Trump’s brand of politics needed division to thrive

Outgoing US President Donald Trump speaks to the American people through the White House Twitter account after his second impeachment passed the House. Picture: Twitter

Donald Trump was never up to the task. He was a wealthy bogan with no knowledge of economics outside the construction industry. He was not well read, knew only how to shoot from the hip, and had no sense of occasion. He let America down.

His ridiculous flirtation with Kim Jong-un allowed this puffed-up murderous buffoon to stride the world stage. No concessions at all came from the North Korean dictator in return for this disgraceful promotion. And Trump did not have a clue on how to deal with the meteoric economic and military rise of China.

Every US president needs the co-operation of congress and works hard to establish the relationship and friendships to make things work. Trump had little time for those niceties. Whereas most presidents work in unifying the country, Trump was hellbent on creating the division his brand of politics needs to survive. He ­encouraged the rioters, before asking them to back off.

America was not the only nation to experiment with a non-politician leading the country. France elected Emmanuel Macron in a revolt against the previous two-party domination. Nothing really changed and the streets of Paris are still filled with angry demonstrators. The ludicrous situation where huge sums of money are hurled at inefficient farmers on small acreages continued on without interruption. If genuine reform were ever contemplated no one bothered to put those good intentions into action. Macron found the establishment in France too big to shift.

It will be difficult to make a judgment call on Boris Johnson because COVID-19 has so thoroughly wrecked the British economy. For the UK in particular, a vaccine couldn’t have come soon enough. Infection rates have been high, and the constant disruption to every aspect of life in Britain has been significant. There is precious little governments can do to alleviate the problem. The basic choice they have to make is whether to opt for containment or eradication. My suspicion is that if they opt for the latter, we are facing a long battle — but it is one battle that needs to be fought and won.

You have to admire frontline health workers such as ambos, nurses and doctors. They put their own health in jeopardy to keep the rest of us in good shape. These are noble professions and deserve better pay and conditions. It should be noted that just because you graduate in medicine and hang up your shingle in the suburbs somewhere, you are not guaranteed to make lots of money. We are turning out so many medical graduates that the market is becoming crowded.

It would seem that travel by air is resuming. While I would hesitate to offend Alan Joyce and those who run the airline industry, I will not be jumping on a plane just yet. I can’t imagine just what it would cost to keep a grounded airline ready to fly. ­Pilots must be ready and maintenance must be ongoing. And if all the grounded staff are laid off for too long they may opt to take up other jobs and so leave the airline shorthanded when the time comes to resume normal operations.

While writing this column, the news that Donald Trump has been impeached has just reached me. This should be startling news but the Trump story was never going to have a happy ending. His ineptitude was complete and it was obvious that at times he was completely overwhelmed by the job. Nowhere was this more obvious than in his handling of foreign affairs. With little or no knowledge of European history, he never had any idea about where his allies were coming from. He was the least sophisticated president in my lifetime. Even the ­hapless Jimmy Carter had more going for him.

The conundrum for me ever since I first laid eyes on Trump was how could he appear so ignorant and unsophisticated when he could put together enough money to be called a billionaire. He is no genius, but his father’s business acumen must have in some way and to some degree been passed on. Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, deserves a medal for the number of times he has stepped in to rescue Trump from himself. Trump’s foot was only occasionally out of his mouth.

One thing is for sure: America will not mourn the end of his presidency. He brought no comfort to the American people and he certainly failed to make them relaxed. John Howard knew what he was talking about when he used the phrase “relaxed and comfortable”. People think all is well when they are not hearing about politics and politicians.

Scott Morrison has it down pat. He oozes “relaxed and comfortable” from every pore. If you don’t do anything, you threaten no one, and that is the Liberals’ success since Howard did the really big reform with the introduction of a consumption tax.

For Labor to have more time in government, the party will have to edge away from the reformist tag and move more to good economic management. Easier said than done, perhaps.