Saturday, July 25, 2015

Trump isn't the problem, he's just a symptom

Rex Murphy - Don’t blame Trump … blame America:
... he is an illustration of a problem and not its cause. Trump is not the swamp: he is the creature emerging from it. For however ridiculous and appalling his candidacy may be, it is no worse and no more ridiculous and appalling than the whole pattern of American politics at this time.

... Is his candidacy more lunatic than the idea of a third President Bush or a second President Clinton?

... Is he more manipulative than President “you can keep you doctor, you can keep you plan” Obama? Is he less venal or arrogant than Hillary  ...?

... Is he less repellent than false and theatrical rape hoaxes that have beleaguered American campuses from Duke to Columbia?

... Is anything Trump has said more staggering or depressing than the idea that in egalitarian America, a couple of small-time business owners can get fined $135,000 for not baking a cake? ...
... it is not Trump who should bear the responsibility for his success. It is the practice of politics itself and the political class (which includes, more and more, the news media) that has for so long abandoned honest representation of ideas, facing difficult issues with real language, which has so professionalized campaigns and elections that the sound of a human voice saying something it actually means is so rare.
...
Are Canadian politics any less dysfunctional than America's?  Would Trump be any worse for America than Trudeau or Mulcair for Canada? 


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

..or a Notley in Alberta

Anonymous said...

He would not be too bad, given the field. I would worry only about his viewson American trade protectionism, as this could hurt Canadian Industry.