Thread by @rb_merkel

Thread.

Trump's #UNGA speech was his worst yet, and perhaps the single worst speech given by a POTUS in modern history.

MSM (in particular @MSNBC) has done a pisspoor job of covering it accurately. I've heard two people describe it vaguely as "remarkable".

It was not remarkable unless you want to say remarkably bad and devastating for American interests around the world.

I hold some hope that @Lawrence will take him to task tonight, but the coverage today has largely been a letdown to this point.

Accurate coverage of the speech would hone in on one major theme and three detailed points about the speech that tie into that theme.

The main theme is that Trump and C+ Santa Monica Fascist Stephen Miller STILL have developed zero understanding of unintended consequences.

This is evident in all three of the major points of the speech, as well as the rest of it and what was not spoken about.

1. Let's start with Rocket Man.

Trump literally threatened total annihilation of N Korea. Not regime change or targeted war. He's talking about wiping 25m ppl off the map.

This is the WORST thing he could have said today. It's exactly what they raise their children to believe about America.

Fiery rhetoric, as he was warned before the speech, in this specific arena is not helpful for anyone.

Kim will see this and accelerate his nuclear program. May be quieter about it for a time, perhaps, …

… but this puts the 🇺🇸 squarely in the role of existential threat that they believe us to be.

Combined with point number 3, this could be disastrous for the Korean Peninsula.

2. Iran nuclear deal.

For anyone who doesn't know, Iran has been in 💯 compliance with the JCPoA (the deal). And wants to remain in the deal in good faith.

It has been held up as a success for all partners involved. Choosing not to certify it bc Trump has other issues with Iran wld be a disaster

It would end ANY chance for a diplomatic solution to NK or anyone else we ask to disarm themselves.

And not just while Trump is in office. This is the USA breaking its word. (Again, after the Paris Climate Accord.)

This decision would take us decades to recover from, in terms of the value of our word on the int'l stage.

Who would trust us? We elected someone who gave the rest of the world the middle finger in ways that could spiral out of control.

3. "America First" and sovereignty.

First, I find it very interesting, if expected, that there was no mention of our own sovereignty being violated in November.

Second, the hypocrisy and contradictions here are palpable. Is NK not putting NK's interests first? Or Iran?

Of course, the logical followup to that is that NK and Iran are human rights violators and int'l criminal regimes, but…

(A) Trump doesn't ever care about human rights violators and (B) we'd need to talk about Russia & China & Saudi & lots of other countries.

So you're telling NK they should protect their interests, while telling SK that we are only concerned with our own.

He could not have prepared a worse message in this regard.

This is the kind of rhetoric that starts wars.

Moreover, what is Theresa May thinking after this speech? Macron? Turnbull? Peña Nieto?

Not that it's a drastic shift; they already hate him. But it definitely will reinforce that feeling.

And I don't think that Stephen Miller considered ANY of that before writing this campaign speech.

This was red meat as red meat gets in this setting. Directly targeted at his 35% base, with casual language, disregarding any consequences.

I mean, for fuck's sake, he started it off talking about the stock market and his election.

The flagrant stupidity and hypocrisy of this speech will be felt for decades and further abdicate our world leadership position, …

Primarily because of how everyone else around the world will react to it.

A sad day for the 🇺🇸.

/rant