Althouse: "The foreign strategy of soothing tensions with the United States by stroking President Trump’s ego was put into vivid effect here Sunday..."

September 23, 2019

"The foreign strategy of soothing tensions with the United States by stroking President Trump’s ego was put into vivid effect here Sunday..."

"... when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lathered praise on his American counterpart at a massive rally celebrating the Indian diaspora. The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies took the stage together in Houston before a roaring crowd of tens of thousands of Indian Americans, where Modi delivered an unmistakable endorsement of Trump’s presidency and cast their joint appearance in historic terms. 'His name is familiar to every person on the planet,' Modi said as he introduced Trump. 'He was a household name and very popular even before he went on to occupy the highest office in this great country. From CEO to commander in chief. From boardrooms to the Oval Office. From studios to global stage.' The prime minister then repurposed his own campaign slogan in India to rally support for 'my friend' Trump in the United States: 'Abki baar, Trump sarkar,' meaning, 'This time, a Trump government.'.... Once Trump arrived, live video of him and Modi walking down a red carpet winding through the bowels of the stadium played on the screens as a drum band played in anticipation of their grand entrance. The two strode onto the stage holding hands. As Trump stood at his side grinning widely, Modi said he admired Trump’s 'concern for every American, a belief in America’s future and a strong resolve to make America great again... We are witnessing history in the making.'"

WaPo grouses in "Trump plays unusual role of warm-up act at massive Modi rally in Houston." "Bowels" is a nice touch. Bravo, WaPo!

92 comments:

tim maguire said...: Foreign leaders saying something nice about Obama is evidence of Obama's leadership, wisdom, and gravitas.

Foreign leaders saying something nice about Trump is ego stroking.

The funny thing is, I don't think it's hypocrisy. I think they really don't see what they're doing.; 9/23/19, 6:45 AM
Temujin said...: I read a couple different accounts of this. And as everything he does in regard to Asia: Things are done with an eye on China. There are many ways to confront China, or make things more difficult for China.

WaPo, of course has other objectives.; 9/23/19, 6:45 AM
Birches said...: They're scared. Good.; 9/23/19, 6:46 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: Democracy Dies in Darkness!; 9/23/19, 6:47 AM
rehajm said...: Just more Trump hate extruded via the sphincter of news, The Washington Post...

Sounds to me like they actually like him, just like in many other foreign nations.

These constant tales of a mentally unstable Trump continue to expose the mental instability of the Trump deranged. Frankly I'm quite surprised how many 'normal' people in positions of power have been infected.; 9/23/19, 6:47 AM
viator said...: There are two versions of reality in play here the Washington Poo's and Trump's. Watch the video of this amazing event in Houston and tell me which which one Trump's the other.; 9/23/19, 6:48 AM
Hagar said...: Well, this is some real "conspiring with foreign leaders to influence U.S. elections!"; 9/23/19, 6:48 AM
Birches said...: 50,000 minority voters who now have a more positive view of Trump. Yep, they're petrified.; 9/23/19, 6:48 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: Did any foreign dignitaries ever praise President Obama?

If so, then what did The Washington Post say about that?; 9/23/19, 6:50 AM
Meade said...: "Bowels" is a nice touch. Bravo, WaPo!

Bravely blatantly racist.; 9/23/19, 6:50 AM
gilbar said...: Think how sad it must be, to be the WaPo?
They are Literally reduced to pretending; 9/23/19, 6:50 AM
David Begley said...: Can we arrest Modi for interfering in our election? Impeach Trump while we are at it.; 9/23/19, 6:52 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: To flatter President Obama, he was given a Nobel Peace Prize.; 9/23/19, 6:53 AM
gilbar said...: There was All This Talk; about how Texas was going to turn Blue! (or, maybe, Purple?)

