DOES TRUMP WEAR A TRUSS ?

An interesting discussion on the problems of democracy on Radio 4’s Start The Week this morning. Tom Sutcliffe and guests explored the state of democracy. The political philosopher Erica Benner, anthropologist Alpa Shah and Bobby Duffy, director of Policy Institute at King’s College London, discussed the questions of ordinary citizens keeping democracy alive, how far democratic institutions are failing in India despite its long history of ancient councils of elders, whether faith in democracy still exists and the idea of Citizen Assemblies becoming more popular.

 

The discussion quite naturally centred on each individual guest’s current research as discussed in their latest books. Ms Benner’s was of a more general nature than the other two. En passant, discussion quite naturally mentioned the current state of affairs in the United States. This is a country that is becoming more and more undemocratic in its outlook in that, apparently, 36% of the population want an authoritarian or strong leader......(Mon 14 April 2024)

 

I had to break off from the above as I was diverted by other domestic matters. There are priorities to be dealt with; however, on waking this morning much of the news is taken up with Liz Truss’s memoir and an interview she gave to Chris Mason, political editor of BBC News. She is a complete disaster living in some world of her own. Why is she being given a platform to disgorge her nonsense?

 

She has declared support for Donald Trump for President of the United States. She claimed the world was safer under Trump. She claimed the world was "on the cusp of very, very strong conflict" and needed "a strong America more than ever". She also claimed that Trump was a supporter of Ukraine’s fight with the Russians, despite the fact that Trump’s acolytes in Congress are resisting paying for any more weapons for Ukraine. Trump has openly declared his admiration of Putin as has his strong supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene. How is it she sees and hears the opposite. On what planet is she living?

 

According to Mason, Ms. Truss argues “The environmental debate is ‘the single greatest example of Conservatives over the last few decades losing arguments to the left’ and claims plenty of environmentalists are watermelons – green on the outside. Red (i.e. socialists) on the inside. She argues the greatest threat to the environment is the “rise of authoritarian regimes”.

 

I presume she sees herself as a threat to the environment, since she is clearly a strong supporter of any authoritarian regime in that she wants to overturn the Human Rights Act, scrap the Supreme Court and dismantle the Judicial Appointments Commission, stating judicial appointments should lie with elected politicians.

 

How can any sane Western European politician support a man who is a proven liar, without a shred of integrity, already found wanting for deception and libel, and facing serious racketeering charges to which some of his co-defendants have already pleaded guilty. Any person with simple common sense hearing the telephone call between Mr Trump and an election official, wherein he tries to cajole and subtilely threaten said official to falsify the election results, would find it difficult to support this man. To, on the one hand, claim that the rise of authoritarian regimes are a threat, and to openly recommend an avowed authoritarian narcissist, is indicative of a serious mental disorder. Again, why is this person being given a platform?

 

Like Mr Trump she is a firm believer that her glaring failures are not of her own making but caused by others who have deliberately conspired against her. For Ms Truss, it is all “their” fault, whoever they may be. Civil Servants, bankers, economists and all those lefty lawyers, are collectively to blame for her inability to be the head of State she saw herself to be. Mr Trump has his own version of the same blame game. The difference is that very few in the United Kingdom believe her, and tragically for the world and the United States, too many American citizens believe him.

 

So much for the problems of democracy.