Within a few years following the end of World War II, President Truman asserted leadership with Congressional approval in ushering in the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Truman Doctrine and the United Nations.
In doing so, our nation committed our resources to the recovery of Europe, the mutual defense of Europe and the U.S., the integrity of the territory and sovereign status of all nation states and to the promotion of democracy and resistance to authoritarian Marxist regimes on a global scale. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, Obama, Trump 1.0 (reluctantly) and Biden all respected and sought to enforce our nations commitments in global affairs as the U.S. became recognized as the leader of the free world.
While our nations foreign policies during the tenure of these past presidents were not free of controversary and deserved criticism, the U.S. remained committed to the objective stated above until now. The second Trump presidency and the current spineless U.S. Congress now appear prepared to circle the wagons in an endorsement of America First foreign policy which includes a cessation of our efforts to promote democracy abroad through humanitarian aid to less developed nations and military aid to democracies threatened by aggressive authoritarian regimes.
As a result of dismantling USAID and embracing Russian President Vladimir Putins lies and abandoning Ukraine and belittling our NATO allies, Trump has undone over 70 years of U.S. foreign policy dedicated to the rule of law among nations. The reputation of the U.S. as the leader of the free world is now imperiled if not lost. Our nation is moving toward an alliance with a murderous thug as a result of Trumps ambitions of misguided grandeur.
Just as the majority party members of Congress remain silent as Trump plots to undo federal programs addressing the needs of low-income and middle-class Americans and to reward the oligarchs surrounding him with generous tax breaks, the majority party leadership and rank do the same as Trump dishonors the sacrifices of our military and civilian defenders in defeating fascism and restricting authoritarian regime hegemony since the days of Truman. Yes, elections matter. Is the chaotic domestic and foreign policy that Trump 2.0 is advancing what 77,284,118 voters (49.8 % of votes cast) sought or did they want inflation brought under control and our immigration policy reformed and enforced?
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