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US is a great democracy, I think — as direct as it can be. They even elect judges. You can have democracy and capital punishment. I’m against it, but not because it is anti-democratic.
After all, the US is not a social democracy, unlike Scandinavia etc, never ever I claimed it.
I don’t think one can address anything about the US politics without exploring the link of [put your favourite means of discrimination in the US] and capitalism.
It’s their way of capitalism — the root of all evil.@can2 – is it a good thing that judges are elected? Or should they be completely independent of the political fray? Is it right that US Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President of the day according to their political leanings and that every case is heard by the same panel rather than a randomly selected panel?
@JDB, yes to all.
Just because they are elected and their political leanings are out there, it doesn’t necessarily mean their legal decisions in court are not impartial.
SCOTUS is a different beast. Despite what happened during Trump’s first reign, I think it is important they have life long tenures and are appointed by the POTUS. It simply changes the maths of the game only a bit. And, As long as the rules of the game are known, it is a fair game.
Everywhere else, I am certainly not sure every Supreme Court judge is textbook impartial, has never lobbied in his life for his position and an exemplar legal scholar. At least in the US, I find the game more transparent and fair. They respond to social needs better. Their interpretation of law is more dynamic. I value that.One can say more on Roe v Wade and the dynamics of SCOTUS from my view point, too; but I stop here.
Weren’t the recently executed ‘Canadians’ actually dual citizens who were involved with drugs?
Puts a different perspective on it.Anyway, since my previous comment got deleted because someone here got upset at Trump being called “the orange imbecile”, I’ll post an amended version:
As long as the tangerine tyrant and his Sieg Heiling sidekick are in charge and continue to turn the USA into an enemy and also bizarrely continue to support Russia (who until now were the actual enemy) I will not be supporting their economy through leisure travel.
Any comments along the lines of “oh but so and so country have a poor human rights record” is of no relevance to my reasons. Those countries are either places I was never intending to visit, or (more importantly) have not directly impacted me personally – my pension pot has taken quite a hit since the tangerine tyrant went into full idiot mode.Unlike JDB & co I do see value in visiting parts of the USA (away from the larger cities). I even had the beginnings of a plan to visit numerous states in one long trip after I retire.
My decision to suspend any travel is based purely on politics, not economics.If you are a Brit, the USA is currently not our friend.
@Aston100 – re the side kick, Chris McCausland has a good series of gags about him including the satnavs being reprogrammed to tell you to take the third reich turning. Whether it’s politics or economics keeping one away, just so many other great places to visit that it’s not exactly a hardship to avoid the US.
Whether it’s politics or economics keeping one away, just so many other great places to visit that it’s not exactly a hardship to avoid the US.
Definitely agree with you on this.
Currently trying to visit as many countries as possible in East and South East Asia.…someone here got upset at Trump being called “the orange imbecile”…
I was the first to comment on your earlier post, but I wasn’t remotely upset. I just thought that needless insults reflected poorly on you, and I still think that.
There is plenty of room for thoughtful disagreement over Trump’s actions and character. Name-calling adds nothing of value and is unnecessarily divisive. If you have any self respect, stop.
My problem is I don’t know to what extent we are all being manipulated to take these views on what is happening in US politics.
America is full of decent hard working people who need a President to take a firm direction and they hope he will make progress on problems important to them. They voted him as the best of the available alternatives and maybe he was.
No one’s perfect and I wish America luck and thank them for the leadership role they took in the world in the past century and more and thank them for what they achieved. They need to do more for Americans now and I hope their leadership finds a path to that.
I just thought that needless insults reflected poorly on you, and I still think that
I have no respect for criminals.
But feel free to defend him as his idiotic behaviour causes problems worldwide.My problem is I don’t know to what extent we are all being manipulated to take these views on what is happening in US politics.
America is full of decent hard working people who need a President to take a firm direction and they hope he will make progress on problems important to them. They voted him as the best of the available alternatives and maybe he was.
