Symphony – Page 8 – Pacific Daily Times Editorials

Democrats are toast. They were played as the Fool card. All they’ve accomplished is reminding the public that Republicans aren’t so bad. Tax and spending hikes won’t work. Promising to never mandate vaccines then mandating vaccines is akin to H. W. Bush’s infamous “Read My Lips” speech in which he promised, “No new taxes.” It’s self sabotage; it may not even be intentional. With Republicans, it would likely be intentional; with Democrats, it doesn’t need to be. We can’t argue “conspiracy” on this one.

The UK doesn’t want to go near vaccine mandates, not even lockdown. It’s as if the rest of the world has moved on from COVID while Democrats in the US are still playing it for political capital. It’s much like Democrats addressing the racism issues of 1965 while campaigning in 2008, rather than addressing the racism issues of 2008 in 2008. That’s why America hasn’t seen progress on police racism. And, that’s why America isn’t seeing progress on COVID.

COVID was the “trump” card that trumped Trump in 2020. But, we’re on a new round and trump is a different suit. But, Democrats can’t figure out that they were never the trump card themselves. They always played the Fool. And in 2024, Republicans will comeback with the most dangerous popularity margin the nation has yet seen.

In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 6, 2021

SymphonySeptember 6, 2021

Taiwan! Taiwan! Taiwan! Europe can say it enough. In fact, Europe talks about Taiwan almost as much as China does. Taiwan doesn’t need formal diplomatic relations to live rent free in the minds of global leaders around the globe—especially living rent free in the minds of Beijing leaders—especially in the mind of Xi Jinping. Don’t forget Japan.

Europe doesn’t want to be bullied by China. Every response from China is interpreted by the EU as a reason to disagree with almost anything China says. China is so hated, we are almost to the point where China could use reverse psychology to get what it wants. If China disagreed with everything it wants, the world might agree with everything China wants, just to spite China’s rhetoric. But, we are only 98% of the way there. The world doesn’t hate China quite that much. There’s still room for more.

But, look closely at what is happening in Europe. Lithuania deepens ties with Taiwan while the EU pounds the table. It is almost as if Europe is testing China by watching what happens with Lithuania. If that were so, none of the European rhetoric about Lithuania or China is real, yet. They’re just saying things to gauge China’s reaction. In other words, Europe is experimenting with China as the lab rat. That’s got to make shame-phobic leaders in Beijing feel great about themselves.

In Encore

Encore of Revival: America, September 6, 2021

SymphonySeptember 6, 2021

The culture war in America rages. Biden is a disheartened president, distraught over the loss of his son. This affects his ability to console the family of a lost soldier. The public dissents and supports along political lines because Biden hasn’t dealt with his grief of the past six years. In that context, he oversaw an exodus from Afghanistan.

Any political strategist would have known that Biden was overladen. American voters also thought so. Biden is not the enemy, but whoever put him in office with an apparent intention that things would happen as accordingly as they did. With McCarthy on the move against an evermore unpopular social media empire, it looks more and more like Biden was meant to play the fool in a Trump comeback.

The Supreme Court handed down a ruling that people can be sued, nothing new, except that it was about abortion. More and more, the Court is not as evenly divided as it once was. Recent decisions have split by wider margins than just one justice. Here, each of the four dissenters wrote their own opinion: Roberts had his usual love for bureaucracy, Breyer found his point of order to support his political ideology, while Kagan and Sotomayor loudly think abortion is constitutional anyway. Being no longer simple black-and-white in its rulings, the Court is operating closer to the healthy way it should.

In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, August 30, 2021

SymphonyAugust 30, 2021

Adversity creates alliance. If China’s goal was to unite the world, it is succeeding. Taiwan and Japan are getting cozier than ever, as are Taiwan and the EU. The shift is happening and maps may need to be redrawn.

The logical outcome is the UK returning all of Hong Kong—including the New Territories—to the British Commonwealth, while Taiwan, Japan, and likely a to-be-united Korea become at least commonwealths of a US-Canada reach. This would be valuable because it places liaison states near each other in the Far East. Britain would have a formal government in Hong Kong. The US and Canada would have nearby governments via Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. So, traveling between the US, Britain, and the rest of Asia could all be done through the Taiwan Strait and South Sea.

From a geo-political planning perspective, it would be well-organized. In light of the PDT Asia Mad Scientist Theorem, we could suspect this is being planned. Based on that, failed control systems in North Korea were not only meant to be implemented in China, but also to eventually annex North Korea under Seoul’s government. When later applied via China’s policy, that would trigger events that later subject all of China under a regional cooperation headed by Western governments from both sides of the Atlantic. In other words, North Korea is a test to oppress, fail, and unite under democracy. That test eventually applies to make China fail, then China would be forced to accept formal friendliness with Britain and the US via Taiwan-Japan-Korea states under the US and a Hong Kong province under Britain. The thought is chilling for Chinese Communists.

But, that’s where things are headed. When China objects to a country talking with Taiwan, no one cares anymore. China’s opinion has been reduced to global insignificance—a living hell for respect-obsessed Chinese leaders. Sending more and more military to places without global agreement, then defending itself with insignificant opinions, tightens the noose. China remains its own worst enemy, not only in military defeat, but also inviting its region of the world to be willfully subjected under Western governments.

It is as if the whole thing is planned, and China keeps dancing on cue.
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In Encore

Encore of Revival: America, August 30, 2021

SymphonyAugust 30, 2021

The crises that brought down presidents! COVID was the prime excuse to hate Trump in his last year. It has now become the second reason to hate Biden and the reason California’s governor faces recall. Biden mainly faces the challenge of Afghanistan. A member of Trump’s former staff reminds us all.

This is the trouble with trusting politics. Republican voters trusted election polls, until rules were broken, then ignored. Democrat voters trusted the conclusion of Congress to choose Biden; now they have another Democrat in the White House to make people sick of Democrats. The cycle just keeps on.

We are looking at a Republican majority in the midterm election, as usual. Then, a possible Republican supermajority in the next general election, in which Trump will likely run and more likely win. Republicans managed a way to hold the Supreme Court through that time, which is suspicious.

No matter how good and benevolent, power corrupts and none should trust a supermajority within mankind. Fortunately, Trump isn’t seen as the immortal messiah his supporters once thought he was. Democrat voters already learned that lesson with Obama. Now, Republican voters have too.

In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, August 23, 2021

SymphonyAugust 22, 2021

The White House’s distinction between Far Eastern allies and Afghanistan is consistent with the US strategic pivot during the Obama years: away from the Middle East, toward China. While China interprets the befuddled Afghanistan withdrawal as an indication that the US will not defend Far Eastern allies, the US interpretation implies a deeper concentration of military power. Each government’s policy indicates a deep belief in its own respective statement.

Taiwan’s president took the jab from Taiwan’s own, homegrown COVID vaccine. So, while Taiwan can claim one vaccine, Trump can claim all others. This further asserts Taiwan’s capability of standing on its own. Hong Kongers face the music, no matter the injustice. The world is watching. China’s response that Afghanistan is an indication that Taiwan should distrust the US serves mainly as a signal to Western readers that China indeed is a bully. Again, China doesn’t think they think so.