I'm always up before Marilyn in the morning and I use that time when I am alone in front of the TV to watch Youtube. Lately I've found myself drawn to clips which highlight the idiocy of Donald Trump and I wonder at the irony of the country which holds itself up as the epitome of freedom and democracy now being in the thrall of a de facto king.
There's no way, in any other democracy, that the leader of the government could make such demagogic pronouncements as Mr Trump makes on a daily basis. Can you imagine the UK Prime Minister deciding to clad the Tower of London with aluminium sheeting, or Mr Albanese building a ballroom on to The Lodge, without getting the populace onside first?
When the US people overthrew the rule of the British King, it was because they wanted a say in who ruled them. The wanted their leaders to be elected by the people. Wonderful! A very noble and forward-looking undertaking. Unfortunately, they then gave to that elected person many of the rights and privileges which are totally inappropriate in today's society. The President became a de facto King and not a modern king, but more a king from the Middle Ages. The leader of the country should never appoint judges, for example. That's asking for trouble, as we can see every day in the USA. Judges should be appointed on their merit and not on which party they support. In Australia, I might guess that a particular judge would be a Liberal voter, but I wouldn't expect it to influence his judgement. And, kif it did, his peers would soon deal with it.
I don't know how the US is going to get out of this mess. Simply changing sides is not enough. They almost need to draw a line under the Great Experiment and start again.
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