That Trump, eh? What a clown. He’s insulted women, Muslims, he plans to build a wall between the US and Mexico (and make Mexico pay for it) – it would be easier to list his virtues (he’s very rich) than provide a catalogue of his ghastliness. So thank God to have Hillary Clinton, hugely popular with African-Americans and Latinos and women. And Irish. It’ll be like old times when, in all probability, she beats the caricature politician Trump in November.
There’s a catch, though. In fact several.
1. Hillary Clinton voted for the invasion of Iraq. That invasion led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, huge expense for the US running into trillions, a perilous Middle East that produced Isis, the Syrian civil war – and of course the tens, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees that are flooding into Europe and putting a huge strain on the very existence of the EU.
2. She promoted military action against Libya so regime change could remove Muammar Gaddafi, and boasted “We came, we saw, he died”. Shortly after, Libya was plungd into civil war. This led to war in Mali, to the supply of Boko Haram (remember them?) in Nigeria with arms aplently, and created conditions where ISIS could make the progress it has in Syria and Iraq.
3. She has supported NATO expansion, even into Ukraine and Georgia, and has managed to recreate the cold war with Russia.
If Clinton wins the US presidency, as, faced with the alternative Trump, most people hope she does, we’ll no doubt have a visit to Ireland during her presidency and there’ll be fond memories of her trips with Bill and her meetings with women’s groups here. Most of us will go with the media flow and admire her speeches and her glad-handing of Irish politicians and ordinary people.
Yes, Bill Clinton and his wife were friends of Ireland at a crucial point. Yes, Clinton gave Gerry Adams a US visa in the teeth of opposition from the State Department. Yes, the civilized world would opt for her as president rather than the crazy-haired, crazy-brained megalomaniac from the Republican party. But we’d be foolish to see her as a latter-day Joan of Arc, fighting the good fight for the triumph of democracy. The uncomfortable truth is, her record is a bloody one. But come Paddy’s Day, members of the party which recoils from contact with Gerry Adams and Sinn Féin will have no problem posing for pictures beside the most powerful woman in the US.
It all smacks of a conspiracy to get Hillary into the White House anyway – Trump is a major ‘good’ friend of the Clintons in private life – if private life exists for the likes of the Clintons and Trump …….. political foes or best friends?? mmmmmmmmmmmmm
It does indeed look like a stitch up between the trump and Clinton clans. Two cheeks of the same ass. Some might argue that it’s a conspiracy theory that trump is deliberately being obnoxious just to make Hilary look good. But on the other side it really is tin foil hat stuff if folk really believe Hilary is the best thing since mother Teresa and that she is going to bring peace and harmony to the world. I really fear for people in a few Arab countries especially if this maniac gets to power because no doubt as a woman she will wanna prove she has bigger balls than any man. Jesus wept.
Btw Hilary’s fawning in the Irish peace process was entirely electioneering in my opinion. The saddest thing is I still hear certain politicians waxing lyrical on when Hilary came to town, and how nice she was and all that. They should take a look at her gloating over the murder and rape of Gadaffi. Yep she’s a classy chick alright.
‘Two cheeks of the same ass’ – but not as pretty!
Hilary scares Hell out of me. Bill was as hardnosed and ruthless a politician as ever drew breath and pursued American world domination. But he was impossible to dislike. He was
like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But Hilary doesn’t have Bill’s disarming charm.
Whoever gets into the White House will not make the world a safer place.
Whoever is Taoiseach will brown-nose them.
It’s a curious one all right.well …Hillary is a Democrat as opposed to being a Republican and so I suppose that is how we make our choices.Would you vote for someone so transparently crass who believes that all social and political problems can be solved with a club. Even though we now know of all the dirty deals being done in the background, we still have to choose the lesser of two evils. In the end , if you believed all the film plots and spy novels you’d already “know” that “the Presidency” is only show-business and window dressing and …really the CIA runs the show in the background , anyway.
What we are really left with when we vote is which personality best suits us. We look at Hilary and she comes across as intelligent, urbane , intellectual , well -read , articulate , with a sense of humour. She may have been a bit gawky- looking when she was younger but she’s grown into a well groomed elder stateswoman.Then you take The “Donald” Trump who appears to have been named after Mickey Mouse’s buddy, Mr Duck ,adjoined to another word for a fart …replete with a pancake comb-over on his pate… who presents himself as a well-dressed walking cartoon version of a misogynistic, racist, NRA -loving KKKlansman.
Could it be that he is really the Democrats’ secret weapon? Was he actually placed in position ,like some “sleeper”… Lee Harvey Oswald ,to infiltrate and throw the Republican Party into total disarray and make them unelectable?. He ‘s certainly unleashed the inner Sarah Palin once again and made himself and the Republicans a laughing stock… and has given the American public only two choices . Either vote for a loud-mouthed cartoon lunatic whom the world will basically laugh at and not take too seriously ,or give Hillary , who has some international kudos and already knows how the White-House runs, the chance to be the first woman President of America. I’ve a notion women will vote with their hearts on this one anyway, if only for the novelty of that idea..
