Republicanism

  • Trump’s next foray

    Trump’s second term – a breath of fresh air for Republicans – is a mad dash at reform. He’s already taken swipes at bureaucracy. He’s renamed, rescinded, and recouped on behalf of the American people. It’s bewildering for a party – and a President – that don’t often prepare well.

    It’s the Democrats that sound a bell for change, and Republicans that hold the horses. They call for new programs, and Republicans still want old ones to stop. This time, Trump is striking out. He’s embarking on a route of the government – what he calls a “Deep State” – to make it more efficient.

    It’s not clear what it’s for at present. The principle is obvious in the short term, but the long term needs an objective. The healthcare system is put to rebuke, and defence, homeland security, foreign policy, and much else. In terms of a new vision, a way forward involves bold steps.

  • IRA and revisionism

    In telling the story of Margaret Thatcher it’s necessary to talk about the IRA too. It’s unfortunate as it marks out a Premiership with terrorism that English people felt personally.

    It isn’t her fault but her Premiership is marked in some way by the feeling of it.

    Yet the facts do not always bear out for all of us.

    I once spoke to an Irish dissident who called himself so because he deviated from a narrative he saw as stopping Ireland’s future from materialising, not a policy or program as it were.

    This is the state of things in a news era, he’d imply.

    He believed an IRA man to be an early type of intelligence spy. He said he knew of a few people who knew a few facts of the matter, of political discussions higher up.

    He said it made sense to see it as so.

    The ensuing events, as he saw it, confirmed his views but I can’t be so sure. This sort of cloak and dagger talk is normally beyond me and I don’t engage with it.

    However he felt sure and I was clear I’d listen to him.

    I don’t believe it necessarily but it’s a case sometimes of if the shoe fits.

    In his case he was upset about the prospects of his country so it didn’t seem worth challenging him on it.

  • Trump’s struggle

    This year is America’s 60th Presidential election and the stakes are high.

    Donald Trump is the lead contender for the Republicans and Joe Biden is the Democrat candidate on the other side. Their respective campaigns have not proved cordial in the past and this year has not indicated any change in tactic.

    The shooting on 13 July in Pennsylvania stood as a last ditch attempt by some on the nefarious side of politics to disrupt the ordinary political process.

    It’s ironic that its target was Donald Trump who at the time of writing is still under accusation of the same thing. His exhoneration from the classified documents case is beside the point.

    He is seen as an enemy and not a friend of the state.

    The road ahead is fraught with difficulty. A first Presidential televised debate aside, Trump faces an uphill struggle.

    His battle is not against his own party. He faces an onslaught of rebuke and recriminations that stretch back years from not just the Democrats but also their allies in the media.