The leaders of the West gathered in Paris to commemorate the end of the bloodiest war the world has ever known. The President of the United States was among them but he was not one of them. In fact, in 100 years, the US has gone from being seen as the world's greatest hope...
to be regarded as one of its principle threats. You could hear it in the words of the leaders. The host, France's president Emmanuel Macron, offered a stunning rebuke of the American president, standing just feet a way from him. He condemned Trump's proclaimed credos directly.
He said "Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying our interests first... we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what gives it grace, and what is essential: its moral values."
Macron's words at a chill to the November Paris air. But so too did the fact that Trump did not walk with the other leaders in a show of solidarity down the Champs Elysee. Just as the day before a light rain kept him from honoring the dead of the war...
...even as each of his counterparts attended undaunted as did the families of the fallen, many older than Trump, less shielded from the elements than he would have be been. But, it was not the elements that Trump feared. It was public displays of the contempt he has earned.
That contempt did not diminish when he arrived two hours late at the state dinner hosted by Macron last night. In fact, it grew further when Trump saved his warmth for greeting Vladimir Putin and sitting, laughing with Turkey's President Erdogan, another enemy of democracy.
In fact, it was clear 100 yrs after the US helped win World War I & ascended to the ranks of the world's great powers, that much had changed. The most important leader of the West was the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. Its spokespeople were Macron & Canada's Trudeau.
