The last couple of weeks have seen some of the most bizarre gyrations in political posturing. Channel 4's Washington correspondent, Kylie Morris, confirms through her regular reporting that President Trump is just as bonkers as we had suspected from gasping at the indiscretions that he uttered and tweeted throughout the presidential campaign. Footage from the innards of American states like Indiana and Tennessee suggest that his supporters among the working classes are loving the way he is treating the Washington insiders with the same contempt as his apprentices. It will be interesting to see what they think in a year when their financial plight has been put on hold whilst taxes for the wealthy and corporation tax for companies are reduced. The Sioux tribe have already witnessed his contempt for struggling communities by his approval for the Dakota oil pipeline to be routed across their homelands with army engineers ordered to execute his decision.
His supporters are delighted with his daily brag that things are happening. Terrorists are being locked out; trade agreements are being torn up; companies, journalists, and world leaders are being insulted, ignored or demonised. He is using all the bullying tactics that have made him a gold plated dickhead and it seems to be working with the greedy, the weak and unprincipled companies and governments gushing their support. Witness the way that the republicans, car manufacturers and dependent states, including the UK, are happy to play his games.
China, the European Union and Mexico have called him out and after this morning's rant on the phone to the Australians PM, the equally intemperate Aussies could declare a 'fuck you mate' diplomacy. It is Russia, Israel and the UK that seem the most enamoured with the new President. They are all hanging their hat on him blessing some of their more risky ploys, as in the Ukraine, switching the US embassy to Jerusalem and leaving the EU. There will be deals to be struck in these and many more international agreements but, as he said twice, yes twice folk, it is America first.
Mrs May's ill timed rush to be the first world leader to hold his hand had seemed rash even to begin with. After the President's announcement of the exclusion of citizens from war torn countries and the PMs refusal to challenge this policy, the homage proved to be a diplomatic own goal. Meanwhile the more principled world leaders and demonstrators across many nations have been blowing the whistle on his conduct over immigration, climate change and his name calling of regimes and organisations that are multilateral. As his frenzied playlist of prejudices is further activated with little attempt to discover their wider impact, more countries, corporations and groups will challenge the legality and morality of his infringements of the constitution and international agreements.
In the midst of this there were some strange bedfellows joining the protests. Starbucks, never knowingly oversold, offered to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide and 2 million UK citizens have signed a parliamentary petition calling for the Queen to be absolved from hosting a state visit for President Trump. Senators are considering a fillibuster against some of his nominations for key posts; California is talking about leaving the union; and the National Park service has a twitter campaign objecting to the damage of national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton by oil pipelines approved by the President.
Contrary to what we are being told by some of the media, that populism is usurping liberal democracy, I wonder if it is unwittingly releasing a far more positive worldwide movement. The reaction to Trump's early examples of executive populism could be a powerful and inclusive networked democratic movement. One that sheds the elitism of representative democracy and encourages more collaboration between diverse local and global movements. It may be that this cloud democracy will be able to overwhelm the narrow, selfish, tax evading, individualistic and nationalistic tendencies that trumpism exemplifies. Hopefully this will happen before the wannabe populists secure more footholds in other parts of the world.
I'm just looking forward to the smile on Kylie Morris's face on the day that Trump is vanquished.
His supporters are delighted with his daily brag that things are happening. Terrorists are being locked out; trade agreements are being torn up; companies, journalists, and world leaders are being insulted, ignored or demonised. He is using all the bullying tactics that have made him a gold plated dickhead and it seems to be working with the greedy, the weak and unprincipled companies and governments gushing their support. Witness the way that the republicans, car manufacturers and dependent states, including the UK, are happy to play his games.
China, the European Union and Mexico have called him out and after this morning's rant on the phone to the Australians PM, the equally intemperate Aussies could declare a 'fuck you mate' diplomacy. It is Russia, Israel and the UK that seem the most enamoured with the new President. They are all hanging their hat on him blessing some of their more risky ploys, as in the Ukraine, switching the US embassy to Jerusalem and leaving the EU. There will be deals to be struck in these and many more international agreements but, as he said twice, yes twice folk, it is America first.
Mrs May's ill timed rush to be the first world leader to hold his hand had seemed rash even to begin with. After the President's announcement of the exclusion of citizens from war torn countries and the PMs refusal to challenge this policy, the homage proved to be a diplomatic own goal. Meanwhile the more principled world leaders and demonstrators across many nations have been blowing the whistle on his conduct over immigration, climate change and his name calling of regimes and organisations that are multilateral. As his frenzied playlist of prejudices is further activated with little attempt to discover their wider impact, more countries, corporations and groups will challenge the legality and morality of his infringements of the constitution and international agreements.
In the midst of this there were some strange bedfellows joining the protests. Starbucks, never knowingly oversold, offered to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide and 2 million UK citizens have signed a parliamentary petition calling for the Queen to be absolved from hosting a state visit for President Trump. Senators are considering a fillibuster against some of his nominations for key posts; California is talking about leaving the union; and the National Park service has a twitter campaign objecting to the damage of national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton by oil pipelines approved by the President.
Contrary to what we are being told by some of the media, that populism is usurping liberal democracy, I wonder if it is unwittingly releasing a far more positive worldwide movement. The reaction to Trump's early examples of executive populism could be a powerful and inclusive networked democratic movement. One that sheds the elitism of representative democracy and encourages more collaboration between diverse local and global movements. It may be that this cloud democracy will be able to overwhelm the narrow, selfish, tax evading, individualistic and nationalistic tendencies that trumpism exemplifies. Hopefully this will happen before the wannabe populists secure more footholds in other parts of the world.
I'm just looking forward to the smile on Kylie Morris's face on the day that Trump is vanquished.
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