In response to an FT article by Gideon Rachman on 31st October 2016, entitled ‘Trump, Putin, Xi and the cult of the strongman leader’
“From Moscow to Manila, Beijing to Budapest, Ankara to Delhi, the nationalist “strongman” leader is back in fashion. If the US elects Donald Trump next week, it would be following an international trend, not leading it…Alarmingly, Mr. Trump’s political style has most in common with some of the most autocratic strongmen, such as Presidents Putin and Erdogan…
---The Republican candidate for the presidency insists that the entire American system is corrupt and promises to “drain the swamp”. This (often cynical) promise to control corrupt elites is a common trait of the new strongmen…
…Intriguingly, the rise of macho strongman leaders has coincided with a counter-fashion for powerful female politicians whose style is much more low-key and consensual. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is the most obvious example. Theresa May, Britain’s prime minister, fits this mould. The feminisation of western politics might even be driving a yearning for macho leaders among some nostalgic male voters. Hillary Clinton, if she makes it to the White House, would also strike a blow against the strongman cult. That is one more reason to pray for a Clinton victory next week” - Gideon Rachman
You are absolutely right Mr. Rachman – that’s what ‘strongmen’ do…they talk about things like ‘draining the swamp’. Unfortunately, whilst that provides you with a good line for your anti-Trump/pro-Clinton narrative, it does not change the fact that there is a swamp…and that many of us, whether we support Trump or not…believe it needs to be drained. And whilst you clearly don’t like alligators, like Donald Trump, I’ve never heard you advocate we do anything about snakes, like Hillary Clinton.
As for this:
“Hillary Clinton, if she makes it to the White House, would also strike a blow against the strongman cult. That is one more reason to pray for a Clinton victory next week”
Two things:
1. Any politician whose reaction to the news that an opponent, however egregious, has been tortured, raped and murdered is: ‘we came, we saw, he died…mad cackle’ will do nothing to challenge the myth of ‘strongman’ justice
2. I don’t think God votes in elections; she doesn’t do regime change, or turn a blind eye to corruption...and...I don’t think he works for the mainstream media…thank God.
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Postscript:
‘And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything’, Donald Trump – Male Dickhead
‘We came, we saw, he died’, Hillary Clinton – Female Dickhead
“Hillary Clinton, if she makes it to the White House, would also strike a blow against the strongman cult” – Gideon Rachman – Intellectual Yet Idiot Dickhead