A Three Hour Cruise.....


Who remembers Gilligan's Island?  It was a silly series about 7 castaways on a dessert island after their boat crashed.  They were originally scheduled for a three hour cruise, a three hour cruise.  Somehow their luggage survived which was extensive for a three hour cruise, a three hour cruise.  It was fun to watch as well as pick apart because it was so absurd.

For some reason, I have the theme song running through my head as I watch coverage of the Putin/Trump summit.  So much anticipation about this summit.  It turns out, it will be a three hour meeting.  They will meet 1:1 for 1.5 hours with only translators present.  Then, they will meet for an additional 1.5 hours with their aides present.

The summit happens only a day after the completion of the FIFA World Cup.

It was interesting to watch what each leader did yesterday.

Trump was at his own golf course and resort in Scotland, attracting thousands of protesters.  Trump spent almost two days at his resort.  Every time he spoke in public, he was promoting his resort and its beauty.  Basically, for two days reporters were manipulated in doing a free commercial promoting a Trump resort.  Trump will profit from this personally.  It simply is not ethical for a sitting President to profit from his outside interests by his actions as President.  He does get a salary for being President.  It is not 6 figures but people who run for President do so for the greater good, not to get rich.  However, in this day and age, most former Presidents land a 7 figure book deal upon completion of their term.

Putin was at the closing ceremonies of the FIFA World Cup.  Soccer fans tell me that it was a great World Cup.  It showed countries can be competitive yet display sportsmanship.  Sports are a great opportunity to see real life metaphors in action.  It poured rain during the final ceremonies but Putin looked fine getting soaked and enjoying himself.  It was a wonderful showcase of Russia and how it has kept up with modernization.

And now, they are concluding their three hour meeting.  What ever comes out of it has already been written by their aides days before.

The enormous cost of this summit is another reason that I am proud to be a Canadian.  I feel for the US taxpayers who are paying for their leader to go around and attack his allies, promote his own properties, and develop relationships with others who are not allies.  The charge that atleast 12 Russians meddled in the last US election has no effect on Trump.  It makes you wonder why Russia preferred Trump over Hillary Clinton.

Regardless what happens today, it will be much ado about nothing.  The only thing accomplished on this three hour meeting will be another huge cost for the taxpayers.  A three hour meeting.



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