I am quite astonished by the 'executive powers' of the presidency. The orders flowing from Trump's pen are surely those of a totalitarian dictator? Doesn't the machine of a democratic state have some way of taming a rogue elephant?
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It’s quite tame really - have a look at what Turkey’s having a referendum on ....Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
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You're wrong about that. No, you're not, actually; I just wish that you were...Originally posted by Richard Barrett View PostComment
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It may have; we'll just have to wait and see and then wait again and see how effective they might be as the political equivalent of restraining orders.Originally posted by ardcarp View PostComment
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Fair enough, but I do think it important to concentrate in this particular thread principally upon the worst of what might happen in Trumpland if it's not held in check by legal and other interventions; "making America great again" seems to be at the very heart of what Trump is NOT about...Originally posted by Dave2002 View PostComment
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Some Kind of Overview
Seeing Red
Was there a hint of calculated flirtation in her choice of the colour red? Admittedly it is his team's colours to the extent that he could be said to have a team. Nevertheless it looked likely that she had told him that he should wear a matching tie. And he did so. These are peculiar times. In a week during which he was a whirlwind of common sense and the unforgivable, British necessity was such that tone was all-important. Not only was it right on the day but so too for the most part was the chemistry. Setting aside the policies and the personalities for one moment and wearing the simplest observational hat, it was one of the more uplifting scenes in recent political drama. Yes, it is possible that nothing will come of it, this meeting of what the uncharitable might describe as Nuts n May. His unpredictability is already notorious - what an apparently spirited Laura of a wary BBC is choosing to present as unconventionality. Still, it was an extraordinarily accomplished mission and it suggested something unbelievable. That is, that officials in the Prime Minister's team and the Foreign Office had for once put on their thinking caps and got their act together. In the case of the latter, one can only assume Mr Johnson was out of the country.
Safe Pair of Hands
As the camp of those who oppose drilling for oil on Leith Hill was unceremoniously towed away, I was reminded of just one big reason why I am unlikely to vote Conservative. Like UKIP, they believe that profit must come before Caroline Wedgwood's rhododendrons, the earth in which Darwin conducted scientific experiments and the home of Ralph Vaughan Williams. If an AONB means nothing then so too does any less outstanding land. In broader terms, I am uneasy with Tory economics, just as I am with those of UKIP and Labour while I am not persuaded that the Lib Dems have fully accepted the new realities about Europe or indeed our limited international influence. Oddly, though, I feel reassured by this Prime Minister more than any Conservative leader I can recall and, in fact, the vast majority of Prime Ministers in my lifetime. That doesn't mean fandom for so many of the others have been atrocious. However, I do like her caution, determination and style. I also recognise that she has a harder job than any of her post war predecessors apart from Mr Attlee which in someone else's hands would by rights be impossible to undertake. Thank goodness legions of us nonentities worked through many early hours to stop Mrs Leadsom.
Great Leaders
Here is a controversial point. It may just be that we, the British, are mainly in a period of good leadership. Other than Mr Kennedy, I am happier with Mr Farron as the leader of the Liberals than I am of anyone since Mr Grimond. That is partially about style. It is also about his economic and environmental positioning so far as those things can be considered with the wish that the European conundrum just fades away. An assessment of Mr Corbyn is more difficult. At root, the Labour Party is on a familiar part of its natural cycle in which it is weighing up the extent to which principle can be pursued when wanting to be electable. What I note is that there is little ranting and raving and now almost nothing in the way of glib presentation. Arguably he is more personable than any Labour leader since........well, I am surprised but that would probably be before my lifetime. The Green Party has had the very good sense to re-appoint Ms Lucas. The impact of her co-chair remains to be seen. He was, of course, a Conservative which on the surface is a clever sort of move if a party wants to build a broad base of support. He also has presence, even if he is a little too reminiscent of Mr Huhne, while Ms Sturgeon is undoubtedly a strong leader of the SNP.
UKIP in 2017
So, as I said, these are peculiar times. Would it be the time to have a dig at UKIP? I am afraid it is so and not wholly because of UKIP's political position. Had they chosen Ms Evans as their leader, I might have been at a different place. But Mr Farage seems increasingly shrill to me. While once I could be persuaded to some extent that he was a man of the people, his love of the limelight and travelling abroad is becoming obnoxious. Furthermore, I don't feel that he has told us how his American connections contributed to the Brexit campaign. I find the softly spoken Mr Banks a little sinister, Mr Kassam vulgar to the point of surpassing Mr Trump and Mr Carswell very much his own man with no more of a sense of team than had the newly Eurosceptic Dr Owen. Ms James always seemed too good to be true and sadly what she seemed was subsequently proven, Mr Hamilton has been safely deported to Wales and it is to be hoped that the unfortunate Mr Woolfe is recovering nicely. That leaves us with Mr Nuttall. He seems alright if one is minded to like that sort of person. It is just possible that he will be the Member of Parliament for Central Stoke very soon. Having studied him, though, I do wonder about his work ethic because there is just the suggestion in his back story that he was almost an eternal student. I suppose I am looking for confirmation he has spent some years doing as Mr Farage might say proper work.Last edited by Lat-Literal; 28-01-17, 22:13.Comment
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Funny how no one had an issue with all of the Executive Orders that flowed from Obama's penOriginally posted by ardcarp View PostComment
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Trump's election has invigorated the Left in a way that Hilliary never would have been able to. The New York Times subscription base increased 50,000 the day after his election. President HRC would never been able to generate the kind of numbers or enthusiasm that of last weeks March. The Media is in Overdrive in opposing him. He will have proven to be the biggest cause of a revival in democracy this country has seen since the Civil War. He is making America great again, not just in the ways that he intendedOriginally posted by ahinton View PostComment
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Hmm - well, whilst not discounting that possibility for the sake of so doing, I'd prefer to be rather surer than I am that the entire nation might not blow up in his own and its citizens' faces first...Originally posted by richardfinegold View PostComment
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Just heard from ESTA that my visa to visit the USA expires in March. I shall not be renewing it! (That'll teach them!)Comment
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Are you sure? I think it's too early to tell.Originally posted by ahinton View Post
How does having a possible worst case scenario help us to think?Comment
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Re "too early to tell", are the issues reported here - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...xecutive-order - merely "teething troubles"? Perhaps not.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
More problems of this nature may (unfortunately) give more clarity to our judgements, and tip the balance in favour of more certain opinions.Comment
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The way things are going and the sheer chaos caused by recent polls in both the USA and the UK (apparently the two countries which 'lead the world') one shudders to think what might happen next ?.Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
Alongside the half-mad bully in the White House (okay, the adjective may be rather too generous) we have a Prime Minister desperately touting for business in Turkey, a country which only a few months ago her Foreign Secretary was insisting 70 million of its citizens might 'swamp' the UK if it didn't leave the EU (even though Turkey wasn't even a member and hadn't a snowball's chance in Hell of ever becoming one unless the UK itself agreed).
Mrs May has already had to distance herself from just about everything Trump has said since her trip to Washington which has pretty well put paid to any perceived 'kudos' she expected to get for being the first foreign leader granted a meeting with the dangerous clown in the White House. Other world leaders demonstrated greater astuteness in their reluctance to get too quickly involved.
I do wonder how longer the current chaos can last especially in the US ?. Will the CIA, which remember has been insulted on numerous occasions by the new President, eventually take matters into its own hands if things continue as they are ?.
After all, that organisation's mission is the very safety and security of the US so such an outcome is not simply the 'stuff of movies' as some might prefer to think.
We are living through most unusual times (to say the the least!) and therefore should not necessarily expect usual "solutions".Comment
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