Back in 2006, I was doing a job in a Connecticut town off the Merrit Parkway, an area in close proximity to NYC. At the time, I still owned a TV set and was vaguely aware of, and nauseated by, Trump. The house I was working in was a large one, dated and nothing special except for its location. The remodel consisted of basic window dressing for a rabbits warren of rooms with the exception of a grand entrance hall that was totally out of scale and style. My job was to install a Brazilan teak balustrade that wound up the circular staircase and to the mezzanine that connected to the second floor rooms that were small and nothing to write home about. I have worked in many mansions that were well designed and well built. This was not one of them.
To get to my point, in the course of my work I always check out the rest of the house. One "improvement" was a practically windowless study, that while made from expensive materials, had all the charm of sixties basement paneled with cheap sheets of plywood from Grossmans, IFYKYN. While I was in the room checking it out, a realtor and her friend from NYC came into it and the friend couldn't stop gushing over the house and how she lived in a Trump condo and how it was so great and how great Trump was.
You can take from this anecdote what you will but it marks a point in my career that solidly established in my mind a contempt for those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, some deal.
The image of Trump punching himself in the face should be hilarious. Then you realize he is also punching each and every one of us in the face at the same time.😡 His brand did wonders for Victor Orban… lol.
Yes! The punch lands on anyone who buys gasoline, flies on a plane, or eats food that moves through a supply chain. Which is everyone.
The deeper issue isn’t Trump’s incompetence—-that’s well-documented and not particularly illuminating at this point. It’s the structural problem the article gestures at but doesn’t name: the U.S. delegation was led by Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner, trusted allies with business ties, not experienced foreign policy professionals.
You don’t send your son-in-law to the highest-level U.S.-Iran talks in 47 years unless you’ve confused personal loyalty with institutional competence. Iran noticed. The world noticed. The oil markets certainly noticed.
What a farce and we all can see it…
The Orbán comparison is the sharpest line—-this is the brand: manufacture a crisis, perform dominance, extract nothing, claim victory. It works domestically.
As to Jared Kushner … let’s not forget that one of his claims to fame was one of the worst real estate deals in the latter 20th Century—the aptly named 666 Fifth Avenue.
In regards to the JCPOA, not only was it negotiated with multinational experts and diplomats in play, the US team of John Kerry (highly experienced as a Secretary of State and negotiator) and acclaimed MIT physicist, Ernest Moniz as Secretary of Energy, knew how to “trust but verify”. Critics say the JCPOA was not perfect. Fine. But you do not rip up what is working, however imperfectly, with nothing and no effort to replace it.
For the current crew of “diplomats” and subject matter experts, negotiation requires pre-work and homework. They read “Art of the Deal”, when they should have had a quick read of “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In” by Roger Fisher and William Ury. This is a book often read by salespeople and studied in college level 101 classes. It can be read in a couple of hours! Personally, I think it is handy in Life 101.
The principles are simple, but often effective. Don’t focus on whether you like the people in front of you. Discover and focus on whatever mutual interests you have in common. Do not take positions. Work together to find creative and fair options. Never issue ultimatums. An updated version of the first book adjusted the approach to criticism of GTY being “too cooperative”. (“Getting Past No”).
Negotiations and sales deals must engender trust, integrity, and credibility, to create sustainable relationships and durable “deals”. In the business world, a sustainable deal and relationship is a win-win long term profitable arrangement. I wonder what actual books Witkoff or Kushner have read in regards to their own sales “acumen”.
Despite all the evidence of mismanagement, lousy judgment, inappropriate personal behavior, mental confusion (if not illness), terrible personnel decisions, inability to learn from mistakes or even admit to mistakes, support for and trust in him continues. He’s not the only one who’s failing.
Every day Trump seems to be slipping further and further from reality. I question how long the Republicans in Congress will continue to do his bidding- because there has to come a point in which his mental decline is not going to be brushed under the rug. Those who have bowed to his demands at the expense of their constituents will be forever linked to the failure that Trump (and his entire administration) is, and will be ushered out of office by the voters. And may that day be November 3, 2026!
The "weave" that exists inside the barking pumpkin is exponentially worse (and more dangerous) than the one coiffured atop it. Hungary and Pope Leo have schooled us on the fix.