Let's See?
According to my Lonesome Dove video; there are three main groups in Texas
The Hispanics like Trump
The Indians like Trump
All that's left, will be if Somehow, Trump can get the Whites to like him too; 9/23/19, 6:56 AM
Phil 314 said...: Some of our best gastroenterologist were educated in India. So yes, they know bowels.; 9/23/19, 7:06 AM
Phil 314 said...: You can see that rally as a bowel prep for the 2020 election.; 9/23/19, 7:07 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: As a former (weekly) newspaper editor, I wouldn't have let "bowels" make it to the final paste up. Have they no shame? (rhetorical, I know)

THEOLDMAN

I thought Drudge was finally admitting greatness on Trump's part, but noooooo.....; 9/23/19, 7:08 AM
traditionalguy said...: India was the keystone of the British Colonial Empire because of the high intelligence level of the Indian people.And they do appreciate Trump for restoring the American Empire that set them free after destroying the Japanese Empire.

But Bezos and his team of propagandists wants a Global British Empire Redux. So WaPo is still a common enemy of Indian Democracy and the American Democracy.

That Trump guy is having one brilliant accident after another.; 9/23/19, 7:10 AM
iowan2 said...: Some of our best gastroenterologist were educated in India. So yes, they know bowels.

I think those gastroenterologist are Indians, educated in the United States.; 9/23/19, 7:14 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Shouldn't we be calling them Native Southeast Asians?; 9/23/19, 7:19 AM
MadisonMan said...: If only Trump were to put on a blue shirt and tweet out a picture of he and the Indian PM grasping hands so as to tweak Trudeau.; 9/23/19, 7:21 AM
Hagar said...: I am so old I can remember back in the '80s when Ariel Sharon came to the United States to solicit funds for his campaign in Israeli politics. His autobiography, "Warrior," was primarily written (by an American ghost writer) to introduce him to American Jews.; 9/23/19, 7:24 AM
Ralph L said...: Modi said as he introduced Trump.

Trump was the warm-up act?; 9/23/19, 7:33 AM
rhhardin said...: The convenience store accent is always the best part.; 9/23/19, 7:34 AM
Tom T. said...: It's killing them that he's succeeding not only With the economy but with foreign relations as well.; 9/23/19, 7:37 AM
rehajm said...: It's killing them that he's succeeding not only With the economy but with foreign relations as well

It does seem like a desperate hunt for a narrative that will hurt. Ginning up pre-recession fears seems like their biggest hope at the moment...; 9/23/19, 7:45 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: This is also aimed at Pakistan, which is key for solving the Afghanistan problem.

Plus, Trump signed a huge LNG deal, $2.5 Billion Dollars.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-usa-lng-idUSKBN1W51LX; 9/23/19, 7:50 AM
MD Greene said...: The American press has been in decline for many years -- newspapers now are full easy-to-grab crime blotter reports, reprinted press releases and incomprehensible discussions of local and state matters or any topic that has to do with numbers. (Don't let me get started on the bad grammar and atrocious syntax.)

The Trump presidency seems to have been the coup de grâce. The remaining writers and editors, whose maximum age is about 29, are so ignorant of history and proportion that they have taken it upon themselves to explain to us, repeatedly, how terrible the man is compared to everyone who went before.

Trump can take no credit for this. It's seppuku, and it's painful to watch.; 9/23/19, 7:58 AM
narciso said...: There was no shutdown of aid to ukraine, unlike what actually what obama had done to ukraine.; 9/23/19, 7:59 AM
MD Greene said...: full OF easy-to-grab crime reports.

Mea culpa.; 9/23/19, 8:00 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: It is interesting. Trump has seemingly pivoted American foreign policy from treating China as a neutral to our #1 geopolitical opponent, followed by Iran. The ChiComs have been buying American politicians, and thus American foreign policy, for decades now, notably at least since they did so much to support the Clinton/Gore Administration financially. And this has been reciprocated, as Dems in particular turned a blind eye to their theft of our military secrets, as well as our growing dependence on their economy, as jobs migrated from our country to theirs.

