After a surprisingly good sleep, I’ve woken up. I’ve done a quick review of the latest on CNN and the web.

Then I switched over to an excellent BBC documentary called “Scotland – The New Wild”. It is remarkable. It has some excellent footage of basking sharks.

In the past, I have looked to USA for vicarious inspiration. While UK domestic politics has been rather depressing, USA has provided a refreshing relief – some
inkling of a better approach for civic life.

While I respect the USA’s constitution and its people, I really can’t find any further great inspiration in its politics. I look forward to hearing brave voices fighting against the worse excesses of Trump.

But there really isn’t a sofa big enough to protect me from this disconcerting turn in American politics. I respect American voters and their focus on the economy. But I fear that they have unleashed a most unpleasant beast.

Ho hum.

For the next few years, at least, we cannot look to the USA, which is encapsulated in the words on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!“

We shall have to find our inspiration elsewhere and do our best to encourage like-minded people in America.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.