Expanding the Legacy
Expanding the Legacy
The prospect of a Trump 2.0 presidency keeps EU officials in Brussels busy with contingency planning. Meanwhile in the US, the prospect of a Harris presidency also causes concern, mostly over the way Mr Trump’s and his more ardent followers may respond to another ‘steal’. Some Republicans have already threatened a civil war should their candidate fail to win the election. “I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved,” assured Senator George Lang of Ohio when he introduced JD Vance, Mr Trump’s running mate.
Whilst former US president Donald Trump – need we remind all and sundry that the man is a convicted felon? – had an excellent week, Europe suffered a funk of sorts as the likelihood of a Trump 2.0 administration seemed all but inevitable. Undoubtedly, Trump supporters, fans, and idolisers enjoyed...
As a rule, nations outlive their leaders. Ask the King of Denmark. Nations learn to move on (‘it outlives me when I’m gone’)*. So too will the United States, although the country may no longer be recognisable as a beacon of freedom, the arsenal of democracy, or, indeed, a place where ‘huddled masses’ may find refuge and opportunity.
Whilst Donald Trump is often portrayed as unhinged and simple-minded, including on this forum; he does possess a surprisingly clear vision of America’s place and role in the world. It is a vision - or perhaps an instinct - that resonates with a great many American voters who agree with Mr Trump that the US should stay out of world affairs, discard geopolitical considerations, and concentrate on furthering its own interests, rather than those of longtime allies.
In this era of electoral upheaval, with Donald Trump and the European hard right rattling the gates of power, it is perhaps a propitious moment to rescue the American satirist and cultural icon HL Mencken from obscurity. Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) was an admirer of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (‘I Am Dynamite’) and as outspoken, if not more so, than the polemicist he idolized.
She called it a ‘beautiful sight to behold’ when student protesters stormed the building that houses the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Now Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is at a loss to explain why the spectacle of a mob assaulting the Capitol did not meet her approval....
The year now drawing to a close, began rather inauspiciously when, on 6 January, an unruly mob assaulted and ransacked the Capitol in Washington, shaking the world’s (arguably) most revered democracy to its very foundations and laying bare the fault lines of a political environment turned toxic. President Donald Trump...
President Trump may enjoy his Twitter-powered banter and bluster; he is not quite getting his way either at home or abroad. As US relations with the European Union and others sour, President Trump pours out one problem after the other, blaming all and sundry – and particularly the much-maligned EU...
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