President Donald Trump: is he bad or simply an extreme example of vulgarity and brash showmanship?
There are some politicians I instinctively like, even if from afar. The reality is I know nothing whatsoever about them, haven’t met them and may well be completely wrong in my assessment of their qualities as a person. To the extent one can ever “know” someone, you can only do so through prolonged personal contact. And yet we have to choose our political leaders on the flimsiest “knowledge” of them – the image they portray in the media.
I like what I see of Rees-Mogg . I just can’t help it. If it turns out he really is a nice old gent from the era of Jeeves and Wooster then I will be delighted. Even though I am an atheist and have no quarrel with early term abortion.
I can not say the same for poor old Donald Trump. I may be wrong about both Mogg and Trump. I don’t know either of them from Adam. I only have their self broadcast images to go by.
I don’t condone tribal nationalism, torture, vulgarity or racism and I am not over-fond of rampant materialism. Frighteningly, Trump is said to be a populist leader and certainly his avid use of social media seems only to boost his status among those who can not or do not choose to see through the sometimes less than truthful slant he embraces.
But is he dangerous or simply vulgar? As a populist and showman he is determined to push his agenda, such as it is. The big question is what would he do if he had untrammeled power? I somehow don’t think Mogg would abuse it. I don’t feel the same degree of comfort about Trump.
There is no evidence of venality. But vulgarity…well that is an entirely different matter.
Image By Achim Hepp – https://www.flickr.com/photos/achimh/4368159776, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33043504
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