SO MUCH FOR COUNTRY FIRST

The two pictures below paint a portrait of our new reality. 

The first captures a moment at this past weekend's G-7 Summit, where Donald Trump went out of his way to demonstrate he has no clue about alliance building, let alone global commerce and trade. In a few words, Trump is trying to impose a "me-first" approach to global trade, which history makes clear never works. 

The second picture, below, pretty much explains what's really behind Trump's petulance. He's acting like Vladimir Putin's puppet, and doing his level best to do what Russia wants. Specifically, Trump's breaking the American bank (deficit spending) and splitting the western alliance, something Putin has been trying to do for years.

So much for country first. You can catch up with the discussion by checking out this PBS news segment.

Meanwhile, at least someone in Washington is pointing out the emperor has no clothes ...

- Mark