Monday, November 6, 2017

Ignorance Abroad: Trump Visits Japan

In a week that earlier saw Donald Trump make a historically ignorant complaint of how a nation of "Samurai Warriors" could allow missiles not to be shot down, our American Embarrassment arrived in Japan. We presume that no one has bothered to tell him that there has been no Samurai since the end of the Boshin War of 1869 or that PM Shinzo Abe is not the Shogun. None of this of course would make any difference to this man as he would just move on with his lack of finesse or patience for Japanese traditions of subtleties. In his typically reckless tough talk, he had earlier warned the People's Republic of China about the potential big problem they would have with "Warrior Japan" if they didn't reign in North Korea. Granted Japan has a small capable Self Defense Force, it is nowhere the size of the military of Imperial Japan or that of present day China. Such tough talk drenched in ignorance could only be topped off with his own crassness by his disrespect before the Heisei Emperor who he would not bow to but rather shake his hand like he was at some board meeting to dumping an entire box of fish food in a koi pond. How Shinzo Abe puts up with this man is beyond me. It's our hope Japan does not judge America by this crude vulgar man whose regime is under criminal investigation by Special Prosecuter Robert Mueller. It's been suggested that Abe may be taking advantage of Trump's ignorance to quietly "unshackle" Japan's post war military restrictions. It's difficult to say given how they photograph playing golf and later reported foregoing traditional Japanese fare for cheesey American hamburgers. What he will do to embarass us in next in his 12 day Asia tour remains to be seen. We at home will continue to cringe with every headline.