A Sunday Rumble: 20.9.20

Sorry, Donald, but Daniel Hannan has it about right:  I will not attempt to paraphrase his impeccable English, so instead I will take the lazy way out and just paste and quote from his piece in today's Telegraph:

If I were an American, I’m not sure I could bring myself to vote for Donald Trump. It’s not that he lacks achievements. His tax cuts and deregulation worked: the US economy was booming pre-Covid, and unemployment was at a record low. His judges have the humility to recognise that the Constitution is bigger than they are. His success in reconciling Israel with a number of Arab states would have had the global commentariat demanding a Nobel Peace Prize had it come from any other president.

But I keep coming back to his character flaws: the childish lies; the inability to distinguish between public office and private interests; the mafia-like expectation that his supporters should follow him on his own account, changing their views whenever he does.

Yeeeeees, I think that about sums it up!  Even so, Mr. Hannan reminds us:

I don’t think I could vote for Joe Biden, either. I remember watching him at a conference two years ago, and it already seemed painfully clear that, to deal plainly, he was no longer in his perfect mind. With the world in its worst-ever recession, can Americans afford to have him at the helm?

From a British point of view, though, things are far clearer. Trump is unquestionably the more Anglophile candidate. He identifies strongly with his Scottish mother, and sometimes describes himself as half-British. 

'Nuff said!  I think we'll keep him on!

 

The real test for Boris:   Will he have the balls to flog off the BBC to the highest bidder?  It is now a self-inflated balloon filled with rancid anti-British, pro-socialist opinions and a provider of programmes, sport excepted, that hardly anyone watches or listens to!  It's your final test, Boris, just 'man-up' and do it!

 

This day 80-years ago:   Was the height of the most crucial battle fought by Britain since the Armada.  As has been well-expressed in most of the media, it was fought with the essential assistance of sundry Poles and Czechs and others who took to the skies and helped us defeat the Luftwaffe.  At the same time, we must NEVER forget the likes of the late Sir Robert Watson-Watt who was the force behind the construction of the radar defence system which was to prove critical.  Let us salute all of them, pilots and 'swots' alike!

 

Or could Boris 'do a runner'?   Patrick O'Flynn at The Coffee House seems to think it is quite likely:

Few would suggest that Boris Johnson, for all his gifts, ever had a Wilsonian concentration span or a Stakhanovite work ethic. So it requires no great leap of imagination to suppose that the not easy, not spacious, not socially-orientated days he is enduring right now are not what he had in mind for his premiership.

Throw in divorce, fatherhood again at 56, an impending further marriage and a touch-and-go spell in intensive care that may have left its mark on his own capacity and it's easy to see why the gossip has been building that Johnson may do a Wilson early in 2021, once the main loose ends of Brexit have been tied up.

Apparently, Michael Gove is reckoned as a favourite to take over and that would be interesting not least because I have always detected some considerable intelligence behind those owl-like specs of his.

 

 

No more rumbles

 

 

Comments

[Bob]

From a British point of view, though, things are far clearer. Trump is unquestionably the more Anglophile candidate. He identifies strongly with his Scottish mother, and sometimes describes himself as half-British.

This would be the point of view of Brits with their heads firmly planted in their rectums. Trump identifies with Trump. If Brexited Brits expect special treatment from him as an American client state, they're very likely to be disappointed.

[David Duff]

The question is, Bob, would Biden be more sympathetic to Britain than Trump?

[Bob]

David, since Trump is incapable of feeling sympathy, I'd have to say probably.

[Bob]

David, when you even hint The Don isn't perfect in all ways, his cult of personality takes it as blasphemy. That might be why it's so quiet in the comment section. As for Boris, he has his hands full with other matters at the moment:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/20/second-lockdown-uk-new-rules-another-national/

[AussieD]

I'll disturb the quiet Bob.

Looking from outside the USofA and unencumbered with Republican/Democratic party political prejudices it is my humble opinion that despite his excentricities Donald Trump has achieved far more than his slick talking predecessor.

And as you have only two choices Donald Trump is a far better prospect than Joe Biden who has difficulty in putting two words together coherently and whose running partner espouses dangerous and divisive ideals.

The US has more chance of surviving as a nation still based on its founding ideals under Trump than under Biden and his puppet masters.

[JK]

It's quiet in the comments section Bob, simply, because you're dependable.

