Trump

Unlike most people on this side of the Atlantic I do see some merit in Trump. I disagree on Iran, climate change, trade wars, abortion, indeed the whole neo-con agenda. But I do like the sentiment of accepting that not all countries want to be, or should be, clones of America, that foreign wars are counter productive and that strong leaders we may not like, are generally better than ungoverned space.

However the reason I regard him now as doing more harm than good to America, is that his America First catch line is code for Trump First and the only thing he really admires and venerates above all else is himself. He knows he did not win in 2016 because he got more votes, as would be the case in all advanced democracies, but because he acquired more delegates to the electoral college by wafer thin wins in rustbelt and industrial states normally favouring Democrats.

To prepare his base for 2020 he has decided to fire up America’s faultline. Part of it is and always has been racist in its DNA.  So we end up with border walls and send them home. This provides redneck thrills and chanting crowds. But it shocks the world and diminishes America in the world beyond the Trump horizon. More to the point it shocks and appalls the vast majority of decent fair minded Americans who venerate the core values of the American Dream and understand for what giant declaration of human advancement it is that the Statue of Liberty stands.

The risk for Trump is that his disgusting gutter twitter drivel about four brilliant and brave women, American women, who disagree with him, which has caused outrage across the world, may gain him votes in the likes of Arkansas where they are not needed and lose him votes in the likes of Pennsylvania where they definitely are. If he is not careful one day his ears may burn with a chant from the crowd  ‘Send Him Home.’

Difficult. Scotland hates him and Germany would not have him.