Your conversation with the dairy farmer evokes Mussolini's infamous mantra, "only I can make the trains run on time". Since then, personality cultists of all stripes have invoked variants of it.
As far as America is concerned, pundits have thought out loud of a 2nd Civil War. I've come to the view that the OG civil war never really ended to begin with, it just went mostly cold for 150+ years, with intermittent warm spots.
Gosh, a billionaire with an opinion gets more publicity than he has common sense. He made a comparison with NZ, under Key at that time, but now we see Australia is doing better (economically) all the same.
Thank you for your insight of American politics from a New Zealand perspective. I’d cast a vote in your poll but, unfortunately, my most likely choice isn’t listed. With each election, the options for president are worse than the previous one.
I can’t imagine voting for Trump, and couldn’t stomach voting for “Genocide Joe”. (I now have the same feeling of revulsion from the Australian Labor Party after their failure to condemn the Gaza genocide - they seem to lack a moral compass.) I fear the US just needs to go through a period of chaos, unfortunately at a time when the world needs a stable, responsible US.
I'm afraid you may be right, Kai. There are sensible voices with good ideas for reforms, but when the Reform brand gets led by Nigel Farage, the options seem to be closing down.
I take it you don't like Trump, but what policies did Trump put his name to specifically that you didn't like? I'm not talking about his style or the theatrics, I mean which policies did the Trump administration pursue that you found distasteful. I get that people don't like his personality, but the personality of the person and the orders and legislation they put their signatures to are vastly different. Which policy did Trump sign off on that you found wrong headed?
The injecting bleach remarks and the "We just need to rake the forests more to prevent bushfires" remark weren't a "policy", Grant - that was just Trump talking bullshit to seem like an ordinary unintellectual fellow to his base. But his policy of separating children from their parents at the border with Mexico didn't please me.
That's true, Kai. Getting back to the trade war policy, his comments in favour of it revealed a know-nothing approach. Not only did it damage the US (and global) economy, but it also went against his own policy of reducing regulations.
To be fair, crossing the border illegally is a federal crime. If you commit a federal crime, you usually are not allowed to stay with your family as you're often held in jail or some sort of remand until your trial. To the larger point though, border policies under Biden have not been a success story.
That's a fair point, Tameem. The child, however, is not criminally liable, and there's an international convention that makes the wellbeing of the child the paramount concern. Kai's concern was about separation of children from parents.
On the other point about tariffs under Biden, that's fair too. My brief isn't to defend Biden, nor his trade policies which may be unsuccessful and backfire on American consumers, especially regarding semiconductors. Your question to me concerned any Trump policy that I thought was wrong-headed.
Your conversation with the dairy farmer evokes Mussolini's infamous mantra, "only I can make the trains run on time". Since then, personality cultists of all stripes have invoked variants of it.
As far as America is concerned, pundits have thought out loud of a 2nd Civil War. I've come to the view that the OG civil war never really ended to begin with, it just went mostly cold for 150+ years, with intermittent warm spots.
You might like this, or maybe you've already read it?
https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/tyranny-of-the-minority-9780241586211
Several years, back, another remark in the same vein came from one of the co-founders of Harvey Norman:
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/billionaire-businessman-gerry-harvey-says-bring-in-dictator-to-govern/news-story/5f26976e0634a9e399a7cb3f8c93499f
Gosh, a billionaire with an opinion gets more publicity than he has common sense. He made a comparison with NZ, under Key at that time, but now we see Australia is doing better (economically) all the same.
Way too many of those around these days. 🤬
Thank you for your insight of American politics from a New Zealand perspective. I’d cast a vote in your poll but, unfortunately, my most likely choice isn’t listed. With each election, the options for president are worse than the previous one.
Apologies for that, Josh. I should have listed Stein, West and Oliver, I think. But you may be able to add to that.
I can’t imagine voting for Trump, and couldn’t stomach voting for “Genocide Joe”. (I now have the same feeling of revulsion from the Australian Labor Party after their failure to condemn the Gaza genocide - they seem to lack a moral compass.) I fear the US just needs to go through a period of chaos, unfortunately at a time when the world needs a stable, responsible US.
I'm afraid you may be right, Kai. There are sensible voices with good ideas for reforms, but when the Reform brand gets led by Nigel Farage, the options seem to be closing down.
I do wonder what would happen if an American Civil war coincided with Middle Eastern and European war. Seems we're on a trajectory to find out.
Scary thought! I can only hope for a ceasefire in Gaza well before November, if not tomorrow.
Hi Grant,
I take it you don't like Trump, but what policies did Trump put his name to specifically that you didn't like? I'm not talking about his style or the theatrics, I mean which policies did the Trump administration pursue that you found distasteful. I get that people don't like his personality, but the personality of the person and the orders and legislation they put their signatures to are vastly different. Which policy did Trump sign off on that you found wrong headed?
Thanks,
Tameem
See also, to name just a few:
https://time.com/6301112/trump-criminal-cases-status/
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/16/donald-trump-poses-the-biggest-danger-to-the-world-in-2024
https://www.vox.com/22798975/democracy-threats-peril-trump-voting-rights
The trade war with China:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/more-pain-than-gain-how-the-us-china-trade-war-hurt-america/
The injecting bleach remarks and the "We just need to rake the forests more to prevent bushfires" remark weren't a "policy", Grant - that was just Trump talking bullshit to seem like an ordinary unintellectual fellow to his base. But his policy of separating children from their parents at the border with Mexico didn't please me.
That's true, Kai. Getting back to the trade war policy, his comments in favour of it revealed a know-nothing approach. Not only did it damage the US (and global) economy, but it also went against his own policy of reducing regulations.
Biden is replicating a lot of Trump policies now.
https://www.marketplace.org/2024/05/14/how-tariffs-compare-in-the-biden-and-trump-eras/
To be fair, crossing the border illegally is a federal crime. If you commit a federal crime, you usually are not allowed to stay with your family as you're often held in jail or some sort of remand until your trial. To the larger point though, border policies under Biden have not been a success story.
That's a fair point, Tameem. The child, however, is not criminally liable, and there's an international convention that makes the wellbeing of the child the paramount concern. Kai's concern was about separation of children from parents.
On the other point about tariffs under Biden, that's fair too. My brief isn't to defend Biden, nor his trade policies which may be unsuccessful and backfire on American consumers, especially regarding semiconductors. Your question to me concerned any Trump policy that I thought was wrong-headed.
I didn’t think much of his handling of the pandemic.
The injecting bleach episode was the highlight.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/23/trump-bleach-one-year-484399