India and China are historical enemies, with their long, disputed, border, nuclear weapons, and economic competition. Yet, until just recently, China seemed to have cooped India into its orbit. This was esp striking given the closeness between China and Pakistan, India’s other regional opponent. Even our Five Eyes allies Australia and New Zealand seem to have been moving in China’s direction.

That is now effectively over. China has effectively been surrounded by US influence. And it is all Trump. Other Presidents have had our economic and military might to use n making foreign policy, but they let the Deep State, the bureaucrats in the State Department do the work, and those bureaucrats had bureaucratic, not national goals at the tops of their agenda. Their idea of doing diplomacy is for lower level people to work with their counterparts in other countries to make some low level agreements and arrangements, which can be rolled up to the next higher level, where they work with their counterparts. All the way up until foreign ministers deal with our Secretary of State, and then their prime ministers with our President to signal completion of the negotiations to everyone. It is all about process. Results don’t really matter.

Trump doesn’t work this way. He is much too impatient. What he has is his personal charm, charisma, and mere presence. He is the rock star politician on the planet, and makes other heads of government, and heads of state, feel this when they share the stage with him. They can’t resist. He is too good at it. They are only human, and sharing the stage with him is something that they cannot resist. It is remarkable. The world watched the heads of the two largest democracies act like best friends in front of tens of thousands off adoring friends, and the methodical Chinese in Beijing really started to panic. All they can do to counter this is contribute milli9ns to whichever Dem might be able to beat Trump next year. They don't really understand charisma and democracy. And I think that Trump is starting to really scare them. They spend decades carefully building alliances with their neighbors, extending their influence, and Trump blows it apart with some very public, high profile, state visits, capped, for now with this rock concert visit with the leader from India, traditionally their largest regional geopolitical opponent.; 9/23/19, 8:01 AM
gilbar said...: rhhardin said... The convenience store accent is always the best part.

So, Assuming that Jo Biden becomes our next President, Will Jo make comments about 7-11's to Modi?; 9/23/19, 8:07 AM
narciso said...: An alliance between the aussie evangelical and the hindu nationalist, thats a big deal; 9/23/19, 8:13 AM
MountainMan said...: India signs huge deal to buy US LNG; 9/23/19, 8:15 AM
Freder Frederson said...: It's killing them that he's succeeding not only With the economy but with foreign relations as well.

Yes, flatter the president and he will forgive almost anything, including murdering and dismembering a U.S. resident and destroying the autonomy of Kashmir.; 9/23/19, 8:22 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Trump is doing what any good businessman does when trying to persuade others to make a deal or be on his team. You flatter the other person. Elevate THEIR accomplishments. Put them in the limelight. You, of course, don't go overboard and become ridiculous. That just makes your subject uncomfortable.

When you develop a personal rapport with the other person, other President...become other than just an impersonal figurehead or cold automaton (which is how I always viewed Obama) then you can actually make a deal.

Trump being NORMAL and doing what diplomats have done for millennia, is now viewed by the press as being dangerous. When the opposite is true. What Trump does is guiding diplomacy into calmer waters.

The Media and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) are having a mental breakdown and trying to pull all of us into their own self destruction by publishing their own sick fantasies. I'm not having any of it. NOPE.; 9/23/19, 8:36 AM
Leland said...: I'm sure Modi is happy to have a US President that isn't sucking up to Pakistan.; 9/23/19, 8:46 AM
hombre said...: “The foreign strategy of soothing tensions with the United States by stroking President Trump’s ego....”

Althouse, the wordsmith, must have some wonderful descriptor for today’s journalists who create this stuff from whole cloth. Since I am in my degringolade, the best I can do is “fabulists.”; 9/23/19, 8:50 AM
Unknown said...: They cant believe he won. They cant believe millions love him. They better get over it. He is winning again 2020.; 9/23/19, 8:50 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Without a doubt, Trump is our first president ever to have a big ego.

