Trump Talk of Revoking Treaties Could Backfire

While he irresponsibly runs his mouth and frightens American allies, one thing that Donald Trump has talked about is unilaterally ignoring and/or revoking foreign treaties, including treaties with NATO allies and American trading partners.  Now, a likely proposal in Mexico's legislature suggests that Trump's bloviating could come back to bite America in the ass big time.  If enacted and then acted upon by Mexico, the proposal would revoke the The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ceded California and a large area comprising roughly half of New Mexico, most of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado and gave Mexicans in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexico's new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. While Mexico lacks the military power to enforce such a revocation, it might force Americans who are utterly ignorant of history (including Trump) to grasp that Hispanics lived in and controlled a huge swath of America before the United States arrived on the scene.  Here are highlights from The Independent:

You could call it tit-for-tat with a dash of Mexican drama.  Mexico is to consider a proposal to revoke its treaties with the US, including the 1848 agreement that transferred half its territory to Washington if Donald Trump is elected and tries to make the US’s southern neighbour pay for a border wall.

A Mexican senator is due on Tuesday to propose legislation that would empower the government to retaliate of Mr Trump inflicts expropriations or economic losses on his country to make it pay for a wall along the 2,000 mile border.

Armando Rios Piter, an opposition senator for the centre-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), hoped his initiative would protect Mexicans, and highlight the risks of targeting them economically.

“In cases where the property/assets of (our) fellow citizens or companies are affected by a foreign government, as Donald Trump has threatened, the Mexican government should proportionally expropriate assets and properties of foreigners from that country on our our territory.

Mr Rios Piter said his aim was to counter threats by Mr Trump to target Mexicans in the US and to stress that the economic welfare of both nations is at stake. His initiative also seeks to protect Mexico against unilateral changes to the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Mr Trump has threatened to ditch.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by the US and Mexico in 1848 to end a two-year war between the two countries, a conflict that Mexico lost. As part of the deal, Mexico handed to the US, what is now New Mexico, California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. Mr Rios Piter has suggested the treaty could be scrapped if Mr Trump makes it to the White House. 

“At a time like this, it’s vital for us to understand why this relationship benefits both. We’re neighbours, we’re friends, we’re partners,” he said. “He’s [Trump's] putting that at risk. 

The GOP is Becoming the Party of Putin

As a history major in college with an emphasis on Russian history - I even had the late Anna Anderson as a neighbor in Charlottesville for two years - I have never feared or disliked the Russian people.  Their leaders for close to the last 99 years, however, are another matter and the nation's current dictator, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB operative, is in many ways just as frightening as Josef Stalin who murdered millions of his own people. Add to this the fact that other than during the interlude of World War II, Russia has not been an ally of America since the fall of Nicholas II and then the Provisional Government.  Instead, Russia - because of its leaders - has been a consistent devious and manipulating enemy of America and American interests.  Yet, we know see Donald Trump praising Putin, a man who has allowed cronies to financially rape Russia and who is believed to have had political opponents murdered and rigged election.  Worse yet, Trump has suggested that America might ignore or revoke treaties with European allies and others.  Frighteningly, many in the GOP base seem utterly fine with this insanity and ignore the fact that Trump may see Putin's leadership methods what he'd like to adopt if Americans are insane enough to put him in the White House.  A piece in Salon looks at this bizarre situation.  Here are excerpts:

After telling a room full of military veterans during NBC News’ “Commander-in-Chief Forum” that their current commander in chief is a weaker leader than Russian President Vladmir Putin (citing the dictator’s high approval rating), Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appeared on the Kremlin-funded news outlet Russia Today. There he defended the former KGB officer from allegations of hacking into the Democratic National Committee — and now many of his most prominent campaign surrogates are following suit.

“I think it’s probably unlikely,” Trump told RT America’s Larry King on Thursday, suggesting that “maybe the Democrats are putting that out. Who knows?” Putin has called the hacking of Democratic officials’ email accounts a “public service” but has denied Russian involvement.

In July, Trump had said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

And while Trump has certainly made no secret of his admiration for the Russian strongman — “He’s been a leader far more than our president has been a leader,” he told moderator Matt Lauer on Wednesday — he’s managed to add some of the Republican Party’s most conservative voices to the baffling praise of Putin.

“I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country,” Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said, echoing his running mate on Thursday.

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski also repeated the seemingly Kremlin-assigned talking points: “I think that for his people, Vladmir Putin has been a fighter”

Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa argued that the Russian leader was a far superior leader to the American president, citing the nationalism incited by the Sochi Olympics.

Of course, Putin extinguished Russia’s nascent democracy, persecuted and murdered Russians and embarked on needless wars to assert dominance in the region, but conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt still argued he has “served his country’s national interest better” than President Obama. 

To be certain, Trump’s overt praise of the Russian strongman is hardly a new tone for modern conservatives, who have for years lauded Putin in an effort to attack President Obama.

Lakota Sioux Indians Withdraw Treaties Signed With U.S. And Declare Independence And Form Own Nation

I hate to quote from Fox News, so I am quoting instead a Turkish new site that picked up this interesting story (http://english.sabah.com.tr/95885BFE6D334D0A98F484F481153EBD.html ). Obviously, the USA has never lived up to its treaties with Native Americans, who were disposessed of their lands and slaughtered on a massive scale. The term "genocide" springs to mind as an apt description of what occurred. My question is whether or not the new Lakota nation will have gay friendly laws and allow gay marriage. If so, they might find themselves with an influx of citizens and money and talent. After all, currently gays in the USA are second class citizens, so giving up one's citizenship would be an easier step than for straights. Here are some story highlights:

WASHINGTON — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States. "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said. A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the U.S., some of them more than 150 years old.

The group also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and would continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months. Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their U.S. citizenship, Mr Means said.

The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence — an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England. Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because "it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row,'' Means said. One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples — despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.

"We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children,'' Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference. The U.S. "annexation'' of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere "facsimiles of white people,'' said Means.