Several commentators today saying that they've lost confidence in the US. Making their point by talking up the glories of the past. After two weeks of the current administration, they're not going back.
Were they wrong, and they've seen the light? Or has the US changed? I guess the latter is the intended meaning, and perhaps - no, self-evidently - the election of the current President indicates a change in the attitudes of his fellow Americans. I'll leave out the Mencken quote about the kind of person the US system will eventually deliver to the presidency. We should at least acknowledge the possibility (I'm not arguing this) that Trump might be the right man for the job, even if only in the sense that he'll have a cathartic effect on the world order, wake people up, focus people's attention on the system's workings, because that might get us to the right question.
What would an anybody-but-Trump candidate have to promise, to beat him? What would be the relationship need to be between promise and delivery, to sustain that victory? There's already a lesson here. And while we're on the subject, the US judicial system seems to be functioning. Those checks and balances were put in place for a reason - those clever old (in fact, young) realists, the Founding Fathers - and maybe losing confidence in the US is premature, given that Trump has - now I come to think of it - woken a lot of people up to the founding promise of the USA.
Those whom the media wish to destroy, they first accuse of not reading. I saw it said the other day that the US president (1) doesn't read, and (2) keeps a volume of [the failed, dead, genocidal political leader generally cited at moments like this]'s speeches in his bedside drawer. Have to admit that I'm as impressed at the investigative journalism that went into bringing us item (2), as I am enjoying the idea of The Man Himself finding his way around a bookshop and either locating his book under H or ordering it from, I imagine, the idealistic young person at the counter. Trump's always been recognisable, hasn't he?
This is no time to be losing confidence in the US. In his own terms, Trump's the CEO. He's not the owner, nor does he hold a majority stake. He's fulfilling his promises (literally), and to look at him, I'd say he's enjoying the job, the desk, the people (men) standing behind him while he gets to sit in the big chair. He's being decisive. And what he's stirring up is a whole lot of stakeholder engagement. We can work out what the President is going to do next, and no doubt somebody's already putting together a bound volume of his speeches. What I say is: watch what the system does next.
Were they wrong, and they've seen the light? Or has the US changed? I guess the latter is the intended meaning, and perhaps - no, self-evidently - the election of the current President indicates a change in the attitudes of his fellow Americans. I'll leave out the Mencken quote about the kind of person the US system will eventually deliver to the presidency. We should at least acknowledge the possibility (I'm not arguing this) that Trump might be the right man for the job, even if only in the sense that he'll have a cathartic effect on the world order, wake people up, focus people's attention on the system's workings, because that might get us to the right question.
What would an anybody-but-Trump candidate have to promise, to beat him? What would be the relationship need to be between promise and delivery, to sustain that victory? There's already a lesson here. And while we're on the subject, the US judicial system seems to be functioning. Those checks and balances were put in place for a reason - those clever old (in fact, young) realists, the Founding Fathers - and maybe losing confidence in the US is premature, given that Trump has - now I come to think of it - woken a lot of people up to the founding promise of the USA.
Those whom the media wish to destroy, they first accuse of not reading. I saw it said the other day that the US president (1) doesn't read, and (2) keeps a volume of [the failed, dead, genocidal political leader generally cited at moments like this]'s speeches in his bedside drawer. Have to admit that I'm as impressed at the investigative journalism that went into bringing us item (2), as I am enjoying the idea of The Man Himself finding his way around a bookshop and either locating his book under H or ordering it from, I imagine, the idealistic young person at the counter. Trump's always been recognisable, hasn't he?
This is no time to be losing confidence in the US. In his own terms, Trump's the CEO. He's not the owner, nor does he hold a majority stake. He's fulfilling his promises (literally), and to look at him, I'd say he's enjoying the job, the desk, the people (men) standing behind him while he gets to sit in the big chair. He's being decisive. And what he's stirring up is a whole lot of stakeholder engagement. We can work out what the President is going to do next, and no doubt somebody's already putting together a bound volume of his speeches. What I say is: watch what the system does next.
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