Wednesday 11 January 2023

Trump and Johnson - political Cool Runnings?

The political right in this country and the USA seem to have completely lost touch with reality. You may think the American GOP has been going that way for some years, culminating in Trump being elected in 2016. Three years later we got Boris Johnson, Eton’s answer to Trumpism. You really need to be off your trolley to think Americans or Britons have been well governed between 2017 and 2021 but apparently, some people do. Never was H L Mencken's famous quote about democracy being the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage, so true.

Let’s be frank, Trump was and is a moron. To describe him as stupid is kindness. He is virtually an imbecile and a very dangerous one at that.

Johnson was not much better. We are still living through the nightmare he visited upon us through Brexit. Nowhere is that more true in Northern Ireland where others are still struggling to resolve the Irish trilemma. Things seem to be moving closer to a resolution but I wouldn’t bet the DUP - or Sinn Fein - will accept whatever deal is arrived at. This isn’t even to mention the corruption, incompetence, and sleaze that seems to have infected the entire Conservative parliamentary party in recent years.

Bearing all that in mind, and looking across the Atlantic, I see that among the Republican Party voters, Donald Trump is the front-runner to be their candidate for the 2024 election - and by a decent margin, believe it or not.  It is jaw-droppingly amazing.

This is a man facing serious criminal charges on multiple counts, possibly including tax fraud, sedition, and stealing top-secret US documents! In any normal world, he would be facing several lengthy stretches on Ryker’s Island. Even now people who rioted at Trump’s behest on 6 January are being sought, investigated, tried, and sentenced. Around 65 are already serving time, 950 have been charged in connection with the riot and another 350 are on an FBI wanted list.

Trump comprehensively lost the 2020 election, as confirmed by every court where the result was challenged by him. The Republicans didn’t even win the Senate in last November’s mid-term elections, something the opposition party usually does, more often than not. In other words, the Democrats are in pole position to win in two years.

They really don't need any more help from the GOP, who have only a tiny majority in the House of Representatives anyway. Despite all that, the party is moving towards nominating DJT as their preferred candidate. It makes zero sense to me. He is either not going to be available because he’s behind bars or mired in lawsuits and even if manages to remain out, he will get utterly trounced in 2024.

What are these people seeing in Trump that the rest of us can't?

Don't laugh because things are almost as bad over here. The Sun reports that "Boris Johnson allies" have set a deadline to move against Rishi Sunak and install the blond idiot back in No10.  These supporters - mostly unnamed - were due to gather at the Carlton Club the other night to unveil a portrait of him. They are described as Boris’ "nearest and dearest in Westminster."

Nadine Dorries is mentioned, as is Priti Patel and Jake Berry. The Sun says senior Tory MPs have told them they think Sunak's leadership has been “stale” and “uninspiring” and have given the PM a "summer deadline" to "turn the Conservative polls around."

Turning the polls around in a few months makes the 12 labours of Hercules look like a stroll in the park. Personally, I would say it's impossible.

One poll by YouGov suggests just 8% of the population would be "delighted" if the Tories won the next election, compared to 27% in 2017 and 2019. Nearly half would be dismayed. The biggest jump is in the number who are indifferent or simply “wouldn’t mind.”

You can only conclude there is absolutely no enthusiasm for Sunak to win (and not much more for Labour). How he can be expected to turn things around in a matter of months is beyond me. But it is even less likely that Johnson will improve Tory's electoral chances.  The party dumped him last year because 60+ ministers resigned over his personal behaviour, not any great policy differences.

Going into an election with BoJo as PM would be a real gift to Labour.

Do you ever despair that the two nations who have led 'the west' for more than a century have somehow lost their way?  The traditional parties of the right have been hijacked by nationalists and populists and are themselves now ungovernable, never mind capable of governing their respective countries.

We can only hope that in the next few years, voters come to their senses. 

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