Decision 2024

 

The US election is just a few days away. It is being billed as one of the most important in US history (although 1860 could be the more the most important being in essence a vote for civil war). It is my firm opinion that Donald Trump will be the next President of the US.  Oh, he may not win the popular vote. He may not even win the Electoral College (that ridiculous hang over from the days when the states tried to determine who they would accept as president). He will win it through the courts, or failing that, through insurrection.

It would not be out of character for he and his followers to follow that path. Quite a number of his followers are members of the NRA and of militias. He has already claimed that he will use the US military against US citizens. But they will not wait until January 6^th to begin this operation. It will begin as soon as Kamala Harris has been declared the winner by the television networks a few hours or days after the voting ends.

Could I be wrong.  I hope so. Maybe Mr. Trump will win the presidency honestly and fairly.  It is a very close race the polls keep telling us. In that case, he will declare at the voting system is without fault. Will he then say that the 2020 election was fair and honest?  No likely.

If he does win the election, will that be the end of it? Again, not likely. He will try to use all of his executive powers to bend the country to his will. He will be successful in this if his party captures the two houses of congress. If they do not, it will undoubtedly lead to grid lock and government by presidential decree. 

Maybe Donald Trump is the poster boy for the idea that business executives should never be national leaders.  Business demands quick answers, profit, market share, the primacy of the shareholders, and the ability to make rule changes by decree (or memo if you prefer). I’m sure you have heard the plea that government should be run more like a business.  But government is not a business. It operates under vastly different dynamics than business.  Perhaps the best description of government is that it is the art of the possible. In a democracy, it needs consensus, the will of the people and compromise. A successful leader leads, not demands. He is in it for the good of the country in all its diversity, not just ‘shareholders’.  A political leader must achieve the possible. Shareholders don’t change governments, citizens do. It is failure to understand these things that makes Mr. Trump a bad choice to run a country.

Bombast Politics

 

Did you ever wonder why Donald Trump says something outrageous almost every day? Whether it’s at one of his rallies or at a news conference or interview, he will have something to say that stretches credulity or decorum. As long as there is a reporter, or better still, a news camera around, there he’ll be spouting his lies or exaggerations.

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
  - George Orwell

He does it because it ensures that he will be in the news the next day, preferably as the lead story. “At his rally last night, Donald Trump said . . .” He does it to drown out his opponent. He does it on purpose.

I call it bombast politics.  Being as bombastic, outrageous or loud as you can so you, and nobody else, gets heard. It is a style that Mr. Trump has mastered.  As someone once said, “Bad publicity is better than no publicity at all.”

“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.”
  - Michel de Montaigne

Unfortunately, we are seeing this same phenomenon of bombast politics being played out in Canada. In this case by Pierre Poilievre. The venues may be different, but the effect is the same.  In his case, it’s in the House of Commons, where he dominates Question Period, or in the inevitable news conference.  Remember when he would not attend any news conferences? Slam you opponent, call the government side any number of names, exaggerate the condition of the country. You know that there are reporters around and that CSPAN is always videoing your encounters. Better yet, get yourself silenced for a day, or even ejected from the chamber.  You know right away that you will the headline in the news cycle. Bombast politics.

Bombast politics does nothing to advance the business of the government. It presents no substantive ideas. It does not include any ideas on how to make things better. Does it not bother you that neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Poilievre have given us anything but vague promises about how they would do something different to address their perceived problems?  Bombast works; plans can come back to haunt you.

“It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.”

  - Malcolm Forbes

Let’s silence bombast politics by not supporting it nor giving it anything but disdain.