No one’s perfect and I wish America luck and thank them for the leadership role they took in the world in the past century and more and thank them for what they achieved. They need to do more for Americans now and I hope their leadership finds a path to that.
Totally agree. You can tell by the language some people use, which ‘news’ outlets they get their information from. Outside the echo chamber they are surprised when challenged on their phrase of words. If people want to avoid the USA, then that’s up to them – nobody else is interested in their manipulated political opinion though unless it’s well reasoned and though out – which is rarely is.
Do you realise it is Trump we are talking about?!?
For literally everyone else, I’d agree.
But his exceptionally opportunist, populist and objectively harmful “ideas” that have no ideology, how can you even grant him the privilege of decency?
He’s intentionally harmful when he doesn’t need to be. He is in a position of power that he is abusing.Do you realise it is Trump we are talking about?!?
For literally everyone else, I’d agree.
But his exceptionally opportunist, populist and objectively harmful “ideas” that have no ideology, how can you even grant him the privilege of decency?
He’s intentionally harmful when he doesn’t need to be. He is in a position of power that he is abusing.If, per you earlier comments re SCOTUS, you are interested in the subject you should read “The Challenges of Democracy and the Rule of Law” by Jonathan Sumption (former President of the UK Supreme Court). You can also listen to his Reith lectures on BBC Sounds. He writes/speaks with extraordinary precision and clarity.
Thank you, @JDB. Added to my reading list.
My problem is I don’t know to what extent we are all being manipulated to take these views on what is happening in US politics.
America is full of decent hard working people who need a President to take a firm direction and they hope he will make progress on problems important to them. They voted him as the best of the available alternatives and maybe he was.
No one’s perfect and I wish America luck and thank them for the leadership role they took in the world in the past century and more and thank them for what they achieved. They need to do more for Americans now and I hope their leadership finds a path to that.
Totally agree. You can tell by the language some people use, which ‘news’ outlets they get their information from. Outside the echo chamber they are surprised when challenged on their phrase of words. If people want to avoid the USA, then that’s up to them – nobody else is interested in their manipulated political opinion though unless it’s well reasoned and though out – which is rarely is.
News outlet says something you disagree with –> Fake news, ban them
News outlet says something you agree with –> Best news ever, GREAT newsOne doesn’t need to “read” the news to know what the orange Buffon and its royal court are up to. You can take it verbatim from their Tweets and Truth messages. To then say that we are being manipulated by the media is ridiculous when we all have direct access to what they are saying. And guess what, most of the time it is absolutely inaccurate and indeed fake.
@yonasl – trouble is that these days the direct social media statements from some of these people contain fake/false information. Sometimes this can be a subjective judgement but equally can sometimes be objectively disproved. Much of this fake news then sticks in people’s minds so is a highly effective strategy.
Sadly it is highly effective, particularly in terms of election meddling.
PreTrump, I remember how Jack Dorsey of twitter had to deal with censorship and US gov’s intervention of twitter, and how he caved. It was all on WikiLeaks.And we imprisoned the wikileaks guy!
Trump has done exactly the things he said he would do before the election. 51% Americans agreed, 49% thought they were stupid , idiotic, racist. Most of the rest of the world agreed with the latter.
However that’s democracy,
UK democracy seems to be to promise everything will be nice and do the opposite once in power (applies across the board) .
Trump has done exactly the things he said he would do before the election. 51% Americans agreed, 49% thought they were stupid , idiotic, racist. Most of the rest of the world agreed with the latter.
However that’s democracy,
Is it really democracy though? The ability to vote doesn’t in itself create democracy. A two party system entirely driven by vast donations so that certain rich people shape the narrative.
The US seems to find itself in the position of England in 13C where the King decided everything without reference to anyone. The checks and balances built into the US system by the founding fathers appear to have failed for the time being with Congress impotent and failing to ensure that it, rather than the Executive decides. We may get a slight reprieve as company after company in the US warns of the negative consequences of tariffs.
