Heads of state follow protocol by meeting on neutral ground or exchanging home bases. Retinues transport and place leaders where safest for pictures at some particular time. Could Hawaii have loosened up Presidents Putin and Obama? Then next time take in the Black Sea if the muscle and might of Moscow weren’t so important to please. Point being, travel, even for work, is usually a form of vacation. Why else have this pretext of exotic summit locations lending issues a level of (self-)importance? How necessary is this expensive carting around of such flamboyant roadshows other than to stimulate local economies? Oops, never mind, maybe they could tour the world’s ghettos? Or how about their having a TED TALK to iron things out in front of a crowd rather than just threading together agreements practically walked away from while being signed?
So, Putin and Obama travelled and saw the G20 Summit‘s sights and everything is hunky-dory now that Reuters reported agreement on Monday that violence in Syria must end while offering no new solutions or sign of a healed rift over tougher sanctions against Syria. Ba dump bump. President Assad’s jam was noted here Jun 1, 2012.
While professor of government and politics at George Mason University, Mark N. Katz wrote the following on Tuesday for CNN. "Moscow doesn’t see itself as willfully and wrongly defying 'the broad international community.' They genuinely believe America and its Western allies are pursuing misguided policies toward Syria and Iran. For Obama to think he can get Moscow to adopt the American approach without compensation is simply an insult to Putin. If it wants Russia’s cooperation on Syria and Iran, it is going to have to make significant concessions to Moscow on other issues. Washington must now decide whether the cooperation it wants from Russia is really worth that. The Obama administration needs to understand America cannot have its borscht and eat it, too." – Mr. Katz’s CNN essay also includes the concessions President Putin might need to do the right thing as far as Assad is concerned.
So with the public excluded, the Press was reduced to commentary on the two pitchers, Putin and Obama, and how they looked and what that meant for the game. Except there’s no reason for leaders to tell anyone anything and they’re never alone. There’s probably a table vote for this week’s designated loud mouth to reveal tidbits to the public(s) as inevitably politics is a circus performance and Press this time upset the acrobats didn’t jump higher. Even though Obama told reporters afterwards, “We agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war.” Plus President Putin said, “From my point of view, we have found many common points on this issue,” adding they’d continue discussions.
Diplomatic. However reporters cited attitude, pointing out U.S. and Russian officials described the meeting as positive and business-like while both leaders were seen as cool and detached. A personal dynamic that sharply contrasted chummy Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush. Journalists entering the cramped hotel ballroom, saw neither smile while leaning toward each other in discussion. Then remaining seated, President Obama initiated a handshake for the cameras. It was reported Obama sometimes gestured while Putin sat stiff through the joint appearance, and both glumly watched reporters leave and made no move to re-engage with each other.
The Press is kidding too, right? Thinking this confrontation should be more like J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon establishing a humbling rapport before Congress? Why would Obama and Putin not display tension over what probably can’t be reconciled to everyone’s satisfaction? For them to portray anything beyond grim is just putting a face on things, don’t you think? But sometimes its hard to tell. Wouldn’t it be great if all that mattered to have a fantastically happy day was All The Presidents Smiled?
USA TODAY covered a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting that symbolically, if not in fact, repeated an at least year-old mantra: In order to stop the bloodshed in Syria, we call for an immediate cessation of all violence and express full support for the efforts of UN/League of Arab States Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, including moving forward on political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system that would be implemented by the Syrians themselves in the framework of Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity. We are united in the belief that the Syrian people should have the opportunity to independently and democratically choose their own future.
Uh huh. Who’s cleaning the mess up if not the suit taking credit?
Smile, everyone’s watching. Politicians?
Yeah, I’ve never seen two men colder toward each other my entire life.
While this masterpiece was faked.
This was a presumably valid, MSNBC, American television discourse on the presidents’ meeting.
6/20/2012
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Does A Mexican Trip And Invitation To Moscow Make A Difference Surrounded By Handlers, ALL THE TIME?
6/20/2012 Uh huh. Who’s cleaning the mess up if not the suit taking credit? Smile, everyone’s watching. Politicians? Yeah, I’ve never seen two men colder toward each other my entire life. While this masterpiece was faked. This was a presumably valid, MSNBC, American television discourse on the presidents’ meeting.
First you try and try and try again …
First you try and try and try again …
September 29 - October 11, 2016
The original essay's first paragraph could have been written today in light of September 9th's cease-fire treaty over Aleppo that was shredded past mulching the documents themselves.