A recent exhibition, ‘To Whom It May Concern’ from the Haaretz (Land of Israel) Newspaper, an Israeli newspaper, described by Jason Farago in the Guardian as:
“a bastion of seriousness, scepticism and oppositionality in a country with little time for nuance…”
The newspaper poses many questions about walls and for advocates of walls. Haaretz has always considered a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict key to ensuring the future of Israel and believes that a political accord is the only solution. It poses the questions eloquently in pictures and in words. A recent exhibition questioned the continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the lack of basic Human Rights for Palestinians. Farago states that the pictures achieved what writers struggle to achieve:
“…they take us from the abstract realm of politics and conflict to the reality of bodies in pain.”
The writer adds that Haaretz, during the years of conflict, continued to advocate for justice and peace in order to develop a better country for all citizens. During the Irish election, there was no effort made to acknowledge the conflict or the work in progress in the north of Ireland other than to attack Mr Adams for starting all the trouble in the first place. There was nothing inspirational in the Irish election and there will be nothing inspirational associated with surrogate Irish political representatives in America in 2016 without a political mandate as the mightier pen of Haaretz continues to chronicle the activities of the upper heavy blood soaked hand of history.
THE ANTI- MONICA
She’s soapboxic, she’s blue stoxic
She even ropes in the boondoxic
Forget each woman scorned
Since this world was borned
Hell hath no fury like Hillary Botoxic.
Jude
“members of the party which recoils from contact with Gerry Adams and Sinn Féin will have no problem posing for pictures beside the most powerful woman in the US”
As would Gerry, I guess.
True – but then GA doesn’t recoil from contact with any other political party…
I think the choice this year is the worst I have ever seen, Trump is a hideous, horrible bigot while Hilllllllary is a calculating crook. I really don`t care now, the only thing you can guarantee is that our leaders will indeed fly over to be patronised on Paddy`s Day, pathetic.
I was really rooting for Bernie Sanders to beat Hilary, especially when his letter to Thatcher was revealed, condemning her for her actions during the 1981 Hunger Strikes and the treatment of Irish political prisoners. But Bernie being a socialist was always going to make it extremely difficult for him, in a country that is deeply suspicious of Socialism and that despises Communism, especially by those who live along the “Bible Belt” in the USA and who are crucial to win over for any Presidential candidate in order to get into the White House.
Trump may act like an idiot but the man is no fool, as my ma always said “It takes a wise one to act a fool”. Trump at the minute is trying to win over Republican voters to become the Republican Presidential candidate. He knows his audience. He knows his anti-Muslim and anti-Immigration stance is going to appeal to millions of Americans and its working for him. When he does win the Republican nomination expect his language to be drastically toned down as he tries to win over non-Republicans and people who are in the “Don’t Know” camp. Trump will play on his vast experience as a business man (and his very obvious success) to prove how he will make America “Great Again”. I don’t see Trump having the same problem as Gerry Adams when it comes to the economy and knowing his figures, he knows his stuff inside-out. (Meanwhile, its suppose to be Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking over as host of Trumps “The Apprentice” show).
In saying that, Hilary and Trump really are different cheeks of the same smelly, hairy, hole. I think Hilary will be more of a warmonger than Trump, in many ways the USA’s own version of Margaret Thatcher.
Both Hilary and Trump are friends of Ireland. Hilary, for obvious reasons, during the 1990’s along with her hugely popular husband Bill (who my grandmother shook hands with when he was here, shes 83 now) helped a great deal in the NI peace process (British PM John Major refused to accept telephone calls from Bill Clinton for two days because he was so angry Gerry Adams got a Visa to the USA). Trump helped organize and attended Sinn Fein fundraiser dinners in the USA, there’s a picture of him shaking Gerry Adams hand in the 1990’s (it must’ve been during GA trip to the USA when he got his Visa) in New York City.
One way or another, I think the American people have a terrible choice in candidates, especially when it comes to foreign policy because Hilary and Trump are basically on the same page on that topic.
In total agreement PK , they’re only the manipulated puppets, the war-mongering decisions to plunge planet Earth into WW111 have already been made ( CIA, FBI,NSA etc etc )…..auld yankee-land is reeling under $20 trillion debt and no collateral ,no gold to pay back the “pay-day loans” …..Oh dear…..they think we’re oblivious to their false flags ,their creation of the Mujahideen, the Taliban, and ISIS …..they carelessly thought they could wreck and destabilize the whole Middle-East in a last imperial effort ( with their Israeli’s cohorts ) to propel themselves to world domination, ……they coaxed and cajoled their European allies to assist them but they took their eye off the ball…..they didn’t figure Russia and China and THEIR Arab friends in their calculations…..they never imagined the dropping of the petro-dollar ( their currency guarantee ), in favour of the Yuan or the ruble……everything has gone seriously belly-up for them ,but unfortunately we’re all caught up in this obnoxious cesspool that they have created !
People on this side of the Pond used to laugh at the Monster Raving Loony Party.
But, after their billionaire reincarnation, look at how their Donald candidate is doing in the primaries.
And i wouldn’t be so complacent that when it comes to the big vote, that the sensible Americans will kick Donald into touch.
Should Hillary win the election, the world will have more to fear than the Americans will.