I dunno.
Not sure I understand the mocking. Not one bit. We are unilaterally disarming everything which made America great and powerful.
What’s worse - in the process we are creating the most truly powerful potential adversary our nation has ever faced.
Bar none.
Rule #1. Don’t go into debt and borrow money from your adversaries to the point where your interest payments can fund their military by itself.
You’re exactly right.
I wouldn’t be surprised if 0bama would offer to sell the US Pacific Fleet to the Chinese. I’m serious.
It is much the same as when people of the fading European powers mocked America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; they couldn’t psychologically handle the new reality, so they tried to dismiss it.
The only saving grace is that they have a *LOT* of nearby enemies with grudges one way or another arrayed around them - Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, and India all come to mind. Believe me, these countries are *very* aware of China’s ascendant military power, and are taking what steps they can to counter it.