Who would have ever thought such a thing could happen?; 9/23/19, 8:53 AM
rehajm said...: ...and he will forgive almost anything, including murdering and dismembering a U.S. resident and destroying the autonomy of Kashmir.

For a moment there, before I read Kashmir, I thought you were talking about forgiving an illegal immigrant that did the murdering and dismembering.; 9/23/19, 8:56 AM
MountainMan said...: Excellent commentary, Bruce Hayden.; 9/23/19, 8:59 AM
mockturtle said...: Iowan2 asserts: I think those gastroenterologist are Indians, educated in the United States.

Not so. Many, if not most, obtained their medical education in India.; 9/23/19, 8:59 AM
mockturtle said...: I often wonder if the media know they are digging themselves into a hole. Sometimes I think they realize this but, not knowing what else to do, they just keep digging.; 9/23/19, 9:01 AM
narciso said...: Kashmir is like the westbank the flash point in every war with pakistan, its also divided three ways.; 9/23/19, 9:02 AM
Seeing Red said...: ...Even our Five Eyes allies Australia and New Zealand seem to have been moving in China’s direction. ...

I can understand their POV since China’s the big boy on their block. (America sneezes and ZoolanderStan gets a brownface cold.)

I love how some Ozzie’s have the courage to speak up and go against China now. A few of their pols are also getting into trouble for being bought.

I watched part of Howdy Modi. Interestingly, my next door neighbor went to visit family in Dallas Friday. I take in their mail. I’m going to ask if they went to Houston.

Well I guess that what happens when one has 3 countries with 3 different goals, Freder. Which area are you concerned about?

Which would you rather have Kashmir align with, Pakland or Chicoms?

You know autonomy with those countries butting up next to an autonomous region is fantasy.; 9/23/19, 9:03 AM
Tom T. said...: I'm guessing that a lot of people are going to suddenly realize that Kashmir's autonomy has always been close to their hearts.; 9/23/19, 9:15 AM
AllenS said...: I remember the India China war. I had a paper route at the time, and I used to read the headlines of the papers that I was delivering. It sure sounded scary at the time.; 9/23/19, 9:23 AM
Ken B said...: I guess they decided adding "his cloacal path" would be over the top.; 9/23/19, 9:26 AM
Brian said...: All they can do to counter this is contribute milli9ns to whichever Dem might be able to beat Trump next year.

Bruce,

I worry about the other things that a nation state can do besides just donating millions (illegally).

Before now the downside risk has been too high (targeting a foreign leader is an act of war after all). The Chinese leadership have historically been longer term thinkers than that, but has the calculus changed?

Luckily the USSS is the best at their job.; 9/23/19, 9:26 AM
traditionalguy said...: Watching a video of the Howdy Modi event is astounding. The intelligent Indian diaspora gave Trump a level of total respect and love that has to be seen to be believed.; 9/23/19, 9:27 AM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: Leland, that's Pawkeestawn.; 9/23/19, 9:30 AM
Big Mike said...: Trump doesn’t work this way. He is much too impatient. What he has is his personal charm, charisma, and mere presence.

In Modi’s case, and thanks to Trump’s unabashed support for fracking and pipelines, Trump also has LNG that India needs badly.; 9/23/19, 9:33 AM
Biff said...: I find myself wondering if anyone at WaPo has any experience at all with India or with Indian political events.; 9/23/19, 9:35 AM
Seeing Red said...: After Howdy Modi, Trump flew to Ohio and opened an Australian plant with the Australian Prime Minister. Wow!

Via Lucianne:

President Trump spoke to a packed house at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday afternoon. President Trump held a joint rally at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas with Indian Prime Minister Modi.The stadium was packed! The audience jumped to their feet and gave President Trump a standing ovation when he promised to protect innocents from radical Islamic terrorism.(Photo) President Trump then flew to Ohio for his second rally with a world leader Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Ohio. The American and Australian leaders celebrated a new Australian owned manufacturing facility in Ohio....; 9/23/19, 9:44 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Ann Althouse posted...

