There was a short but interesting lesson on the effective use of political power over the weekend. When ICE sent two planeloads of illegal immigrants back to Colombia on Sunday, Gustavo Petro, the President of Colombia, refused to allow the planes to land and sent them back to the US. Faced with this decision, Donald Trump responded with immediate and overwhelming punitive actions against Colombia.
Trump gave an ultimatum: accept illegal immigrants back, or he would take actions that would destroy their country’s economy, including harsh escalating tariffs, visa restrictions for government officials, and financial sanctions. Colombia quickly gave in to his demands.
This incident is a lesson for every other country in the world. They just learned that the new leadership in Washington, D.C., is serious and not messing around. This incident also contains a lesson for the Alaska GOP, should they wish to learn from it.
To understand this situation, let’s look at the relative importance of the economies of these two countries to each other. Where does the USA rank among Colombia’s trading partners?
Yes, that’s right. The United States is Colombia’s top trading partner, purchasing almost four times more of its exports than the next country. So, where does Colombia rank as our trading partner?
I didn’t show the entire list of US trading partners because Colombia is so far down it that it takes up an entire page to show where they rank, but Colombia is number 28 in importance to our economy. If the United States had placed crippling tariffs on all imports from Colombia, the American consumer would hardly realize it, while Colombia’s economy would suffer. The lesson from this is that they need us much more than we need them.
Donald Trump knows this, and he also knows that the Colombian government would have no choice but to give in to his demands, which they quickly did Sunday evening. The president of Colombia announced that he was unconditionally accepting all of Donald Trump’s terms for repatriating illegal immigrants and even announced that he would be sending his presidential plane to help fly them back to Colombia.
This exercise was important from the standpoint of removing illegal immigrants from the US, but more importantly, it was important to set an example for the rest of the world contemplating similar actions.
The presidents of every other country in the world now know that if they oppose America, there will be a punishing response, and like Colombia, they have much more to lose than we do.
So, how is this situation important to the AK GOP? I have written several articles documenting their inability to deal with seven Republicans who have joined Democrat-governing coalitions in both houses of the Alaska legislature. So far, the GOP leadership has done nothing to prevent this from happening.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Supporting a liberal governing coalition goes against everything the Republican party stands for, but by their inaction, the AK GOP leadership is giving tacit approval to the seven political traitors. By allowing this betrayal to go unpunished, they have also betrayed the minority caucus Republicans in Juneau who remained loyal to the party. That is not all; the AK GOP has betrayed the voters who thought they were voting for Republican governance, and they have betrayed Donald Trump’s version of Republicanism.
The AK GOP leadership needs to understand that Donald Trump and Republicanism are ascendant. Trump is the center of political power in this country, and that power also extends to them. Just as Colombia is weak when negotiating with the United States, the seven traitors in Juneau are also weak. They will all want to run for future political office and will need the GOP’s endorsement to do so effectively. They need the GOP brand behind their names much more than the Republican party needs them, especially with Donald Trump as popular as he is now.
The AK GOP is in control of this situation and has the power to punish the seven traitors. Donald Trump has shown them an example of how to use political power. The AK GOP needs to learn from this example and act soon, and yes, Chairman of the ARP Carmela Warfield, I’m talking directly to you.
The views expressed here are those of the author. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
20 Comments
it’s called a veto pen for anything and everything these rinos want. kinda like a no rewards for Rino’s program.
dunleavys too stupid! Trump places an executive order for alaska. Why? because dunleavys abdicated his responsibility as leader! Trump is our leader, dunleavys irrelevant! His red pen has effectively become his personal enema! SIT DOWN DUNLEAVY, RAM IT!
I agree with the premise, but judging by the actions of much of the Alaska GOP, they are actually just uniparty politicians, not small government conservatives. Sadly the Ak GOP seems to have been fine with that as long as they identify as “R”.
