I do not want to say this really, because it is obnoxious, but anyone who wants to be in the White House – the American head of state – has to go through me. Well, I am exaggerating a little, but not much. I am not a lawyer in Washington, that is the approach Clark Clifford took, when he was pretty much the uncontested policy-maker for the Democratic Party. I think he even had influence on the other side of the political spectrum. So if I am not a lawyer, what am I?

Well, this has always been a problem for me, for the past 40 years or so. People will ask, what do you do? I would usually smile and say I am retired. “I just fuck around.” Sometimes I would tell the truth, but this was rare. Normally I would deflect the question, and bullshit. But it is a good question: just what do I do?

I am a journalist. Then I was also a diplomat – not working for a state, however. Then I was a neuroscientist. Basically, I peddle in information, which is what some guy said to me about 20 years ago, I think he was either a journalist himself or a policy-maker, I do not remember. Washington DC is certainly a cool place, it is loads of fun, if you do not take yourself too seriously. Problem is, 99% of the folks in Washington DC take themselves too seriously.

Joe Biden would not think he can go up against me. He knows that. I think he used to be a funny guy, a normal person, normal for whatever is normal in Washington. I think his age has affected him, he is not the same guy. I think what also has affected him is that he realizes he is in over his head. He was never that smart, he was just a talented bullshit artist. There is a huge reservoir of talent in Washington, no question. A lot of very knowledgeable “white men” who will always look forward to competing with you fair and square. It is mostly “white men” – I am sorry I have to be honest.

That's because we Europeans have been building and maintaining civilization for several thousand years. Sure there are moments when things do degenerate, but we always pull out of it, and we keep advancing. Our music, our art, our science, our technology, our women, our families, our ethics, our government institutions, our humor – it is all very impressive, certainly at times stunningly brilliant. No one doubts that around the world.

I remember pretty well sitting in my living room in Saratoga CA [12568 Northampton Court] in 1969 watching NASA land 2 astronauts on the moon. I was 11 years old. Maybe it was Walter Cronkite, but some guy said on the television that some 700 million people were watching around the world. I think I must have been overwhelmed, I said to myself, “this is awesome.” I recall it was likely more than 700 million. The entire world was watching Americans kick some serious ass. It was the most incredible thing, the world was unified, the entire world. Everyone was no doubt stunned.

There is no question that things get pretty screwed up, from time to time. Bloody. Lots of carnage. Slavery. The abolition of slavery. We were a pretty dynamic Republic – until the Ashkenazi Jews started taking over. Now it is more screwed up, more than ever perhaps. In the last election cycle, when Donald Trump was campaigning to be head of state, there was suddenly a lot of enthusiasm for tariff action. Tariffs, across the board. It was appalling, it was so retarded. Everyone in DC got on board, and what you could not really say is that the whole thing was because the Chinese were not being nice to us, respecting us.

Sure, well it was obvious to me in the mid-1990s that the Chinese nation was going to kick some serious ass. More than a billion hard-working people, determined, and wanting to succeed, and be a part of the world.

Trump is thinking tariffs are the greatest thing. He is totally deluded. The guy is certainly funny, I do like him personally, he is a real guy, but he is not that smart, he is not really a serious policy-maker. He does however connect with the people, and that is really excellent. His popularity is impressive.

I do not intend this article to be the definitive comment on tariff action, but I think I will get out the most important facts and analysis. I have high regard for my friend Mark Mobius, and so I recently put to him some questions about tariffs. I wanted to know what he thinks of Trump's “10% across the board tariff action.” You will see below our exchange [text messages]. Trump is talking out of his ass. I know Mobius is correct to criticize the Chinese, no doubt he is correct. I am not getting paid by China to say this. Everyone knows this, I am totally independent. I say the truth, what I think is the truth.

This is rare in Washington, obviously. No one has been able to bring me on board, and get me to agree to the American Zionism garbage. I have written an obituary of Henry Kissinger, recently published at World Affairs Monthly. Honest guy, tough guy, extremely hard-working, and very sincere. I do not think he was that much of a heavy-weight policy-maker, he was more of a very talented and gifted diplomat. But he was determined to become as knowledgeable as possible. That is very admirable. Kissinger and I probably did not disagree on much. I mention Kissinger because I think he would agree with me about tariffs.

The solution is not tariff action. Tariffs were a very large source of revenue for the United States government, in the early days of the Republic. With the taxation on income in the early 1900s, then the revenue generation was more certain and predictable. I am not an expert on the history of tariff action, but most historians would not likely challenge anything I am asserting here.

The solution is diplomacy. This is where Americans have been weak, particularly in the past 35 years or so, since the collapse of the Berlin Wall. We will rectify this, and the results will be awesome.