Try again, 6/20/2012? Been here before. Where it doesn't matter what doesn't change when the same is the change being called for. Unleashed discipline worked up to feverish devout proportions that already cultivated what's foolish about us. How the vast schemes civilization spawns, viciously inflate politics to resemble a country's peoples' framed reference that's the real game personalities, heading pyramids, rule. Go team. Ah machinations. Really we're all just sitting back, shaking our heads, baffling over what political professionals want understood when there's not an issue jargon can't undermine and beat?
Try again, 6/20/2012? Been here before. Where it doesn't matter what doesn't change when the same is the change being called for. Unleashed discipline worked up to feverish devout proportions that already cultivated what's foolish about us. How the vast schemes civilization spawns, viciously inflate politics to resemble a country's peoples' framed reference that's the real game personalities, heading pyramids, rule. Go team. Ah machinations. Really we're all just sitting back, shaking our heads, baffling over what political professionals want understood when there's not an issue jargon can't undermine and beat?
Go forth and diversify, my eye, since capitalism's supposed to prove it's socialist. But besides that. What if the resources that make the world so hospitable are necessary to the planet's health? Science can't prove otherwise. Hell yeah the atmosphere's screwier. But I could feel better if the planet were more solid-ish. So what?
The future will manufacture oxygen and this generation scapegoated for their inconvenience. How every era's remembered, when faced, for tragedies passed from the past. Useless not to forgive generations that naively developed modernity's fossilized culture. Complicated sentence. Complicated formula? Bottom line. Mass transportation should have been subsidized to the level the automobile was and still is. Safety? We're so d___ smart the reality is we can't finance solutions. Too expensive or cheap. Not enough moola flying around to replace coal with solar. Earthlings could imagine burning our souls. Money making decisions people do, because what should a mechanic do? Collect buggy whips? So transportation's song remains the same. Where the mentality is bikes are in the way and meant to be the pedestrians' bane. Because cars can't be safer. So custom adapts and makes it all our faults the entire transportation system isn't already designed safer. Bridges, trestles and tunnels should be everywhere trains and the rest of us cross. How could we expect people to accept room for bikes when so much more room than necessary was used to explore congestion? Going in one direction doesn't mean losing the other entirely, because, as I understood decades back, people aren't giving up mobile thrones.
But this generation's so smart and why responsible for all the blame now. Sure China copied the United States. A crystal ball wasn't necessary to see that coming. It was important to sell more cars to a culture that already knew how to ride a bike. Ethics have nothing to do with law is probably why the law's most sought after as a means for revenge than the promotion of lifestyles that would thwart bad things happening. Poverty? Doesn't have to be that difficult to be poor. Yet capital remains so hog wild pretending to chase inflation, ignoring the penny's value reduced to relative meaninglessness.
That's where the poor are cheated. The lack of vision that's brought about the categorical positioning of economic classes, that, based on cultural advancements, should have been matured past if our supposed intelligence could be factored in. Huh. Yeah the point. Well. The point's the future's blaming this generation as the one that could have made the difference, except for the broad incapacity to pivot economically. Politicians of every stripe throw around the accusation of corruption that pales in recognition of the refusal to face our overly greased consciences.
So the entire Congressional apparatus, bureaucrats, head-in-ground citizenry, dinosaur-ish commercial interests, all are responsible for September 29th's New Jersey train slamming into a wall killing a woman and injuring 108 people because better technology to prevent mistakes, termed accidents, are on hold because SAFE TRANSPORTATION was never affordable for a country that irresponsibly over-indulged the loving of our mobile thrones.
No accountants worth their fees would undermine a client, or former client, disputing that said client weren't the one who genius-ly figured their way through the tax code to profitability after a substantial business loss. But not all of us wedge access to that great wealth provider, falsely attributed to P. T. Barnum, described as "a sucker born every minute."
When coaxing the American public, integrity ...
Some credence to the idea civilization is in full ironic mode. Maybe turned up to 11. Where everything said before turns out exactly as ironically expected. Trade and treaties last as long as militarily feasible, whereby contestants are comfortable with either dependent strategy. Uh uh. Doesn't make exact sense to me either, but let's look for what shapes up next. Anyway ...
The title -
Does A Mexican Trip And Invitation To Moscow Make A Difference Surrounded By Handlers, ALL THE TIME?
- is apparently accurate.
So choose your conspiracies wisely shouldn't be good advice, yet. Everything working up nicely for the Vegas presidential debate. What better place to bury the remaining hatchets? The only question, will the roulette wheel ever stop so we can get off?
From 6/20/2012: Obama told reporters afterwards, “We agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war.”
Uh huh.
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