If an alliance decades in the making can be undone in six months it wasn’t much of an alliance in the first place. Just a bunch of countries subsidizing their defense budgets off the backs of the poor and middle class in the US (NATO).

▲

oceansky 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Destroying is much easier than building something, including alliances, trust and deals.

▲

fuzzfactor 4 days ago | parent [-]

Childish destruction is really in its own category too.

I would say different US leaders over the decades have had varying degrees of financial acumen when it comes to being able to afford things like NATO, without contributing most strongly to pressure on poor & middle class.

Though no doubt a truly rich country has been able to afford it through thick & thin, as long as there is decision-making consistently at above-average levels, with no undercurrents or personal tendencies toward financial incompetence, malfeasance or outright criminality in sight.

When the fool who drops the ball is closer to the top though, expect it to take a whole lot longer to recover the same yardage that was lost, if at all.

Every now and then there are shameful milestones that just can not be recovered from.

Some things you just can't fix.

	▲	jahnu 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Let’s not forget the party that does everything possible to help fool and cover for his behaviour and choices. It’s madness. I’m deadly serious when I call this a Cultural Revolution. It makes Brexit look like a kindergarten game.

▲

jahnu 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

It wasn’t undone in 6 months. This started with the GWOT and ramped up in 2016.

This year was just the tipping point.