At a campaign rally in Iowa, in January 2016, Donald Trump said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” and then folded his fingers into the shape of a gun.
But Trump’s abandonment of our Kurdish allies, and their subsequent attack by Turkey, may have more of an impact than just some random guy Trump might shoot on a street in New York City.
This move comes at a time when Trump’s foreign policy moves are already under scrutiny for being less about America’s global interests than his own.
The stunning betrayal of our closest ally in the fight against ISIS is cause enough for a strong rebuke of the President*, but the way Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria played into the hands of Erdogan, Assad and Putin, just adds an extra bitterness that is even hard for Republicans to swallow. The Russian flags raised over bases in Syria that were just vacated by U.S. troops only adds to the evidence for Trump as an asset of the Kremlin.
This particular 5th Avenue-moment for Trump has finally cost him with Republicans in Congress, as a majority of the House GOP sided with Democrats to voice opposition to the move in Syria.
Trump has a history of not paying contractors, and the Kurds did the heavy lifting in the fright against ISIS, so there would be some poetic justice if his betrayal of the Kurds (not paying an important contractor) led to his downfall.
The Kurds are in the middle of 5th Avenue and Trump handed the gun to Erdogan, now we’ll see whether it costs Trump.
So Have a 5th Avenue Cocktail created by Jim Roundall and taken from Brad Parson’s great book Bitters, the 5th Avenue Cocktail is:
1.5 oz London Dry Gin (Martin Miller’s is called for, I used Ford’s)
.5 oz Dolin Blanc vermouth
1 teaspoon yellow Chartreuse
1 dash absinthe
2 dashes lemon bitters
Garnish with lemon twist
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 
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