"WaPo grouses in "Trump plays unusual role of warm-up act at massive Modi rally in Houston." "Bowels" is a nice touch. Bravo, WaPo!"

So, WaPooped?; 9/23/19, 9:51 AM
Infinite Monkeys said...: Foreign strategy of soothing tensions. I was unaware that our relationship with India was that tense. I can believe that India wants to improve them, though, mostly to get a change in the wait for a green card by EB-2 workers.; 9/23/19, 9:52 AM
narciso said...: Hunters other business partner:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/11/hinkley-point-c-case-against-cgn-has-the-feel-of-a-modern-spy-thriller; 9/23/19, 9:54 AM
Michael K said...: Meade said...
"Bowels" is a nice touch. Bravo, WaPo!

India and "Bowels might remind a few of visits to the cholera capital of the world.

Also, how many remember the movie, "Slumlord Millionaire," where the kid climbs out of the pool of feces to see the rockstar millionaire?; 9/23/19, 9:59 AM
John henry said...: So the president of the end largest Muslim country is going to run on being Trumpian?

Doesn't he know that all Muslims hate pdjt? This guy Modi must be stupid.

Either that or the press is lying to us.

Hmmm.... I'm going with the second option.

John Henry; 9/23/19, 10:02 AM
Jaq said...: They have to find some way to put a negative spin on what happened or else they may as well just pack it in, report the news straight, and let the American people decide the election, but then the terrorists will have won!; 9/23/19, 10:06 AM
Ice Nine said...: >>"...Modi lathered praise on his American counterpart..."<<

I'm going to do an Althouse here just for fun. (And I'm surprised that she, of all people, didn't jump on this one.)

It's "*slathered* praise," not "lathered praise." "Lather" refers specifically to spreading soap or lather on something. "Slather" refers to spreading anything (other than soap or lather, I suppose) on something. Anything, such as...praise.

I'm still trying to get the image of Modi smearing Praise Shaving Cream all over the President of the United States out of my head...; 9/23/19, 10:07 AM
Jaq said...: " including murdering and dismembering a U.S. resident”

U.S. resident, but clearly a foreign agent embedded in the American media on an influence operation. I don’t remember the part where it is out job to make sure no foreign citizen who is an agent of one country gets killed on foreign soil by a foreign state in a conflict with the country he is working against.

But send in th 101st Airborne! Unleash the dogs of war! A foreigner was killed by a foreigner!; 9/23/19, 10:10 AM
Drago said...: Field Marshall Freder: "Yes, flatter the president and he will forgive almost anything, including murdering and dismembering a U.S. resident and destroying the autonomy of Kashmir."

LOLOLOLOL

Yeah. An obama fan wrote that. Just now.

History began 15 minutes ago.....and we are supposed to have launched ANOTHER war!!!

Hey Freder, you ought to waltz right down to the recruiting office. They have older guy waivers you know.; 9/23/19, 10:20 AM
Drago said...: rehajm: "For a moment there, before I read Kashmir, I thought you were talking about forgiving an illegal immigrant that did the murdering and dismembering."

Trump invited the parents of 2 American school girls who were brutally murdered by the dems beloved MS-13 "spark of divinity" illegal alien killers and the killers did this using machetes...out in the open, without fear of retribution.

And the dems in congress refused to recognize the suffering of those parents and the dems continue to support allowing as many of these animalistic murderers into our nation as possible.

But go ahead Field Marshall Freder, tell us more about how an operative in service to a foreign nation who was killed by that foreign nation's enemies (also another foreign nation) is the most important item on the list of things to address.

