You couldn’t make this stuff up …

Picking up from where my colleague Arthur Nelson let off yesterday [Wokery – the curse of the 21st Century? (26th March 2022)], as I was touring the newspaper websites overnight I came across a number of stories and/or reports that reinforce the impression that we are living in some pretty strange times.

Let me present just two of them to Rusters this morning:

ONE FROM THE “ONE SHOULDN’T FLOG A DEAD HORSE” FILE

It is commonly believed that George Bernard Shaw was the originator of the quip “England and America are two countries separated by a common language”.

It is certainly true that sometimes ordinary, everyday, sensible, easy-going and logical Brits tend to look across the Pond and shake our heads at what some of the USA’s politicians, opinion-formers and media commentators get up to and/or come up with in the course of their everyday deliberations and activities.

(Mind you, their equivalent Americans most probably do likewise when glancing at what some of our own equivalent elites produce!).

Nevertheless, it does seem to me that in the recent past the USA has been particularly unlucky in those that have been “awarded” the Presidential seal via their election process.

For starters, inevitably, we must point to the unhinged Donald Trump whom, it seems to me, is an argument by himself that the Constitution of the USA should be amended in order to contain a requirement for a formal “quality control” filtering process to be conducted before anyone can be permitted to become a candidate for the office of President.

However its not just Trump – is it?

It seems to me that anyone watching the now clearly feeble-minded current US President Joe Biden over the past two or three years could not fail to gain the impression that he would be hard-pressed to pass such a candidate “quality control” test.

Never mind the bumbling performance in delivering his public speeches and fielding questions at press conferences – he walks and moves lie someone who is frail and not in full command of his physical faculties, never mind his mental ones.

Watching him on his current tour of Europe, designed to reinforce America’s involvement in NATO matters and the West’s general response to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, it has become rather as if one is waiting for him to fall over … or bring one of his faltering speech deliveries to a silent, confused, puzzled, conclusion …or  indeed, perhaps more likely, to see him suddenly approached by two or three respectful staff in white coats who then gently lead him away from the podium and back to his habitual comfy armchair beside the fireplace in his retirement home where he was so happy and relaxed in his dotage.

Here’s a link to representative sequence from a Sky News Australia discussion on President Biden’s NATO trip – courtesy of – YOUTUBE

And here’s a collection of his “best” gaffes in recent times – again, courtesy of – YOUTUBE

TRANSGENDER ISSUES

Here are links to two stories that appear upon the website of the Daily Mail today:

Firstly, following on from Matthew Syed’s piece in The Times last week pointing out that – as yet – no male-to-female transgender athlete has won anything important in the world of woman’s sport, here’s a report upon an exponent from said category who may soon be making waves in the world of British cycling – DAILY MAIL

Secondly, here’s a report upon a group of transgender activist protesters who attempted to disrupt a meeting of women who campaign for “female safe spaces” – DAILY MAIL