US Election Result . . .

[pork pie fox]

Bless.

BM, send this man a cuddle.

Ha ha made me chuckle too. Sorry Boc

 

[David Gwilliam]

America does some things superbly - movies, music (pop not classical) and boxing. Perhaps it should concentrate on these and leave government to people who know what they are doing. Instead of turning on each other perhaps they should contract out their government to the big country in North America.
Canadian politics a carries on smoothly It does have one issue. A member of the Canadian parliament has likened the economic problems of Alberta to "a fart in the room that everybody knows about but nobody acknowledges" The big issue is whether the word "fart" is parliamentary language.
.

 

[Jeff]

The big issue is whether the word "fart" is parliamentary language.
.

If the US can have a trump as president the Canadians can have a fart in parliament.

 

[Mawsley]

Trump announces the death of TTiP.

That's not a bad start for the wall lover. It would never have happened with Clinton - and our sham of a parliament has been rimming the US throughout its negotiation.

At this rate I could be tempted to vote Sirlordalan as British president.

 

[jb5000]

It's actually TPP he's killed. And all that means is that China will lead on a treaty for 'the rest', which will include none of the protections on environmental and worker's standards that TPP had. Thanks Donald!

 

[Mawsley]

It's actually TPP he's killed.

This is true, I shouldn't tired post, TTIP is yet to be (but expected to be) binned.

 

[Brown Nose]

 

[FIF]

I don't remember the black guy. Is this the original series?

 

[Jeff]

I don't remember the black guy. Is this the original series?

It's the series from 2002, when they rebuilt the Middlesbrough transporter bridge in Arizona. I checked last time I was in Middlesbrough, and they've moved the bridge back again...
The new character (Wyman) is Wayne's son - actor Gary Holton wasn't available for the series, because he died after the second series.

 

[Brown Nose]

Andrea is not as discerning as I'd hoped: http://pagesix.com/2016/12/12/trump-may-have-finally-found-celeb-performer-for-inauguration/

 

[Robin127]

After the Lord Mayor's show...

 

[FIF]

Perhaps he thought he was meeting Gerrard.

 

[Brown Nose]

America prepares itself for the inevitable . . .

 

[Brown Nose]

 

[Brown Nose]

 

[David Gwilliam]

As someone with a passion for architectural history I am impelled to put the Capitol building before the politics. If you want to embody power you go for ancient Rome and any Caesar would have approved of the Capitol. (1)

One of my constant themes is that journalists have the historical understanding of a goldfish. Emily Maitland claimed that this was the first time America had chosen a non-politician as President, Completely untrue. Grant and Eisenhower had never been politicians. (2)

When parties lose elections there is a danger that they will blame the candidate - Hillary was in fact a better candidate than either of those in 1976, 1988 or 2000 The other danger is to blame presentation. Anything rather than admit that people understood the argument and did not agree with it. Democrats would do well to ask why tens of millions of women voted for a chauvinist like Trump rather than a well qualified woman Instead of calling Trump supporters "deplorable" the Democrats might try listening to them.

Beware of the word " populist". This is a term invented by elites to disguise their failure to connect with ordinary voters. This was summed up by Meryl Streep who attacked Trump by linking him to American football and (bizarrely) MMA. Bruce Springsteen sneered at Donald Trump but my guess is that most of those who buy his music were Trump supporters.

Trump's victory is a victory for the Tea Party over the Occupy Movement. I do not agree with the Tea Party but they earned their victory. They read the boring reports, attended the boring meetings and did the boring jobs. In the 1960s I worked as a totally unimportant foot soldier for the Labour Party spending long hours putting leaflets into envelopes and sticking on stamps to try and get Harold Wilson re-elected. . I thought then - and still think - the hippies were contemptible and playing at protest. The Occupy Movement are the modern hippies playing at politics.

The key feature of democracy is accepting the will of the voters. As American politics has become more partisan this has become a dangerous problem. Republicans claimed Barack Obama was not a legitimate President. Now Democrats have decided that Donald Trump is not a legitimate President. Well done to Hillary Clinton for attending the inauguration "in the name of democracy". (3)

(1) Incidentally Julius Caesar, arguably the most brilliant politician. would never have become President. Since the TV age (1960 election onwards) no bald man has ever won a Presidential election.
(2) Eisenhower was so non-political that both parties approached him to be a candidate since nobody knew which party he supported. Eisenhower is now largely forgotten since he was deliberately low key. However, I regard him not only as the most brilliant American general but also as a very great man.
(3) Hillary won the popular vote but lost the electoral college. There are serious arguments for the electoral college system but 2016 has thrown it into question.

 

[FIF]

I liked Trump's comment on his use of Twitter - a way to bypass the biased press. He could be the breath of fresh air that politics need (or he could be a disaster - which would also be good for political interest and re-connect).

I have always been more red than blue and fully support the NHS and nationalisation of certain industries but like many I'm tired of seeing working people abused by the state. It's the same over here in France, people who don't work because they don't want to work end up with as pleasant a life as those who work everyday for 40+ years. I'm against the fat cats but I'm also against the lazy cats.

 

[Brown Nose]

I liked Trump's comment on his use of Twitter - a way to bypass the biased press. He could be the breath of fresh air that politics need (or he could be a disaster - which would also be good for political interest and re-connect).

I have always been more red than blue and fully support the NHS and nationalisation of certain industries but like many I'm tired of seeing working people abused by the state. It's the same over here in France, people who don't work because they don't want to work end up with as pleasant a life as those who work everyday for 40+ years. I'm against the fat cats but I'm also against the lazy cats.

Despite my loathing of professional politicians that are completely detached from the people that they want to vote for them, there is no excuse for any democracy electing a narcissist and a psychopath. Trump is both and he will be an appalling President as a result.

 

[Matt_B]

Despite my loathing of professional politicians that are completely detached from the people that they want to vote for them, there is no excuse for any democracy electing a narcissist and a psychopath. Trump is both and he will be an appalling President as a result.

Exactly. I'm all for shaking up the system, god knows it needs it, and to do that you need to mix things up. However, you mix things with a whisk, not by (probably quite literally) dropping a nuke in the mix and seeing what you end up with.

 

[Matt_B]

That being said, the plus side is that he's surrounded himself with people as moronic and unqualified as he is and now he has no choice but to be judged on what he does in office. The red-neck hicks who love him will soon realise he does as little for them as they believe Obama did.