This might not have mattered in the past but now the chaos has been exported globally with horrendous consequences for the finances and jobs of individuals as well as businesses.
More subjectively, toadying to Russia seems unlikely to end well. Did people vote for that?
Trump has done exactly the things he said he would do before the election. 51% Americans agreed, 49% thought they were stupid , idiotic, racist. Most of the rest of the world agreed with the latter.
However that’s democracy,
UK democracy seems to be to promise everything will be nice and do the opposite once in power (applies across the board) .
How is initiating a riot at the Capitol democracy?
Trump has done exactly the things he said he would do before the election. 51% Americans agreed, 49% thought they were stupid , idiotic, racist. Most of the rest of the world agreed with the latter.
However that’s democracy,
UK democracy seems to be to promise everything will be nice and do the opposite once in power (applies across the board) .
How is initiating a riot at the Capitol democracy?
Indeed! The UK system (and its politicians) is very far from perfect but in cases such as the attempted prorogation of Parliament, even without a written constitution, the institutions rescued the situation and Parliament was rightly able to reassert its authority over the executive. In the US, where is Congress, where is the Supreme Court in all this chaos?
But, @JDB, in the US the POTUS has much less power and impact on people’s daily lives than, say, the PM has in the UK. A lot of practicalities are delegated to the individual states. That’s why, I think, exceptionally, Trump made a big difference to ordinary Americans’ lives in an unexpected way with the tariffs. So, it is not surprising that they were caught unprepared. Plus, it is Trump’s SCOTUS, and I am not even sure it is “their jurisdiction”.
Trump has done exactly the things he said he would do before the election. 51% Americans agreed, 49% thought they were stupid , idiotic, racist. Most of the rest of the world agreed with the latter.
However that’s democracy,
UK democracy seems to be to promise everything will be nice and do the opposite once in power (applies across the board) .
How is initiating a riot at the Capitol democracy?
Firstly I was talking about this latest election in 2024. Which he won. That was US democracy.
Was Trump economical with the truth yes, did he lie yes, but he lied about the reasons and logic of his policies he lied about a lot of things to get people to vote for him. But not about what he was going to do.
Clearly there are many people who dispute that he should have been allowed to run. My view is finding reasons to bar some is not the way to go. If you don’t like someone’s ideas , fight them with better ideas. Win the argument don’t stifle it.
If you were surprised by what Trump has done then you weren’t listening.
It’s not “Trump’s SCOTUS” – the judiciary is supposed to be independent.
The President is making a lot of Executive Orders invoking rare emergency powers (when it’s questionable there is any sort of emergency) in matters that are normally reserved to Congress, but it’s too wet/beholden to the king to reassert its rightful authority. Many of these orders are being challenged in the courts but it is a very slow and costly process.
I think it is too soon to fairly judge how much of a liar he is.
However, @Garethgerry, you are right on one issue: he actually won. Not surprising considering his opponent.
I, for one, think that “the way” he won was not fair nor legal. The lies is just a part of it. So it makes it questionable whether it is indeed a part of [the idealised] US democracy.
So, I am not surprised he won.
But I’ll be surprised when he gets serious about a third term. That’ll be a real stress-test for the “system”.A few years ago, I arrived at LAX with the then King of Spain.
Well, not quite “with”, he was sat separately a few rows ahead of me 🙂
As it happens, we each got pulled aside by CBP so I had the chance to observe while waiting to be dealt with.
Despite being in a wheelchair and, you know, being the KING OF SPAIN!, he had to sit around like the rest of us while the agents did their thing.
I eventually got the nod, spent literally 30 seconds in front of an agent and was sent through to freedom :).
Leaving His Maj sat there…
All of which goes to show that:
(a) hassle at the US border is nothing new
(b) even being royalty (though this was post-abdication) doesn’t get you a free passI’m unlikely to return to the US simply because I’ve been loads of times, for work and leisure, and as I age there are other places in the world left to see which takes time, money and energy.
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