Trump has flaws, failings and momentum

One has to be so very careful when writing a column such as this. Last week as part of a column which had, as its main point, the desperate situation in which the GAA has degraded the game of gaelic football, I had, in a roundabout way projected some solace and comfort on the English football team manager, Gareth Southgate, by pointing out that the expectations (generated by the media, not by Southgate) placed on his shoulders were not in accord with the standard of football in the country. England claims to be the Home of Football and perennially demands that the Game be brought home. Such nonsense places an inordinate burden on the poor auld manager.

Now, in seeking to ameliorate the expectations on Southgate, I pointed out that England, far from being the dominant nation in world football were, in fact, comfortably among the also rans and had not won an international competition since 1966, when they had home advantage and (whisper it!) a hometown referee. And that was where I was stopped in my tracks by an alert reader, a lady, who pointed out that the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final was won by England.

Now, if this column was written by a female writer, such a blunder as mine is most unlikely to have happened, but being male, the reality is that, for my sins, I have to admit my scope of thought and my lack of female insight overlooked the achievements of the English Women’s footballers. Indeed, as well as being proven wrong by reference to the footballers, I could also have been hauled over the coals by the English Women’s rugby playing community who have dominated all opposition in recent times. It is of course possible that my correspondent was making a point with her tongue firmly in cheek.

Whatever, I’m thankful to my correspondent for pointing out my error and I promise to be more careful and not allow my male chauvinistic tendencies to run away with me in future. However, at my age, I cannot give any guarantees.

Mention of age brings me to that scion of Ballina, Joe Biden. I’m writing this on July 4, a most auspicious day in the history of America, a day when Independence was declared. I’ll refrain from mentioning that the Native Americans, the Indians, were not consulted on the Declaration and had no input into it. When we look at the US today and consider the state of the nation it would seem that a native American (Indian) input is sadly lacking.

We will put that to one side and deal with the reality of the situation as we have it today. America is what it is.

I’d be of the view (naturally I would!) that age is not something that should disqualify a person from any role in society and that applies to Joe Biden as much as anybody else, or Donald Trump even, who is no spring chicken.

Biden’s age has become a legitimate concern for the Democratic voters in the US in the run-up to the Presidential election in November and not just for US voters but for very many people around the world. I have lost faith in Biden because of his failure to rein in Netanyahu and his continued supply of bombs to the Israeli Defence Forces to rain down on the innocent people of Gaza.

For all his proclamations of concern for the Palestinian people, Biden has colluded with the Israelis on what is essentially an extermination of the people of Gaza. Even though Gaza is not in the news these days because of more important things such as the UK elections or indeed the nonsensical speculation about an early Irish general election, the reality for the people of Gaza is that the bombs continue to fall. But that’s me.

Biden’s performance in the debate with Trump was less than convincing. True, all we saw here were the most damning clips from what was a one and a half hour debate. We saw nothing of where Biden may have performed well or where Trump may not have been at his best. But no matter how you look at it Biden’s lapses of concentration quite properly concerned his supporters and the generals in the Democratic Party whose job it is to get their man, no matter who, elected. Biden’s chances of election – slim enough at the best of times – have become even slimmer. Even if the Democrats change horses at this stage it does appear that we are going to have another four years of The Donald.

If we were to believe even half of what we have been told or read then we would be packing up our bags and booking seats on Musk’s rocket to the moon. I would be the first to acknowledge that I can’t make head nor tail of US politics. I don’t know all that many Americans (citizens of the US) but those I have met strike me as being reasonably sane and sensible. Even Trump supporters I have encountered were rocks of common sense and could rationally explain what it was about Trump and his policies that appealed to them. In most cases it was perhaps a selfish interest and they saw his approach to the US economy as beneficial to themselves.

Trump has his flaws and his failings. They have been exposed by his many appearances in court – appearances that did nothing to undermine his support. Indeed it could be argued that the court appearances boosted his popularity among those who saw him as a man being persecuted by the Democrats. His Make America Great Again (MAGA) campaign slogan makes sense to a lot of voters and while we, in Europe, may have concerns that his economic policies will be to the detriment of other economies around the world, that is not likely to impress Trump’s followers.

Trump’s closing of the borders to limit the flow of migrants from his southern neighbours is something that we would have been abhorred by during his term in office. It was okay for us liberals in Europe to be supportive of the migrants when it was the US that was under pressure, but now that migration is an issue for the EU and the UK, our tune is changing and we are closing our borders.

The one major concern EU leaders have with a new Trump presidency is his foreign policy – if he has one. He has not outlined anything that might amount to a foreign policy other than to boast that on his first day in the White House he will sort out the war in Ukraine. It is an idle boast and of course he will not be put to the test. We have seen Biden and the EU seek to resolve the war in Ukraine and more recently the war in Gaza. They have not been very successful. Their answer to war has been to arm and supply bombs to one side in the conflicts – a policy that has resulted, as could be expected, in a rising body count of the innocent.

Could Trump do any worse than Biden? Time will tell. It does appear that he will again be in the White House and the people of Doonbeg can celebrate.

Thought for the Day GB Shaw: He knows nothing and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.