An Ally Emerges

[Reidy]

Rodrigo Duterte, crackpot Philippine dictator, has questioned theism and original sin. I wonder if Trump, a professed admirer of Duterte, will follow his lead.

[Repairman]

The rise of Trump has devastated my senses to the point that I thought I would have to forgoes any prognostications with regard American politics. That being said, nothing will surprise me anymore. The religious right-wing seems to suppose Trump no matter how un-Christian his policies may be. Who knows, he may say, "God is Dead," and "it's time to shoot all the drug-dealers on sight," and watch his popularity numbers go wild.

[Nicky]

9 hours ago, Repairman said:

The rise of Trump has devastated my senses to the point that I thought I would have to forgoes any prognostications with regard American politics. That being said, nothing will surprise me anymore. The religious right-wing seems to suppose Trump no matter how un-Christian his policies may be. Who knows, he may say, "God is Dead," and "it's time to shoot all the drug-dealers on sight," and watch his popularity numbers go wild.

His approval ratings have been oscillating between 37 and 42%, with 53-58% disapproving. Only President ever to be that unpopular, since the polling started, was Jimmy Carter, back when he was tanking the economy.

Short of a large scale act of aggression against the US, there is nothing that could change that. The majority of Americans are firmly entrenched both in opposing him politically and disliking him personally.

[Nicky]

Also, the Philippines IS a US ally in the global war on militant Islam, and a crucial theater, where the West need to hold back their expansion, just like we held back Communism in various countries across the globe, during the Cold War.

So we can't really afford to be anything but allies with Duterte. It would be nice if we had a US President who was able to qualify that alliance as born out of necessity rather than mutual admiration, but that doesn't change the fact that the European approach of constantly morally reprimanding a warlord who's on our side, without acknowledging the facts on the ground, is even worse. The Philippines is closer to a civil war zone than to a functional democratic state, so holding the guy in power to western standards for a civil society is moronic.