That’s the thought that was running through my mind.
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It must have been an unbearable weekend for Trump-haters.
He got an enthusiastic, lavish red carpet welcome in Saudi Arabia.
He wasn’t boorish, crude, moronic, Islamophobic … or worse.
He delivered a powerful speech to the leaders of 50 Muslim countries emphasizing:
- There’s a fundamental difference between good and evil
- Terrorists are evil and need to be eradicated from the earth.
- Iran represents ground zero in the fight against terrorism.
- Muslim-majority nations need to step-up and lead the fight.
- America will help and will be dependable, because it’s in our self-interest.
Then, he participated in the ceremonial opening of a center intended to monitor and counter-act extremist ideologies.
Seriously, how can anybody think that those are bad ideas?
So, back to the opening question: will Trump get a Nobel Peace Prize … just like Obama did 8 years ago?
Obviously, he’s got a few things working against him….
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What’s in his way?
First, he didn’t read his teleprompter speech as poetically as Obama read the the speech his writers crafted for him.
Not fair, but style points count, right.
More important, he’s Trump … and Trump-haters wouldn’t give him credit even if all of the warring factions put down their arms, if ISIS had announced that it was disbanding, if Iran had demolished its nuclear & missile-launching facilities, and if Israel & the Palestinians had hugged.
Exhibit 1: the Washington Post.
Here’s the splash-screen from today’s online edition:
In WaPo’s coverage, Trump’s triumph in Saudi Arabia gets buried beneath proposed cuts to Medicaid (i.e. shifting financial responsibility to the states who would decide whether or not to provide coverage to the Medicaid-extenders) …. beneath uncertainty regarding his trip to Israel … and beside features on Jared Kushner’s real estate deals and Billy Bush’s comeback plans.
Gimme a break.
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But, maybe there’s hope.
Here’s the splash screen from today’s NY Times:
Of course, the best the editors could opine was “It wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”
That’s OK … it’s the editorial page.
Finally, I can give a hat tip to the NY Times ….
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P.S. According to the BBC …
In his recently published memoirs, the Nobel Peace Secretary “regrets” giving Obama the Peace Prize.
He concedes that the prize was based on hope, not achievements … “that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr. Obama” … but, the achievements never came.
That raises the bar for Trump … suddenly, words aren’t quite enough.
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