Beau]

Travel advisories don't have any effect. Travel bans would be more effective. Anyway, better to stop Americans from going there than others coming here.

 

[rareboy]

Trump ordered French companies with U.S. government contracts to comply with his bigoted EO banning DEI

France replied:

"This practice reflects the values of the new U.S. government. They are not the same as ours. The minister will remind his counterparts in the U.S. government of this."

 

[NotHardUp1]

 

[rareboy]

And these are visitors the US may never get back.

 

[Essex Boy]

Huzzah! I'm delighted people are discovering Mallen Baker. So is he. His channel has grown from about 23,000 subscribers to over 40,000 since he started doing daily talks about the time Trump phoned Putin in mid-February. The fabled YT algorithm doesn't respond to his kind of non-partisan reasonableness. Here is the channel's home page: https://m.youtube.com/@MallenBaker/videos

If you sign up on Patreon you get to watch the videos without the adverts.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I think that Greenland should seriously consider making the US shut down their base there.

It represents and open door for a hostile military takeover.

Their PM is echoing the words of Canada's PM this week.

The US now represents an existential threat the same way that rrrZZZia does.

It might be wiser to invite another NATO country to establish its own base in Greenland since they can no longer be assured the US will respect sovereignty.

Evicting the US could play into Trump's hand, as he could misconstrue the action as being at the hands of an enemy power. The US cannot do so if a NATO country does it.

Not sure of the terms of the treaty that allowed our base, as to its termination clause or expiration, but it is unlikely it addresses any other base from an allied force. As it is Danish territtory, if the Danes built such a base, the US could not attack the Danes without triggering Article 5.

 

[rareboy]

I do like this idea.

I suspect there is some kind of exclusionary clause...but I can't see it would cover NATO bases.

And that sent me looking. I recalled back in January there was a story.

Denmark to bolster Arctic defense with new military airbase in Greenland

Denmark plans to build a new military airbase in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, to enhance its Arctic and North Atlantic defense capabilities. This follows renewed U.S. interest in the region and growing geopolitical tensions. The airbase will accommodate up to 94 personnel, serve as a hub for Danish...

www.newstarget.com

But what would make even more sense is to create a multi-NATO-state base on the island that would be home to a rotation of member states' military forces.

 

[rareboy]

For the first time in memory, the US seems to be utterly absent.

In fact TrumpCo. fired the assessment team on the ground.

There is no Shining City on the Hill. That torch is extinguished.

I guess that Myanmar can't do anything personally for Trump.

I would note that this fits perfectly with my thread about divinding the world into spheres of influence...this is the US leaving Asia to sort out the problems there and relinquishing any voice
in the region. And maybe this is what Americans want? No longer to have any responsibility for disasters anywhere other than the US?

What a fuckig shame though. Because the expertise that American engineers and first responders who dealt with 911 and other disasters could maybe have saved lives.

Oh well. The Billionaires don't give a shit about that. It isn't about them.

An example of the end of the American Age.

In the race to save lives after the Myanmar quake, U.S. rescuers are notable by their absence

Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected a suggestion that the U.S. was ceding influence abroad by canceling thousands of its aid and development contracts, including for disasters.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[rareboy]

Discussions continue with the head of forces in Europe saying it would be a big mistake for the US to withdraw up to 10,000 troops and to relinquish head of command of NATO.

This will likely only make Trump fire him and accelerate the withdrawal.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/08/troops-europe-withdraw-cavoli-republicans-00007176

 

[NotHardUp1]

Wisdom, from the Prime Minister of Singapore:

Would that our leaders were as intelligent, clear, honest, and wise.

 

[rareboy]

The WSJ sees the storm clouds...and this was before today's ridiculous WH response to China and China increasing tariffs again.

The simple fact is that is other countries stop buying up US debt, Americans are going to be forced to buy it.

And eventually the interest penalties and premiums all fall back on the US taxpayer.

If Central Banks stop buying US debt....the US is definitely going to be left out in the cold...particulalry if Eurobonds become the safer haven.