Oh dear; please believe me that this is a totally non-partisan political observation.
Whatever one thinks of either Trump or Biden, we must accept that we are living through extraordinary times.
Harry S Truman was in The White House when I was born, and since then I have lived through some strange presidencies. There's been Tricky-Dicky Nixon, Ronny 'the cowboy' Reagan, and now Trump; to name just three.
None has caused as much international horror, concern, and (yes) amusement, as dear Trump. He really is the most extraordinary man. Each time I see him strutting towards a microphone, with that arrogant orange face of his, I cannot help wondering what on earth is going on inside his head; and yet he has an enormous low-paid-worker fan base; not something one would have expected for a Republican POTUS.
Other countries have the occasional unelectable crazy politician who manage to find a following. In the UK they've recently had Corbyn, for heaven's sake. But none has been as bizarre as Trump; and he actually managed to get elected.
I have no idea how long it will take to sort-out all the current mess, but it's certain that there'll be only one real loser; and that sadly is the reputation of the USA. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping must be laughing their heads off.
I wish Biden/Harris a lot of luck. What a dreadful time to be taking over the helm. I suspect times will now be a lot quieter, and far less interesting.
I don't understand where you are coming from here. Donald Trump had the best foreign policies of any US president for decades and for that I am grateful. He was different and sincere in his patriotism even if he didn't always get it right. I don't see that Biden is coming in at a bad time and I doubt that any of us will be so well informed as to what Biden is up to as we were with Trump whether one agreed or disagreed, he kept us informed.
ReplyDeleteWith the Covid crisis and their economy in such a bad state, I wouldn't wish it on anyone to be taking over. I guarantee that Corbyn is very happy that he didn't get the job in the UK. Leadership is a poisoned chalice at the moment; everywhere.
DeleteYes I agree in terms of Covid and the economic fall out but in terms of foreign policies I am grateful to have had Trump for 4 years.
DeleteThis is why I wrote the above in a non-partisan way. I didn't want to involve the political side of his term in office; just the image.
DeleteIn some respects Biden will take on a firm base to start from. I think some of your post, with all due respects, was not entirely written in the tone of non-partisan.
DeleteAnd Biden will have 70 million Republican voters watching his every move. I wish him well for the sake of everyone.
DeleteThe fact that I have often taken Trump as quite comical, has nothing to do with his politics; which I have mostly ignored.
DeleteWell that says it all, for you and many others.
DeleteI don't think many non-US residents are that interested in their internal politics. Most of us stick to world, and home, affairs only.
DeleteTrue. Some just focus on his hair and suntan.
DeleteWhat I will never understand is how two people can see things so vastly different. I honestly believe that four more years of trump would have destroyed out country. As it is, we are in tatters.
ReplyDeleteI wish the new White House tenants a lot of luck. It won't be an easy 4 years ahead.
DeleteOn one thing we can all agree, indeed times are strange. And I also heard yesterday that Putin will probably retire because of Parkinson.
ReplyDeleteI also heard that he has no intention of retiring!
DeleteMakes me think of Brezhnev. They used to wheel him out and prop him up even when he was dead.
DeleteLenin is simply fast asleep!
DeleteBiden has certainly spoken healing words but he may have a lot of something to push uphill. I couldn't believe I was seeing black Trump supporters on Sunday nights tv news. Why would a black person support Trump?
ReplyDeleteEvery politician in the history of politics, on taking a powerful position will offer healing words to the opposition. It's what happens after the first 100 days that matters. I think Trump had big support from the black community; he created plenty of jobs for the lower paid.
DeleteThis is actually not true, Cro. I hate to debate, but this is not borne out by the figures at all. It was the black vote in Detroit that turned Michigan blue, in Chicago that turned Illinois blue, Atlanta that turned Georgia blue. There were polls that may have claimed otherwise, but when it came down to it, they voted strongly democratic. As did the natives, and the latinos (except for the cubans in Florida). I will say no more on the topic. I am grateful that the man is done. Biden and Harris do have a tough time ahead as does the entire country. We need to pull together and stop talking about trump.
