Distractions, distractions

Is the Epstein files the root cause for Maduro’s kidnapping?

Everywhere in the news people are talking about how unnecessary Trump’s attacks on Denmark and his blunt approach diplomacy on the Greenland issue generates column inches by the truckload. Trump’s bullying nature is well known, and so is his bluffing. If you wanted to create a distraction for the news to obsess over, you could not do better than this. Which makes you wonder, what other important events are being under-covered while Greenland is being over-covered?

My first thought is of course the Epstein files, which have been an embarrassing story for the Republicans as those who were most insistent that there was a cover up now looking like they engaged in a cover up when the files released late and overly redacted. The president and plenty other notables in America have a lot to be worried about in those files, and while it is perhaps too far to suggest that all Trump’s foreign policy adventures are a distraction from this, it has undeniably resulted in the files getting less buzz than they probably deserve.

But there are also other problems on the home front worth distracting from. The economy is not doing great, and is only holding up through AI data centre building which is an economic black hole. Meanwhile the debt keeps growing and there is an incoming price shock for health insurance. Inflation is also a concern in no small part due to Trump’s tariffs, which are going up again on Europe over the Greenland issue. Speaking of tariffs, the supreme court still has not ruled on the merits on whether or not the tariffs are legal.

All the while the Republicans are having a hard time passing bills, and another shutdown could be in the offing next year. And that’s all before we get to the big domestic issues of immigration enforcement and protests. ICE has been in constant hot water over teargassing protestors, killing innocents, and just generally harassing people based on racial profiling without actually managing to deport many criminals. The national guard has been sent into keep the peace against the wishes of the states in question, and January sixers are being pardoned.

I think there is a clear case to say that Trump has motive, means, and opportunity to engage in the time honoured tradition of foreign policy adventurism to distract from problems at home. Which means that we should expect it to continue, with new threats and controversies if the Greenland issue gets resolved. For all the talk of remaining focused on what’s important rather than Trump’s tweets I think the media and many people, sometimes myself included get caught up in the melodrama of Trump and get distracted from what is actually happening. Trump’s signature move is baiting, and it is important to recognise and remember that.

If you liked this post you can read a previous post about NATO here or the rest of my writings here. I also have a section for longer reads I call essays here, I particularly recommend my series called The Bird & The Technoking exploring Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, and its political and cultural implications. It'd mean a lot to me if you recommended the blog to a friend or coworker. Come back next Monday for a new post!

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I've always been interested in politics, economics, and the interplay between. The blog is a place for me to explore different ideas and concepts relating to economics or politics, be that national or international. The goal for the blog is to make you think; to provide new perspectives.

Written by Karl Johansson

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Cover photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels, edited by Karl Johansson