9 minutes ago, FourFans said:

...............abused the good graces of the USA and acted as though access to our markets and access to use of our military force is their own personal birthright. ...............though Germany is on that path finally........................... Saying we're stealing our sidekick's lunch money is like saying a battered wife who finally defends herself is committed assault (I imagine something like Ronda Rousey being a battered wife for years and then finally realizing, wait, I can kill this guy...). On a technical level it might technically be true. On the truth level it's not.

This is isn't bullying. This is the US finally standing up for itself.

"Keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down" -First NATO Secretary General. It's funny, but true.

Access to our markets was part of the post WW2 deal (that America came up with). Just cause you don't like the deal in retrospect, doesn't mean the Euros were being abusive. Arrogant little shit heads, sure but that's different. Most importantly, it kept them from fighting each other.

Implicitly threatening to seize land through military force is finally defending ourselves? That's some interesting logic.

This isn’t about security, future strategy or 4D Chess. This is so Trump can imagine a future history book saying, “President Trump expanded the land mass of the US more than any previous president, making Trump, the best, the greatest, the yugest President in history.”

He doesn’t give two shits about you, me, the economy or our place in the world. This is him polishing his legacy, and probably his knob, while counting down the days remaining until the Republicans get crushed in the mid-terms.