Tag Archives: american politics

Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 7 April 2025 – a reminder of what freedom really means…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 7th April 2025 - 7:30 am

And before I start, yes, this really is me this week. Last week’s article was something of a play on the Liberal Democrat Voice April Fool, although even my colleagues thought that it was credible. Perhaps I should be troubled by that…

Greetings from the Czech Republic, where I’m off interrailing. And yes, most of this week will be on trains, but I get to enjoy the scenery and allow my mind to wander a bit.

One of the great things about the past forty years is the impact of increased freedom. Freedom to travel, freedom to trade with minimal barriers. Both of these things have enhanced our lives, whether we always realise it or not. From the emergence of European supermarket chains, driving price competition, to the ability to travel randomly across Europe by train without, for the most part, passport checks or varying currencies, all of the benefits of a large free trade zone have made things better for many of us. And, given that Elon Musk apparently agrees on the benefits of free trade zones, it seems to me that support for the concept is pretty widespread.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 16 Comments
Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review: Cheney and Trump – Round One to the Cult of Trump v. the traditional Republican Party

By Tom Arms | Sun 16th May 2021 - 8:41 am

The ousting of Congresswoman Liz Cheney from the number three spot in the Republican ranks appears to be a victory for Trumpists and supporters of the stolen election “Big Lie.” Or is it? It is true that 70 percent of Republicans believe Trump won the election despite the fact that every court and election official (including Trump’s own appointees) rejected the former president’s claim. It is also true that Republican Party grandees such as Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz are four square behind the Big Lie. But, by alienating Liz Cheney, the forever Trumpers have created a formidable opponent who has dedicated herself to the maintenance of the rule of law, the US constitution and ensuring that Donald J. Trump or his ilk never occupies the White House again. And she is one tough lady with impeccable traditional party credentials.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Tom Arms

Observations of an Ex Pat – Why is America Great?

By Tom Arms | Sat 6th March 2021 - 7:03 am

Trump supporters continue to sport MAGA hats and shout “Make America Great Again” at rallies. It is a catchy slogan which has captured the conservative American imagination. It is here to stay whether Donald Trump is in or out of the White House.

But what does it mean? What makes America great and, perhaps more importantly, what makes it un-great?

The answer is complicated by the difficulty of wedding individual perspectives to universal truths. But I think it is important to search for it, so I have asked the opinion of a number of people with whom I have worked with over the years.

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Posted in Op-eds | 8 Comments
Tom Arms

Tom Arms on Republican Party divisions

By Tom Arms | Sun 21st February 2021 - 11:29 am

The Republican Party is splitting. On one side you have the populists of ex-president Donald Trump and on the other you have the Grand Old Party (GOP) of Senator Mitch McConnell. Trump, of course, lost the election which he claims he won by a landslide. However, he has kept his base intact by continuing to feed them a diet of lies and conspiracy theories.

Mitch McConnell is the leader of the Senate Republicans who has proved himself a master of hunting with the hounds and running with the hare by voting to acquit Trump while at the same time branding him …

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Posted in Op-eds | 1 Comment
Paul Reynolds

Trump; explaining the inexplicable

By Paul Reynolds | Mon 16th July 2018 - 4:02 pm

President Trump’s erratic and contradictory ‘negotiation’ behaviour over NATO, EU and the UK sends British officials off in a frenzy of textual analysis.

It might be more productive for UK policymaking however, to assess the underlying motives of, and domestic pressures on, Trump.

Trump’s core aim is to address US government debt, and close off a series of related economic vulnerabilities; potentially catastrophic for general US global negotiating strength.

Why?

US aggregate debt is likely to exceed 106% of GDP in 2018 according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). A level not seen since WW2. This …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 35 Comments
David Warren

What hope for liberalism in the US presidential election?

By David Warren | Wed 6th January 2016 - 8:55 am

American history and politics are a passion of mine, so I always look forward to their primary season.

A year when the incumbent President is not seeking reelection is always especially interesting because it means both big parties engage fully in the lengthy process of selecting a candidate. 2016 is such a year.

American politics is unique and finding a viable candidate from what we would call the centre left is difficult. The Republicans have been an almost exclusively right wing conservative party for decades. Even those in the establishment who have resisted the insurgency of the so called tea party can be pretty scary.

Democrats too have shifted rightwards. Bill Clinton founded the ‘New Democrats’ before Blair’s New Labour and, inspite of all the talk of change, the Obama Presidency has turned out to be pretty much business as usual in most areas.On human rights and civil liberties in particular the administration varies little from its predecessors. The prison at Guantanamo Bay remains open and the draconian Patriot Act firmly in place.

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
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