LOL

And the dems wonder why they are getting no traction with the majority of the American people....; 9/23/19, 10:23 AM
Sebastian said...: "As Trump stood at his side grinning widely, Modi said he admired Trump’s 'concern for every American, a belief in America’s future and a strong resolve to make America great again... We are witnessing history in the making.'"

Wait, a person of color said that? Unpossible.

Anyway, would be good to use in next year's commercials.; 9/23/19, 10:34 AM
Michael K said...: Freder, I think you just provided some more comedy to the Althouse hillbillies.; 9/23/19, 10:37 AM
narciso said...: Said country, protects the taliban, boko haram hamas and nusra front or whatever al queda in syria is calling themselves this month.; 9/23/19, 10:49 AM
gahrie said...: Yes, flatter the president and he will forgive almost anything, including murdering and dismembering a U.S. resident and destroying the autonomy of Kashmir.

How does he feel about killing US citizens with drone strikes and destroying the autonomy of Ukraine?; 9/23/19, 11:01 AM
Anonymous said...: I would like to point out the significance of NRG Stadium to Texans, at least southeast Texans. It is the world's only combination football and rodeo stadium. It has locker rooms AND animal pens. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the major civic event of the year and lasts two weeks. It is a huge celebration of cowboy culture with the world champion barbecue competition, a vendor area where you can buy a custom-fit cowboy hat, and I could go on and on. The rodeo event itself is a major stop on the professional rodeo circuit. Breeders bring their cattle and make deals. There are cattle auctions. The entire event is a fundraiser for scholarships and it raises tons of money. Read about it at rodeohouston.com.

I work in Houston with several Hindu Indians who avoid eating beef. They seem content to coexist just fine and just pick something else when we go out to eat. Or they take the group to an Indian restaurant and the food is always excellent.

Sitting on the stadium floor where bull-riding and calf-roping happens every spring does not seem to be an issue. The second generation Indian-Americans are native born citizens and see themselves that way. Assimilation is proceeding wonderfully.; 9/23/19, 11:05 AM
Earnest Prole said...: That Trump introduction reminds me of the fantastically cheesy introduction Bob Dylan employed for more than a decade:

“The poet laureate of rock ‘n’ roll. The voice of the promise of the ’60s counterculture. The guy who forced folk into bed with rock, who donned makeup in the ’70s and disappeared into a haze of substance abuse, who emerged to ‘find Jesus,’ who was written off as a has-been by the end of the ’80s, and who suddenly shifted gears and released some of the strongest music of his career beginning in the late ’90s. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan.”

— The story behind Bob Dylan's weird stage introduction; 9/23/19, 11:09 AM
bagoh20 said...: I fantasize that a strong alliance economically and militarily between the U.S. and India would create an incredibly strong bulwark to all of our enimies and competitors. They have enormous numbers, nuclear weapons, low costs and educated people who operate in English and have at least some western sensibilities in law. They can sometimes get a little crazy, but those advantages are not available to us in any other nation we could align with.; 9/23/19, 11:11 AM
wildswan said...: "It's killing them that he's succeeding not only With the economy but with foreign relations as well"

Bruce Hayden 8:01 . Well said.

I watched the rally and President Modi made a huge point of saying that Trump was a friend to India and had always treated Modi himself in a warm and friendly fashion. Then Modi specifically spoke to the 1 billion Indians in India and in the Diaspora, saying Donald Trump was their friend. Certain facts came out at this rally. There are 200,000 Indian-American citizens in Houston, state of Texas, potential voters, and four million nationwide.; 9/23/19, 11:14 AM
gilbar said...: bagoh20 said...
a strong alliance economically and militarily between the U.S. and India would create an incredibly strong bulwark to all of our enimies and competitors.