Back in 2006, I was doing a job in a Connecticut town off the Merrit Parkway, an area in close proximity to NYC. At the time, I still owned a TV set and was vaguely aware of, and nauseated by, Trump. The house I was working in was a large one, dated and nothing special except for its location. The remodel consisted of basic window dressing for a rabbits warren of rooms with the exception of a grand entrance hall that was totally out of scale and style. My job was to install a Brazilan teak balustrade that wound up the circular staircase and to the mezzanine that connected to the second floor rooms that were small and nothing to write home about. I have worked in many mansions that were well designed and well built. This was not one of them.
To get to my point, in the course of my work I always check out the rest of the house. One "improvement" was a practically windowless study, that while made from expensive materials, had all the charm of sixties basement paneled with cheap sheets of plywood from Grossmans, IFYKYN. While I was in the room checking it out, a realtor and her friend from NYC came into it and the friend couldn't stop gushing over the house and how she lived in a Trump condo and how it was so great and how great Trump was.
You can take from this anecdote what you will but it marks a point in my career that solidly established in my mind a contempt for those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, some deal.
The image of Trump punching himself in the face should be hilarious. Then you realize he is also punching each and every one of us in the face at the same time.😡 His brand did wonders for Victor Orban… lol.
Yes! The punch lands on anyone who buys gasoline, flies on a plane, or eats food that moves through a supply chain. Which is everyone.
The deeper issue isn’t Trump’s incompetence—-that’s well-documented and not particularly illuminating at this point. It’s the structural problem the article gestures at but doesn’t name: the U.S. delegation was led by Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner, trusted allies with business ties, not experienced foreign policy professionals.
You don’t send your son-in-law to the highest-level U.S.-Iran talks in 47 years unless you’ve confused personal loyalty with institutional competence. Iran noticed. The world noticed. The oil markets certainly noticed.
What a farce and we all can see it…
The Orbán comparison is the sharpest line—-this is the brand: manufacture a crisis, perform dominance, extract nothing, claim victory. It works domestically.
It is catastrophic internationally.
As to Jared Kushner … let’s not forget that one of his claims to fame was one of the worst real estate deals in the latter 20th Century—the aptly named 666 Fifth Avenue.
"the only card that matters is being the bigger and stronger country"
This is what your average GOP voter thinks and a large number of the dumb warmongering politicians. War is almost always as dumb as it is evil.
In regards to the JCPOA, not only was it negotiated with multinational experts and diplomats in play, the US team of John Kerry (highly experienced as a Secretary of State and negotiator) and acclaimed MIT physicist, Ernest Moniz as Secretary of Energy, knew how to “trust but verify”. Critics say the JCPOA was not perfect. Fine. But you do not rip up what is working, however imperfectly, with nothing and no effort to replace it.
For the current crew of “diplomats” and subject matter experts, negotiation requires pre-work and homework. They read “Art of the Deal”, when they should have had a quick read of “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In” by Roger Fisher and William Ury. This is a book often read by salespeople and studied in college level 101 classes. It can be read in a couple of hours! Personally, I think it is handy in Life 101.
The principles are simple, but often effective. Don’t focus on whether you like the people in front of you. Discover and focus on whatever mutual interests you have in common. Do not take positions. Work together to find creative and fair options. Never issue ultimatums. An updated version of the first book adjusted the approach to criticism of GTY being “too cooperative”. (“Getting Past No”).
Negotiations and sales deals must engender trust, integrity, and credibility, to create sustainable relationships and durable “deals”. In the business world, a sustainable deal and relationship is a win-win long term profitable arrangement. I wonder what actual books Witkoff or Kushner have read in regards to their own sales “acumen”.
I believe The Firesign Theater said it first … and best, “We’re all bozos on this bus.”
I’ve been flashing back to Firesign Theater a lot these days.
“Shoes for industry! Shoes for defense!”
Despite all the evidence of mismanagement, lousy judgment, inappropriate personal behavior, mental confusion (if not illness), terrible personnel decisions, inability to learn from mistakes or even admit to mistakes, support for and trust in him continues. He’s not the only one who’s failing.
Every day Trump seems to be slipping further and further from reality. I question how long the Republicans in Congress will continue to do his bidding- because there has to come a point in which his mental decline is not going to be brushed under the rug. Those who have bowed to his demands at the expense of their constituents will be forever linked to the failure that Trump (and his entire administration) is, and will be ushered out of office by the voters. And may that day be November 3, 2026!
The "weave" that exists inside the barking pumpkin is exponentially worse (and more dangerous) than the one coiffured atop it. Hungary and Pope Leo have schooled us on the fix.
Any adversary negotiating with him in his second term knows they should hold out for a deal at least as good as the Taliban got.