Ted Rall for May 20, 2015

It should be interesting to see the effects on the Exceptional Empire in five years’ time. I, and the rest of the world, will be watching with Schadenfreude and glee.

Well, if it includes ISDS, it means the US government can’t throw Huawei out anymore. Dis gunn’ be good.

I wonder how much return commission was involved in this law.

Funny thing is, a lot of us Foreigners also don’t like this proposed agreement. (Personally, I haven’t made up my mind.)The dislike seems to cut across political alignments.Curious.

Someone said it is NAFTA on steroids. That does not bode well for consumers and workers. So, what else is new? The ‘elite’ can be real bastards.

The trade agreement has been criticized widely, and I’m divided about what little I know of the details. But what most observers miss is that this places the US in league with other Pacific Rim countries without including China. So, we will have effectively have provided some sort of counterbalance to China’s growing regional economic hegemony. This is an interesting and perhaps necessary global strategy. The environmental, labor, and corporate governance issues are troubling, but it may be the best chance to address the longer term issue of Chinese influence across the Pacific region. Dialing back global trade would lead to a global depression, I’m afraid, as each country would raise trade barriers in response to other countries’ actions. The impact of global trade is one of those questions with no clear or easy answers.

Troubling? That’s an interesting way to gloss over the non-geopolitical issues; the ones that concern the vast majority of people. I want to know how it will affect me and my family. Why the secrecy?

The Unspecific Partnership is even opposed by the people at Gutenberg. How bad do you have to be to get charitable library nerds to draw the line?

One has to realize the rest of the world is rapidly developing. Many countries are building vibrant economies and becoming players in international trade. Clearly the US can choose to be isolationist and let the rest of the Pacific region to develop their economies or we can try to be part of the group that helps shape it. You can’t turn back the clock to colonial days, you need to participate in the future. Intense international competition is here and it will affect the economy and jobs, it is just a matter of being part of it or burying ones head in the sand. Look at how successful isolationists were at keeping Japanese cars out of the market!

Sure, the geopolitical benefits can be many. It’s the hell with the masses attitude that concerns me. I remember the effect of NAFTA quite well. Those who cannot remember history are condemned to repeat it.

Except for the jello shots, that’s kind of the way jurors are treated in the course of a trial.

How can we possibly have formed a decision when we have no idea of the details. However, I have managed to form the opinion that if someone doesn’t want me to know the details it’s not because that person thinks I would be overcome with joy.

Strange. The US now gets most of the stuff anyone can afford to buy from China, but the US is rightly worried that China is a rising hegemon. Back in the Day, Britain and France had to worry about Germany being a rising hegemon and had to declare war in Germany in ‘14 and ’39 to keep the Germans in their place. But, after doing their duty, the cost reduced them from Great Powers to US lapdogs..So now it’s the duty of the US to stop the rise of China, the the TPP is an alliance of the US with almost everyone in East Asia allied with the US against China..Of course, the US should be able to destroy China without any allies, while simultaneously destroying Syria, the DA, Iran, and Russia. The US is the Greatest Superpower and Force for Good that has ever existed since G_d created the Heavens and the Earth..(In a bit of Good News, al-Qaeda has been rehabilitated. They were losing so badly to the DA that they have apologised to the Rightful Ruler of all Islam, the King of Saudi Arabia—who is also the boss at Obama’s day job—and the magnanimous King forgave all and is now giving al-Qaeda money and weapons to fight the infidels, who include the DA, Syria, Hizbollah, Iran, Houthi and the Blowfish.)

@PainterArtThat was a rhetorical question. I know why.@Michael WmeWhat is DA?@chucktilburyI remember George Carlin saying on the Smothers Brothers Show that there was only one party, the Money Party. That is so true.