[Loz]

Cross fingers for No Deal followed by Michael "the bastard" Gove Jan 1.

The "last chance Saloon" candidate for Blighty.

Not that I have the faintest idea what he's got planned for Brexit Blighty, but only because I know exactly what BoJo and Starmer have got planned for Blighty.

SoD

[Pat]

Given the Ukrainian and Chinese directorships Biden's son acquired during his Vice Presidency, I think it is Biden confuses public and private interest.

[Bob]

AussieD,

As an Aussie, which Trump accomplishments do you think are most important?

For what it's worth, I don't think Biden would destroy the country any more than Trump would. And Pence also has some ideas that could be considered un-American. He's an extremist theocrat of a sort. I live in the state he governed, which is a "red" state, and his approval rating was in the toilet. He accepted the VP slot when no other Republican would because he had no chance of being re-elected.

[Richard]

Bob,

With Biden saying there is no chance of a trade deal if Boris re-jigs the UK's departure from Europe, it stands to reason that Trump - for all his faults - would be an infinitely better choice for us Brits than Biden... and yes, both presidential candidates are ghastly.

[Bob]

Richard,

Since Boris claims his deal will protect the Good Friday agreement, I'm not sure what the argument's about. If you'd rather take your chances with the sharks around Trump it's certainly your choice, but it's probably a distinction without a difference:

"U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, also warned against "creating a hard border by accident," telling here the Financial Times that the Trump administration and Congress were aligned in their desire to preserve the 1998 Good Friday Agreement's border prohibitions."

https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-trade-trump/exclusive-biden-or-trump-no-guarantee-of-a-post-brexit-us-uk-trade-deal-idUSKBN269255

[Glesga]

Bob, The UK has no intention of implementing a hard border. It is the EU who will implement it. Do remember the Irish Republic must follow orders from the EU. When the Irish Republic/EU stop vehicles and people going in either direction to or from Northern Ireland then the EU dictatorship will be exposed.

[AussieD]

G’day Bob,

As an Aussie looking in to the US from the outside my assessment of his achievements is positive in so much as, amongst other things, he has achieved the following.

Not necessarily in order;

He put Iran back in its box and has caused them to back off on much of their beligerance - something his predecessor screwed up.

Black and Hispanic unemployment rates have dropped as a result of his policies.

The US economy was, prior to the Covid eruption, going up.

US reliance on overseas petroleum is diminishing.

The US embassy in Israel has been moved to the Israeli capital - again something his predecessors talked about but never did.

He has identified the issue of illegal immigrants into the US. No nation wishing to retain control of its economy and security can allow the uncontrolled entry into its territory.

He has called China out for what it is, a corrupt dictatorship with a desire to dominate others by force if it can’t get its way by other means.

Unlike the Democrats he has called out BLM and Antifa for what they are - disruptive ideological enemies of a free nation

Finally he is not a career politician which is an enormous plus. The likes of Pelosi, Biden and a host of others have never had a job where they put their own money on the line to generate an income for themselves and their fellow citizens. Our own State Premier is one of those - university to party official to member of parliament to Premier and it shows in his lack of understanding of what makes a free market economy work.

As for the Democrats I am highly suspicious of a political organization who would put forward a candidate like Biden who is obviously mentally deteriorating and has trouble putting two words together in logical sequence.

I for one shudder to think what would happen to your nation should the Democrats get into the White House.

I have been to the US many times, both in my time in HM’s service, and as a tourist and have a deep admiration of the country and its ethos. I have no time for the bloody minded socialist ideals of the Democrats.

[Loz]

What OzD said.

SoD

[Whitewall]

Democrats haven't been this angry and pathologically broken since they lost their slaves. Why, among all their new threats and blackmail, they may just finally secede. Again. Some are threatening, again, to flee to Canada. Not Mexico?

[Glesga]

Whitewall, only the Democrats involved in drug dealing will move to Mexico the rest will try and move to Canada. Just thinking Whitewall is there any US State that could hold and contain Democrats that has sufficient psychological experts to deal with them on a face to face basis?

[Bob]

AussieD,

Thanks for responding. A lot of the programs you list have been ongoing for decades, but Trump deserves his share.

[Whitewall]

Jimmy, no there isn't as most psychologists are probably in the same mental condition. The "soft sciences" attract lefties like ants to a picnic.