- by New Deal democrat
You probably recall that a number of months ago T—-p decided that, Pearl Harbor notwithstanding, it was time to bring back battleships in a new class not coincidentally to be named after himself.
Now this weekend we have been treated to the news that T—-p had decided he is an expert in the design of aircraft carriers. In case you’ve missed it, on Friday we learned that he has ordered the navy to ditch its modern, magnet-based aircraft launching system and return to old-fashioned steam catapults.
Then, this morning, we found out that he also wants new aircraft carriers to look like their WW2 ancestors. Notwithstanding all the, you know, technological and efficiency improvements in the past 75 years.
Which brought to mind a post I wrote here eight years ago, in which I went in to great detail about how T—-p’s personality is almost exactly the same of another infamous narcissistic idiot of a ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany 100+ years ago, calling T—-p the “doppelgänger” of the latter.
By the way, I am not the only one who arrived at the same conclusion during T—-p’s first term. Here, for example, is David E. Banks in The Independent, making a similar piont:
“Like Trump, the Kaiser was an insecure and aggressive narcissist who allowed his mood to dictate many of his policy decisions, and while the domestic effects of these traits could be limited by the quasi-democratic institutions of the German Reich, in the foreign policy arena his personality wreaked havoc.”
What brought the comparison back to mind this weekend is the following passage from the book "George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm," by Miranda Carter, that I highlighted in that post back eight years ago:
"Wilhelm considered himself an expert on many things and was not shy about saying so…..
"[In 1889 in an attempt to smooth over some family difficulties, Queen Victoria had awarded Wilhelm an honorary admiralty of the Royal Navy. Afterward,] Wilhelm fell upon his new title as if nothing had ever given him so much pleasure in his whole life..... Even Phillip zu Eulenburg noted disappointedly that he was "like a child over it [the British naval uniform]." Wilhelm told Herbert von Bismarck that his British naval title meant that "he would have the right as admiral of the Fleet, to have a say in English naval affairs and to give the Queen his expert advice... [He] was perfectly serious in what he said."
"...[Later that year,] Wilhelm put on his admiral's uniform, flew the pennant of a British navy admiral, and invited himself -- as a real admiral would -- to inspect the British squadron anchored [off the Greek coast].... In December, he sent [Victoria] a plan for the reorganization of the Royal Navy.... In 1891 he sent more "humble suggestions...."
He really is Wilhelm’s doppelgänger. Let’s hope the war he has blundered us into (so far) does not turn out to be the generational catastrophe that World War I was.
