How are we all this fine Saturday evening? Hopefully there are still a few out there that haven’t slit their wrists after seeing the result of the historic United States Presidential election. Whilst I fully acknowledge and respect the fact that Donald Trump has many admirers I can’t help myself but wonder, WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY THINKING?!
Man, political scientists and historians are going to be dissecting Trump’s reign at the top of American politics for centuries to come. He is a phenomenon. One that I simply cannot fathom.
Trump, a convicted criminal, philanderer, slanderer, insurrectionist, liar, crooked property developer and odious human being has been the recipient of mass cognitive dissonance across much of America during his second political coming. The mere fact that many have chosen to buy what he is selling this time around beggars belief. I had hoped that after he was elected in 2016 he would be able to find some decent people to serve in his administration, he would take their advice and the United States would proceed on a relative stable path. How wrong I was. Trump has been voted by political scientists and historians as the third worst president in US history and quite frankly that is being generous! I’ve studied US history a bit and can’t ever recall a US President trying to overthrow a legally elected government. But they have drunk the cool aid and will reap what they sow.
Any deep discussion of Trump, his policies, the reasons for him being the second man to serve non-consecutive terms, why America threw away its integrity and voted him in again and why his opponents failed so badly is beyond the scope of this blog. If the United States wants to go down that path it is up to them but US foreign policy effects the world and having people like Elon Musk in the President’s ear whilst freely pushing his favourable opinion of Russian dictators hardly fills with me with confidence that America will remain the beacon of democracy and hope it has always been. Time to man the lifeboats and find some more reliable allies.
Hey, I could be wrong and he could blunder through and be better than what we fear. But if you sleep soundly with Donald Trump in control of a nuclear arsenal that could destroy the world many times over you have a tougher constitution than me.
I’ve just bought a t-shirt that reads “without data anything you say is just an opinion” so there is some irony in my rant. If your opinion is different to mine I respect it but we will have to agree to disagree.
So, let’s get off American politics and be a little more personal.
Some of my friends who read this blog will be happy to know that Linda is still doing well all things considered. She has some bad days where she feels ill and prefers to stay in bed but her blood tests remain okay except for the continuous, ominous creep of tumour markers but her latest scans continue to show a stable condition with no progression of illness. Happy days indeed.
We have just returned from a regional tour through southern NSW and North East Victoria and finished our trip with a couple of nights in Young, staying with friends.
From the lonely streetscapes of Urana and familiar surrounds of Cobram, from the historic town of Benalla and the site of a famous fight against bushrangers at Glenrowan, we revisited sights known and enjoyed sites we had never before seen. We had a great trip but are now back immersed in reality and the huff and the puff of everyday life.
It’s slowly getting towards Christmas and the 2024 is surely slipping away but I hope to get back to you before we ring in the new year and that bloke is back in the White House. Cheers!
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 