Photo by Jonas Thor Bjornsson from Pixabay
Purchase Greenland? Why not? For once in our partisan lives, let’s not dismiss the idea without evaluation. Notwithstanding six bankruptcies, Mr. Trump is the greatest real estate developer -President of the United States in human history (in his opinion). After not quite draining the swamp, he’s thinking “outside the box,” looking toward the future. We should not disparage his efforts without further inspection.
Mr. Trump is a solid student of American History. The liberal New England media and Federalists criticized Thomas Jefferson for the 1803 Louisiana Purchase for $15 million, peacefully getting us 827,000 miles. If “minimalist government” President Jefferson had been an ideologue, and backed down to critics, the United States would never have had Mark Twain, New Orleans Jazz, or the St. Louis Cardinals. A tough purchase to top, Mr. Trump should be allowed to make offers.
Let’s also remember the 1853 Gadsden Purchase by President Franklin Pierce for $10 million, gaining us 29, 000 square miles. The USA had already beaten Mexico in war, so we could’ve taken the territory without payment. But no, to settle border issues, we gave our southern neighbors money without a qualified appraisal being undertaken. Putting up a wall to bar illegal entries is but a continuation of our commitment to this land area.
Can’t forget the 1867 Alaskan Purchase from Russia for $7.2 million, getting us 586,000 square miles. President Andrew Johnson, later impeached by the House of Representatives, was the “broker-in-charge” in this deal which the U.S. Congress did approve. Is there a pattern developing here?
Back to Greenland. If we possessed this land, Mr. Trump wouldn’t allow any more photos of melting glaciers; we could mine the daylights out of its mineral resources without any EPA restrictions; and we could locate our nuclear warheads closer to Russia, thereby assuring greater instability in the Western Hemisphere, while saving on fuel costs.
I can’t understand the name calling and bad words between Denmark and our President, nor our leader’s cancelling his trip. He must be ill. He never backed down from any ol’ idea that had popped into his head.
I will throw out to Mr. Trump that he shouldn’t give up the acquisition of other countries and territories through peaceful negotiation and purchase. Why not consider making an offer for El Salvador, Honduras, and/or Guatemala? These countries we could acquire “on the cheap”. Once bought, we could re-build the country (ies) with good, old fashioned capitalism and reparations? The flood of human beings seeking asylum into the USA would be quashed. No reason to cross the border any longer.
A billion dollars here and a billion dollars there, and the root causes of all those seeking refuge in our country would be eliminated. No more nasty Democrat Party criticism. Heck, the Democrats should be in favor of this strategy; they enjoy spending money on the poor and downtrodden.
In conclusion, to paraphrase the late Robert F. Kennedy, some folks see things as they are and ask why, Mr. Trumps sees things as he only he sees them and asks how much?
Essays