In the latest issue, I hope you'll excuse me from reading the profile of Marco Rubio; I might come back to it another time.
Margaret Talbot's article about Greenland is sited mostly in Copenhagen, which I liked for the different perspective. But first! A bit of trivia. Did you know this?
"Many people in Denmark are named Frederick (Frederik) due to a centuries-old royal tradition where monarchs alternated between the names Christian and Frederik, reinforcing dynastic continuity and stability, a pattern that continues with current Crown Prince Frederik X, whose heir will be named Christian. This naming convention, started by Frederick I, became a strong cultural symbol of Danish monarchy, with the heir often named after their paternal grandfather, ensuring the names cycled between the two."
It can get confusing sometimes. The prime minister's name is Mette Fredericksen and the prime minister of Greenland is named Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
So, the article talks about the disastrous visit of JD Vance and his wife (his visits always seem to be a disaster, have you noticed?) to Greenland in March where he accused Denmark of being a bad protector of Denmark and that the US could do much better. (Kind of ironic since we're doing a bad job of protecting our own citizens, right Serious?) My mind is gobsmacked as to why rumpy thinks we have to own the island, since we already have a Space Base there and could easily expand our footprint with, say, a naval base or two. Talbot points out something even weirder: the US once had THIRTEEN bases in Greenland and pulled back from all of them save one. She quotes the Danes as saying that rumpy is "kicking in an open door."
On a more general level, the US has lost some $8.2 billion in international tourism in the last year due to "policy-related concerns and harsh rhetoric." Way to put America first, you foolish, misguided (and probably, suffering from dementia) man.