DeleteThis just goes to prove that one can't believe a single bloody word that's come out of the US for the past 4 years. Lets hope that things will now improve.
DeleteHe increased funding for black colleges and did many good things that the MSM do not tell you Andrew. Many black people were able to see this along with many white people also.
DeleteWatching the ego of a rich man surrounded by loads of yes men and women, was most of the time painful, our American friends hated him. We can only hope that Biden can bring USA back in line with the other good countries in our strange world.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I found him very amusing. Not in a way he would have liked, but by his bizarre antics and language. We won't see his like again.
DeleteHopefully not! He was the evil among us and does not even have the class to leave in a presidential way. He has sowed doubt about the election if he lost, but not if he won. He is a very sick man and it will take years to get rid of his stink. What he will do in the next seven weeks before Biden is sworn in has us all very worried. His life has been all about himself and revenge on those who don’t fall at his feet.
DeleteI don't know what good, if any, he did for the USA, but he certainly was a bizarre episode in your lives.
DeleteTrump was a Chump so they sent him to The Dump. Biden was just Bidin' his time.
ReplyDeleteHe was a dangerous chump.
DeleteWhen I was at school the word 'trump' was synonymous with FART.
DeleteFor Biden's supporters in the UK, just wait for
ReplyDeletethe war. He'll also drag you into it. If you check into some honest media and read some of his quotes and are still relieved then God help you. The man was in office for forty-seven years and did What? Now he's going to fix things? Come on, man.
I have never been a supporter of the hard left. It remains to be seen what they'll do.
DeleteI'd just dearly love a return to civility in a country I love. Civility and an end to rage and hate that have made my once beautiful, serene area (literally) a dangerous place. He'll leave kicking and screaming, but he'll leave. The question is whether Biden/Harris can convince protesters and rioters and defund-police shooters (we've had 2 here) become civil human beings again. Else it will all be for naught.
ReplyDeleteYou're making me appreciate why I'm a supporter of middle-of-the-road Right wing politics. I could go on.....
DeleteThere is a difference between being a public servant and 'running the show'. God help you, Gwen. It is done, the people have spoken, and there will be no war. This saber rattling is nothing but the talk of fearmongerers...ever bit of fear that we show feeds into their illusion of power. I'm not feeding into that crap.
ReplyDeleteLets just all calm down, see how Biden runs the show, and complain later. Give him his first 100 days.
DeleteTrump certainly stirred the pot unlike any of his predecessors. He had a short fuse and it blew regularly on stage, front and center. America needs calm and stability and Biden will bring both. America's checks and balances will help regulate the next 4 years.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I hope you're right. Since 11/16 some of our local towns (I'm in CA) have been dealing with ongoing protests, daily over the summer, even with COVID-19. And violence came with it. Leadership refusing to condemn it or get it under control. As one of many caught in the middle, I can say the reaction to #45 was every bit as bad as #45 himself, and given crowds of people celebrating in the streets yesterday (our COVID-19 numbers have more than tripled recently), I'm not convinced we'll all hold hands and sing Kumbaya anytime soon. Pelosi hasn't left the building and she's every bit the divider; her nephew (Gov. Newsom) has overridden the vote multiple times with executive orders, but we'll see and we can hope.
DeleteAs some may have noticed, I took down the post that followed this one.
ReplyDeleteLike many, I thought Biden looked like a pleasant person; a bit older than one might have hoped, but pleasant looking. Then I saw the picture of him with Adams and O'Hare, and those dreadful memories of sectarian killings came to the surface. I didn't wish to spoil the day for Biden supporters, but even they must accept that US NORAID donations were used to kill British soldiers and Protestants, and that those who carried out the killings are still regarded as murderers over in the UK. That photo from just 3 years ago really shocked me.
Whatever your own view of Irish terrorism is, I'm afraid mine is still one of horror.
Agreed. I was disappointed that you took the post down but thank you for posting in the first place. I was fortunate to see it with comments and would like to say to Ro, yes I agree with you too.
ReplyDelete