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Right now, the US is kind of a paper tiger, few countries take the country seriously for a lot of reasons, much of which is tied to self-inflicted problems.  The problem with looking weak but having a strong military is the fact you’ll likely have to use that military to prove you are strong which could have those of us living in a North Korean Nuclear Winter on the West Coast shortly.  But if you appear unbeatable there is far less chance someone is going to call you out.  For instance, if you knew nothing about Bruce Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger but just saw them in a bar, you’d be far less likely to call Arnold out even though Bruce could likely do a better job teaching you the error of your ways. Right now, the US looks and acts weak which has North Korea and others calling it out but what if we created a far stronger image and worked on creating the impression that calling the US out was suicide? Part of the President’s job is to promote US Goods and Services, it is part of their charter yet by and large US Presidents tend to be relative luddites when it comes to what is arguably the most powerful legal industry in the nation.  Take Air Force One, which is due to be retired.  Currently it is a 747, a plane that was designed to be a freight carrier back in the 1970s because the most believed it would be phased out of passenger service quickly in favor of Super Sonic planes that proved too expensive to operate.  In short, we ship our President all over the world in a plane that was designed to primarily be a cargo carrier and only remains in service because our industry failed to make the jump to supersonic planes.  It is not only a symbol of failure but it basically puts the US President in baggage class. We deliver the president in an always aging fleet of SUVs and limousines which, though armored, aren’t particularly high tech (though one does have an impressive mini-gun).  These vehicles don’t sport advancements in engine technology (they certainly aren’t electric), the have conventional engines and transmissions, and the only thing that is impressive about them is their size and inability to turn sharply or drive over obstacles.   They make the President look more like someone’s aging rich grandfather who doesn’t understand technology more than they do the leader of the free world and they are far from cutting edge on personal safety let alone combat readiness. We guard the President with Secret Service Agents who seem to use communications gear years out of date, have incomplete body armor, still don’t blend in very much, and who look pretty much like the body guards for anyone else.  While certainly well trained they don’t present as anything special or uniquely capable although they may actually be both.