On the other hand – and indeed side of the Pond …
I’m bound to say that if we in the UK have had some weird political times since the 2016 EU Referendum, they’re nothing compared to what the United States of America has been going through since Donald Trump was elected President.
“As any fule no” – to quote the legendary Nigel Molesworth, ‘the curse of St Custards’’ and eponymous hero of the series of books penned by Geoffrey Willians (1911-1958), with illustrations by Ronald Searle, beginning with Down With Skool! (1953) – the 45th President is regarded by everyone around the globe outside America – and also by a sizeable proportion of its own citizens as well – as a tempestuous, deranged, narcissistic man-child and also idiot not-so-savant who spends his days spewing out his ‘stream of consciousness’ lunatic opinions; his ever-changing, often contradictory, farcical views of the world; and, of course, his ‘on the hoof’ policy decisions without the slightest regard to either the consequences or indeed any rational, sensible and/or responsible view of the innumerable issues facing the future survival and perpetuation of the species known as homo sapiens.
Which might actually – when you think about it – make for an hilarious satirical TV series.
That is, if it wasn’t also so worrying real and dangerous to the 7.8 billion of us who currently wake up to a daily task of somehow seeking to eke out some sort of life worth living on our home planet.
The Trump Problem is, of course, compounded in this rather vital US Presidential Election Year by the extraordinary recent spectacle of the Democratic Party’s attempt to impeach The Donald for his weird dealings with the President of Ukraine and related allegations of abuse of power in the cause of ‘fixing’ his own re-election, obstruction of Congress in its attempt to research and/or hear witnesses in the matter, general conduct unbecoming the office of President and his ‘open and living in plain sight’ lack of fitness to hold it at all.
This culminated overnight in the widely-expected acquittal of the President on all counts – I say that because, of course, Congress was always going to be divided down partisan lines on any impeachment proceedings from start to finish and we all knew, because the line-up of seats in the Senate between the parties was 53-45 in the Republicans’ favour [for completeness, 2 independents made the numbers up to the Senate’s traditional 100-seat total], that this would be the outcome.
Which makes at least this inexpert, intellectually-challenged and somewhat puzzled observer-from-far wonder why the bloody hell the Democrats even bothered.
We now face a situation where the nation currently occupying the “Leader of the Western World” seat – it used to be the full-World version, but perhaps with the rapid ever-skywards (for the foreseeable future) rise towards the economic stratosphere of modern China and India perhaps these days that particular throne is de facto denied it – is, barring accidents, and/or (as the lawyers delight in terming it) force majeure, i.e. war, terrorism, earthquakes, acts of God, flood, pestilence, industrial action and/or changes in legislation – is going to re-elect Donald Trump as its President in November.
Time to get out the hard-hats, Mildred – and get ourselves down to our refurbished WW2 corrugated-roofed bomb shelter at the bottom of the garden once again …