I agree with Steve’s comment. It would be one thing if we had a party that was 100% conservative, but they are not. They all play the game of get-along to get some. Until we figure out how to get all of the uniparty out of our AK GOP, it will always be the same story. Since they chased Rep Eastman out, more and more uniparty people are exposing themselves on the community level and at the state level. It is pretty sickening.
Sorry sarber, but the Convicted Felon who is also President has destroyed whatever good will and respect America had before 2016. He did so on purpose. It’s part of Stephen Miller’s Project 2025. Miller will bring us to our knees and Trump will brag about it.
Manny your “Convicted Felon” remark is just childishly repeating what the media wants you to say. If your going to drink the cool-aid at least put a lot more sugar in it.
Truth Steve, or do you deny that he was convicted of 34 felonies?
Why are Alaska Republicans in the Alaskan Congress that have joined with the Democrats still allowed to be part of the Republican Party in Alaska? They should not be! Throw them out now. They are not Republicans.
I hope the AK GOP is reading this. It is unconscionable to allow the frauds pretend to be republicans to get elected and then take off their costumes when they are in Juneau. They all need to be censored statewide and not supported at all by the Republican Party.
Trump’s bullying other countries will only increase the mounting animosity of the rest of the world to America. If you think this is a show of true strength, you haven’t learned much in life.
I’m 42, and looking forward to learning, under Trump, what it means for America to have a President who hasn’t sought office out of a desire for power, money, or to work hand in hand with a globalist cabal. One of the reasons for his swift strong-arming is to show the world we’re not interested in Socialism or a one world government of satanic elitists. And quite frankly, ordinary average guys all over the world are rejoicing at the prospect of their nations following suit and re-asserting their independence and pride in their distinct cultures and nations once again, rather than being ground into the dirt and made to feel ashamed of loving the land in which they were born and raised. Patriotism is contagious and a threat to the slave masters, not the hoi polloi
@OK you come across as an informed, mature American and I’m proud to be among your type.
You think it’s ok for these criminals to remain in our country. They were here illegally and forced Trumps hand, so here we are. It’s not bullying it’s being a leader and looking out for America and the safety of the people. And yes it is a show of strength.
“ and looking out for America and the safety of the people.” Don, Trump pardoned 1500 convicted January 6 insurrectionists. On January 6, they were willing to kill (and poop on the Capital floor) for trump. Now, those released are pissed at being incarcerated and they are grateful to Trump. They are far more dangerous to Americans than they were four years ago. They are far more dangerous than an undocumented Venezuelan.
“ and looking out for America and the safety of the people.” Don, Trump pardoned 1500 convicted January 6 insurrectionists. On January 6, they were willing to kill (and poop on the Capital floor) for trump. Now, those released are pissed at being incarcerated and they are grateful to Trump. They are far more dangerous to Americans than they were four years ago. They are far more dangerous than an undocumented Venezuelan.
Rene, we tried your way for the past 4 years and it was absolutely a travesty.
We are correcting course and you should do what you can to help us as you will benefit from a happy and prosperous America. If you want to continue to stand in the way from true progress, then it is shall be only you who suffers as you produce nothing of value.
Those who have been the backbone of our country are tired of you whiners telling us what to do.
We now have the power to Make America Great Again, and we are doing so.
You can either fight against the perpetual straw man that is laid before you or you can wake the hell up and do better to help us MAGA!
His tariffs will cost ALL Americans. Musk has crypto raided the Treasury. You may not receive your SS check or Medicare coverage or VA stipend and no one else will either. YOU VOTED FOR HIM. YOU ARE A TRAITOR!
Well, during the last 4 years, inflation was at 2.8% and we were enjoying prosperity compared to the rest of the world. We were the leaders
Welcome to Nazi Alaska, and Nazi American.
There are a lot of resemblances to the nazi party. The hostel takeover.
The hiring of judges and your own generals and admirals kicking people out of the country, some of them even citizens.