Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”—John as quoted in Luke 3:11.

“Moving forward we’re only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, who are our friends . . . countries that also have our interests at heart.”—Donald Trump to the United Nations, Sept. 25, 2018. He said, “The United States is the largest giver in the world, by far, of foreign aid, but few give anything to us.”  

He didn’t break that down, but “our friends” as determined by deluded Donald all are mainly people who do not need aid of a humanitarian nature, who have money, who are not dying of starvation, who are eager to buy U. S. military weapons. Noticeably he sucks up to the Saudis and to Israel. And he has been giving away billions in military aid, “getting back” major financial support for our arms manufacturers, but cutting back on humanitarian aid—including to Palestinian refugees. He is following somewhat the same pattern within our homeland—militance over benevolence. (His illicit love affairs with Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putim of course, are in a unique category of their own.)

Apparently we have no wealthy, dominant Trump-style friends in Yemen, where children are literally dying of starvation and civilians in general are being killed by American-made bombs. Yemen at present is seen as the world’s “worst humanitarian catastrophe.” And we continue to hear from Mother Trump’s little boy about how the public doesn’t appreciate his greatness. Sit on it, Donald.

Despite all else  that’s going on here at home, I’ve chosen to return to this specific issue that is remaining somewhat out of the spotlight for most Americans. The Trump administration wants billions of dollars of Saudi Arabian arms-purchase money injected into the U. S. economy for job creation while giving lip service to winding down the war in Yemen. As the Saudi-led coalition continues unlawfully bombing markets, hospitals and homes in Yemen with U.S. weapons.

Here’s one bit from the most-recent columns by Nicholas Kristof in the ever-dependable New York Times: “Starving Yemeni children are reduced to eating a sour paste made of leaves. Even those who survive will often be stunted for the rest of their lives, physically and mentally.” But many, of course, don’t survive and, by premature death, are spared continued agony. And things will be even worse when even the leaves are gone.  The Saudis have continually blockaded Yemen ports against shipments including food, water, fuel and medicines. At least 8 million Yeminis are at risk of starvation from an approaching famine.

Engrave on your mind the image of a 3-year-old with severe hunger pangs crying and sucking on a paste made from available leaves. Imagine the mental agony of his/her mother, also in physical distress. Why are we playing footsie with Saudi Arabia in this blatant crime against humanity through the complicity of Donald Trump and his runaway presidential power that is supported by a subservient Congress?

It was a bomb made by our own Lockheed Martin that struck a Yemini school bus last month, killing 51 people. Prior to that, American-made bombs killed 155 mourners at a funeral and 57 people at a market. 

And still the Saudis remain “our friends” as proclaimed by Donald (who cares nothing about Yemen, which has little to lay at the altar in the Kingdom of Trump).  And demagogic Donald covers his butt by refusing to recognize the International Criminal Court, which seeks to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Atrocities of all sorts. 

While not directly involved in bombing Yemeni civilians, the U. S. is providing arms, intelligence and aerial refueling to destroy the framework of a nation and starve its people. We are an accomplice to murder in the eyes of the world—and in reality. No way is Yemen even a direct threat to the U.S.

So to whom will the world turn for justice? It used to be largely us. I guess now there still remains the UN’s International Court of Justice, from which Trump has not yet withdrawn (and which currently has a U. S. representative among its 15 members). Its rulings, however, face little means of enforcement without the U.S. Appealing to that court recently was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, over Trump’s arbitrarily having moved the U. S. embassy Israeli from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital city, and their dispute over it has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israel–Palestine conflict.” The conflicting claims include issues of sovereignty over the city, or parts of it, including access to holy sites.

Despite the embassy move, Donald still repeatedly claims that the U. S. unilaterally is brokering peace between Israel and Palestine—despite other contrary actions such as arms to Israel, big time. Abbas actually has halted ties with the Trump administration and declared it unfit to remain in its role as the sole mediator in peace talks. Donald’s son-in-law Jared, wandering the West Wing ineffectually, is supposedly overseeing pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. He obviously is frustrated at every  turn as Donald continues to seek individual stature by mere declaration and without concern for others.

The Saudi aim in Yemen supposedly is to crush Houthi rebels who have seized the capital and are allied with Iran, which must appeal to the unfeeling “death to Iran” hypocrite who is our country’s president. But tell me: how does our complicity in recklessly bombing and inhumanely starving civilians make us more admirable than Syria’s Bashar al-Addad, who fatally gassed a portion of his civilian population, also including children?

The American Press is not at fault for not headlining this world atrocity more. As columnist Krisof points out, journalists have been barred from access to the scene by the Saudi blockades. So reporters representing the New York Times, Associated Press and others are unable to risk their lives at the scene of carnage to provide us with details. That obviously also  suits our president, who has his own plans for ruling Iran Trump-style and is always happy to bar the Press from things.

TODAY’S ADDENDUM—It’s only a small toot in a windstorm, as Republicans are pretty much in lockstep about getting another incompetent extremist onto the Supreme Court, but . . .

Brett Kavanaugh, loudly proclaimed to be an outstanding jurist over many years and seeking a seat on this high court, would be expected to know the law—at least have some recollection of it. Either he doesn’t or he lied about it for the sake of his own image. Take your pick.

When he called his high school beer-drinking days age of 17, he said: “Yes, there were parties. And the drinking age was 18. And yes, the seniors were legal,” in a Fox News interview. But the legal age in that state was raised to 21 on July 1, 1982; Kavanaugh did not turn 18 until Feb. 12, 1983. Several days later he told the the Senate Judiciary Committee that all of his comments during the Fox interview were accurate and could be made part of the record. 

Details, details . . . they won’t be something to be bothered with if the Supreme Court  in the near future deals with a matter, say, connected to Donald Trump.

QUOTE FROM AN EARLIER REPUBLICAN—GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address in 1961 included this following quote. Keep in mind that he was a former 5-star general of the army who commanded our forces in Europe during World War II. I voted proudly for Ike. For full text including the quote below see: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=90&page=transcript

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

Intelligent individual, Ike. Dystopian dimwit, Donald.

.

.