We like Curry; They like Curry
We like (sweet) tea; They like (hot) tea
We like cows; they like cows
We sorta speak a form a english; they speak english
We rebelled against Great Britan; They rebelled against Great Britan
We don't want to be part of China; They don't want to be part of China
We don't want to be part of an Islamic Caliphate; They don't want to be part of an Islamic Caliphate
We love making and watching movies; They love making and watching movies

Hard to think of a better ally for the United States than India; They don't even speak French (unlike Canada)!; 9/23/19, 11:25 AM
Earnest Prole said...: Hard to think of a better ally for the United States than India

We have (feather) Indians; they have (dot) Indians; 9/23/19, 11:33 AM
Michael K said...: they take the group to an Indian restaurant and the food is always excellent.

I was giving a talk at the medical school in Birmingham about 20 years ago.

My daughter who was 18 or so was with me. The professor who was my host took us out to dinner.

He was partial to Bangladeshi food and we went to such a restaurant. My daughter was an enthusiast for such fare. She became a vegan a few years later. Sadly, she threw up all the way back to our hotel in Broadway. I have not been an enthusiast since.

That daughter spent a year in Spain and came back a meat eater again. She said vegans would starve in Spain.; 9/23/19, 11:43 AM
bagoh20 said...: They have an Indian President; maybe we'll have a fake Indian President.; 9/23/19, 11:45 AM
gilbar said...: Oh, and Of course;
We like Aiswarya Rai; They like Aiswarya Rai
We like Jane Austen; They like Jane Austen; 9/23/19, 11:52 AM
cf said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/23/19, 12:06 PM
effinayright said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/23/19, 12:15 PM
effinayright said...: "The foreign strategy of soothing tensions with the United States...."

What the hell does that mean?

Is Putin, a foreigner, soothing tensions..?

Are Macron and Merkel?

Is Xi Jinping?

Are they stroking Trump's ego?; 9/23/19, 12:40 PM
Sam L. said...: I see it as the Wapoo WaPooping.; 9/23/19, 12:53 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Modi had a rally in Houston? Is he running for office here or something?; 9/23/19, 1:19 PM
Clyde said...: I think he (Modi) was in Houston for the previous day's big signing of an LNG trade agreement that will provide lots of cleaner-burning LNG to India to help them replace coal. Win-win, and it helps the environment.; 9/23/19, 2:19 PM
mockturtle said...: They like Ravi Shankar, we like Ravi Shankar.; 9/23/19, 2:20 PM
Michael K said...: I think he (Modi) was in Houston for the previous day's big signing of an LNG trade agreement

They finally got the LNG terminal built after Obama blocked it for years.; 9/23/19, 2:46 PM
Jaq said...: Where did those tensions come from? Oh yeah, Obama sucking up to the Islamists in Pakistan.; 9/23/19, 3:14 PM
Jaq said...: Countries may not have “friends” but they do have natural allies. Pakistan is not a natural ally of the United States of America. More like a business partner you can’t trust.; 9/23/19, 3:16 PM
Kirk Parker said...: "That daughter ... said vegans would starve in Spain."

Really? My daughter spent a semester in Seville; the routine lunch from her host family was.... potato sandwiches!; 9/23/19, 3:42 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Skylark,

"Frenemy" is the term you are looking for.; 9/23/19, 4:13 PM
Michael K said...: Pakistan is not a natural ally of the United States of America. More like a business partner you can’t trust.

Pakistan was the intermediary for Kissinger and Nixon in 1972. They quickly removed the president who had been of help.

Ayub Khan had been president for years and was replaced by Yayah Khan after uprisings in east Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) He was ousted in 1971 and the war followed that resulted in the separation.

Pakistan has never been an ally. India was a hostile neutral, which was why Pakistan was leaning to us.

Alan Drury's novel "Advice and Consent" has a good picture of Pakistan in the 1950s.; 9/23/19, 4:27 PM
mockturtle said...: Really? My daughter spent a semester in Seville; the routine lunch from her host family was.... potato sandwiches!

Didn't Blondie make mashed potato sandwiches for Dagwood's lunch? Sounds hideous to me but if you like starch...; 9/23/19, 6:24 PM