Politics is something I’ve never written about here. Not that I am not interested, it is just that I really do feel it is such a personal choice and decision.
My earliest ‘political’ memory is when I was just over 16 years of age being taken to a political meeting by my Mum. If I recall correctly I was home from school because of toothache. The meeting was a morning coffee type of thing, with lots of housewives and Mums there… and 16 year old me! The guest speaker was the late, Garret FitzGerald. He was a gentleman and a politician. I honestly have no recollection (and I wasn’t probably interested much) as to what he spoke about.
However, I do remember him singling me out after his talk, and sitting chatting to me about politics. I guess I stuck out in the crowd! He’s advice was so sound…. I had no idea who/what/if I would ever vote when I got to 18. He said ‘forget about party politics, and just vote for someone who has the same believes as you.’
the late Garret FitzGerald – both a gentleman and a politician – photo courtesy of RTE Stills Library
And that’s the way I have voted since.
I can’t claim to fully understand the voting system in the USA. Like everyone else outside of USA, I am watching wide-eyed as events unfold.
I naively posted something about the current goings on in USA on Facebook the other evening. The replies and comments were interesting. They came from both American and European followers. So now I am taking this opportunity to air my thoughts. It would be way too long a post on Facebook!
- I get it that Donald Trump won the election.
- I feel sorry for the American voters that they were reduced to a choice of one of two people that polarised them to such an extent.
- I don’t get that so many ‘sane’ people, and in particular, women, voted for such a despicable and uncouth person.
- I don’t get that he can enact laws without Congress’ approval. This screams dictatorship to me.
- I don’t get that he has surrounded himself with such offensive people. Mr. Bannon’s stated goal is to infiltrate the Republican party, destroy it and cause national chaos.
- I don’t get that people can be stopped at the airport from entering the USA because of their country of birth/religion. What next? You can’t come here cos you’ve got green eyes/drive a blue car?
- I don’t get the deafening silence from Capitol Hill. Where are the senators – both Republican and Democratic? Are they not allowed to speak out? Is their role not to legislate?
Looking on from over here…. and, yes, I trust the media reporting on this side of the Atlantic…. all I can think is God help America.
A Year In Redwood 
Thank you, Margaret, for your very cogent, and kind, thoughts
Thank you Cynthia… I did dither for quite a while before pressing ‘publish’!
Thank you Margret we do need Gods help here in America. Just to let you know, there are Democrats and a few Republicans speaking out against this idiot we now have for a President. I am also with you that I don’t know how any women voted for this guy with all that he has said about them and how he has admitted how he treats them. He is despicable and very uncouth, but sticking up for the ones who voted for him, all the news media here in this country is owned by 5 major corporations and they are owned by the very wealthy and vote Republican. They lie and mislead the public on a daily basis.
I also want to let you know that 3 million more voted for Hillary than Donald so most of us were not fooled into voting for this idiot and we are embarrassed that he is our President. Here its not who gets the most votes but who wins each state that has so many electoral votes
I am also going to tell you what you are not hearing in the news media and what most of us on the left know. That is the Republicans can steal elections, especially were they have Republican Governors. After George Bush Jr won the election in 2000 he authorized to have our voting done by touch screen voting machines. These voting machines can be easily hacked and changed. Most of us believe the Russians did this very thing in three key states Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania that swung the election in Trumps favor. These states have no paper ballots to back up the voting machines. They can only do it if the voting is close so not to arouse suspicion. This is how the Republicans can all stay in office and give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and cut programs like healthcare and Social security. I am afraid nothing will change unless the people rise up and take back their government and that is what we are starting to see now.
Thank you Gordon. We are lucky here in Ireland, in that as much as we give out, I do believe our media are good (mostly) and mostly provide a balanced picture of what is happening.
Our politicians like everywhere else are good and bad… but as they say you get what you vote for! Such things as are happening now, make you appreciate the ‘good guys’… we have a very dignified President in Michael D. Higgins.
Trump can’t enact laws without the permission of Congress, but there is a provision for an equivalent of what we call a Ministerial Order here in Ireland (which brought us, among other things, the smoking ban). Sometimes they can have very wide effects, sometimes very narrow ones. Our ministerial orders are subject to judicial review and Trumps are also subject to legal challenge. Here we have lots of ways to get a minority Taoiseach, which is what we have at the moment, because of the way the government is indirectly elected. The problem in the US is that there is a dissonance between the way in which the electoral system was intended to work and the way it has worked in several recent elections. The electoral college was a brilliant way of solving the problems created by a scattered population in a country who’s best method of transport was the horse. It gave a reasonable way of getting a good chance at a majority President with poor communications , but it doesn’t work to give the result it is supposed to in the modern age. I wonder if Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court would have to say if anyone takes a challenge to him, since he is what is known as an originalist – someone who thinks the intentions of those who wrote the Constitution should be prioritised over its words. He hasn’t had to deal with a second amendment challenge either – this is a very grey area for originalists.
Gordon, we all understand what went wrong with voting machines. That is exactly why, after one experiment in three constituencies, Ireland decided, very expensively, to go back to paper ballots, and was followed by the Netherlands, from whom we had bought the electronic machines.
Of late years engagement in politics in the USA has been falling steadily. Maybe the election of Trump will be the event that makes people take control of their political systems again. And yes, I’ve been watching many politicians of all shades begin to make their voices heard in the US.
Thank you for your input Kathryn… you have a far broader knowledge than I. Let’s hope this election will wake people up… he cannot just summarily dismiss people who disagree with him???
He can sack people who disagree if they are political appointees in the first place – remember the US has a lot more of those than we do. Including the whole judiciary. Thank goodness we are working ever harder on separating the law and the political arm
I have found my Twitter feed the most revealing source of information (and misinformation) about what’s happening in the US. Apparently voicemails of senators and congressmen are full, phone lines to their offices are overwhelmed and people are resorting to faxes and Twitter to make their views known. I think it has woken many people up and they now feel they must be active politically and engage with their representatives. This, above all things, give me hope… it feels faint, but it’s there nevertheless.
I agree with you with regard to hope… if nothing else this craziness has roused folks to act!