Biden’s predicament must be considered in the context of the brutal political landscape in the Western world.
Only if somebody like J.D. Vance wins the next presidential race will the radical right be able to propel the country in a decisively new direction.
Trump’s victory has implications for wider world, including Bangladesh
Republicans took over the Senate, retaking the chamber for the first time in four years. The House is also poised to be Republican.
Trump’s true calling might well have been to be a carnival barker (unkind critics may say a used-car salesman)
His role in starting an insurrection complicates the situation.
The uncanny similarity between Brazil’s failed insurrection and the attack on the US Capitol highlights the many parallels between Bolsonaro and Trump.
For political figures like Trump and Putin, courage is redefined as a willingness to break the state’s laws if the state’s own interests – or their own – demand it. The implication is that civilisation endures only if there are brave patriots who will do the dirty work. This is a decidedly right-wing form of “heroism.” It is easy to act nobly on behalf of one’s country – short of sacrificing one’s life for it – but only the strong of heart can bring themselves to commit crimes for it.
It will take the kind of courage shown by former slaves in the face of Jim Crow and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan after the Civil War.
Biden’s predicament must be considered in the context of the brutal political landscape in the Western world.
Only if somebody like J.D. Vance wins the next presidential race will the radical right be able to propel the country in a decisively new direction.
Trump’s victory has implications for wider world, including Bangladesh
Republicans took over the Senate, retaking the chamber for the first time in four years. The House is also poised to be Republican.
Trump’s true calling might well have been to be a carnival barker (unkind critics may say a used-car salesman)
His role in starting an insurrection complicates the situation.
The uncanny similarity between Brazil’s failed insurrection and the attack on the US Capitol highlights the many parallels between Bolsonaro and Trump.
For political figures like Trump and Putin, courage is redefined as a willingness to break the state’s laws if the state’s own interests – or their own – demand it. The implication is that civilisation endures only if there are brave patriots who will do the dirty work. This is a decidedly right-wing form of “heroism.” It is easy to act nobly on behalf of one’s country – short of sacrificing one’s life for it – but only the strong of heart can bring themselves to commit crimes for it.
It will take the kind of courage shown by former slaves in the face of Jim Crow and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan after the Civil War.
Every time Donald J Trump berates Canada, the friendliest neighbour any country could have, those Gerry Rafferty/Joe Egan lyrics from a Stealer's Wheel song rings through my mind.
