POLITICS CORNER

[Sue]

Hopefully this link will work, the video is spot on, needs the sound on to appreciate it...

Twitter post

A well circulated video clip, says it all

[Marilyn]

I thought Biden waffled on a bit in his Victory Speech, but Hey!...all dues...he is entitled

[Stanley]

There must be a God!

[Stanley]

Later, I have just listened to Biden's acceptance speech and that of Kamala Harris, the first non white vice president and more importantly, the first woman to get in the White House. Funnily enough not a word from the Orange One.....

[Marilyn]

Yes and Biden did waffle on a bit, with a smidge of religion added. ( it is the religious side of Biden’s personality I find concerning. Always beware a zealot).
Asked my Trump worshipping son if Trump would make a defeat speech...he says NO...but I am slightly older and slightly wiser than my son, and reckon Trump won’t go out without throwing extra toys from the pram in some kind of public display.

[Sue]

Yes and Biden did waffle on a bit, with a smidge of religion added. ( it is the religious side of Biden’s personality I find concerning. Always beware a zealot).
Asked my Trump worshipping son if Trump would make a defeat speech...he says NO...but I am slightly older and slightly wiser than my son, and reckon Trump won’t go out without throwing extra toys from the pram in some kind of public display.

Many Americans are more religious than in the UK, it is what their nation was originally founded on. So a religious sounding speech to us may not be so to them . Its how that religion is used that is the issue. Is it used to control and and scare or is it used to care . We shall see.

[Marilyn]

Indeed Sue. I have no problems with people’s private religious beliefs. Having no religious beliefs at all myself, my hackles rise if I find other’s beliefs thrust forward. In my mind, I don’t care if you worship the Planet Zog. Just don’t expect me to appreciate it. And...don’t expect me to eat it for breakfast...

[plaques]

And where does that leave Boris Johnson and the UK. Impossible to conclude a fantastic trade deal with Trump in the time left so we will be at the back of Joe Bide's priorities in sorting out the turmoil that Trump has left. Our position is one of our own making. Biden is asking what's going to happen to the Irish agreement? Impossible to give an answer because Johnson has no idea what we will be doing or what effect our lack of planning will have on the EU. It will all come together on Jan 1st 2021, then we will have to decide to jump without a parachute or wait while the plane crashes and see what's left in the debris.

[Tizer]

On Americast they played a genuine clip of a US state official, a governor or similar, saying (in a deep American cowboy type of voice) `Donald Trump, put your big boy pants on and accept defeat!'

I'm not worried by Biden's religion, he's had tragedies in his life and needs it. He doesn't force it on others though, it's a personal thing.

Maz, you're right that Trump has a lot of toys he can throw out of his pram. He can still try to push through executive orders, hire and fire, gives jobs to his friends, push money in various directions etc. However, there will be resistance from the Republican Party, they don't want any more image destruction than he's already caused and they're thinking about the 2024 election. Trump can also give pardons to criminals and other people prosecuted for offences, such as the nasty Steve Bannon. The funny side though is that Trump recently said `I can give anyone I like a pardon. I can give myself a pardon!' One of his team had to shut him up and explain `If you pardon yourself Mr President it means you must have been already prosecuted for a crime!'

As for the US-UK relationship Biden and Johnson are brothers in war over fighting climate change. Biden will put the US back in the Paris climate agreement immediately he takes over. But on Brexit they are poles apart because of Ireland. Biden also sees Germany as its agent in the EU now that we've gone out the back door. The US will give priority to engaging with a large union of 27 countries rather than just the little UK.

[Stanley]

A good summary from Ken and Peter. Johnson is going to have to do some proper joined up thinking sooner or later. Ireland is a Gordian Knot and it's of his own making. As far as I can see, the only long term solution is something that should have happened centuries ago, unification with the South. Sooner or later this will happen.
As for short term, Over to you Mr Prime Minister!

[Marilyn]

Well...tonight...I wrapped my vegetable peelings in newspaper with both Trump and Biden featured. A fitting end for my vegetable scraps! They are in the green waste bin now. ( I must add that I have wrapped my vegetable scraps in some very famous faces over the years. )
( old news/fake news...it’s all the same)

[Stanley]

There are some indications from the States that we might be nearer a concession from Trump than anyone thinks. Apart from rumours of pressure inside the family senior Republicans are going on record urging Trump to concede as there is no chance of him altering anything. He is planning mass rallies to support a legal fight but on the other side of the scales there is little doubt that some people are pointing out that there is an orange jump suit and a cell waiting for him if he continues what are seen as damaging activities by the GOP.
My advice is still wait and see. We could very easily get a surprise sooner than we think.

[Sue]

Well...tonight...I wrapped my vegetable peelings in newspaper with both Trump and Biden featured. A fitting end for my vegetable scraps! They are in the green waste bin now. ( I must add that I have wrapped my vegetable scraps in some very famous faces over the years. )
( old news/fake news...it’s all the same)

[Sue]

There are some indications from the States that we might be nearer a concession from Trump than anyone thinks. Apart from rumours of pressure inside the family senior Republicans are going on record urging Trump to concede as there is no chance of him altering anything. He is planning mass rallies to support a legal fight but on the other side of the scales there is little doubt that some people are pointing out that there is an orange jump suit and a cell waiting for him if he continues what are seen as damaging activities by the GOP.
My advice is still wait and see. We could very easily get a surprise sooner than we think.

I think the Republicans are worried about the long term damage done to the party

[Stanley]

Exactly Sue. The clearest evidence is the fact that ex President Bush has congratulated Joe Biden. More than anything else, they want Trump behind them. (The troubles the GOP faces are nothing to do with electoral fraud.)

[plaques]

As long as Trump is in the frame for satirical cartoons then the GOP will not be in a position to attack Kamarla Harris as some left-wing loonie intent on destroying the country with her commie leanings. The GOP would like to leave the impression of Trump's reign as a man of action intent on making 'America Great Again' forgetting all the nasty bits and just concentrating on the Rambo back woodsman image with AK 47's keeping those foreigners out. Given the opportunity Kamala Harris could become the first female president and change the face of American politics for generations.

[Tizer]

Some predict that Trump will launch his own TV station to put out `the real news' for his supporters. There are many who may not be strong Trump supporters but will find it entertaining!

[Stanley]

Trump reminds us he is still President... See THIS BBC report of him firing Defence Secretary Mark Esper. Joe Biden is going to be busy re-setting policies and relationships when eventually he is inaugurated. I'm losing count. there's Ireland, the WHO, the Climate Change Accord, NATO I'm sure there are some I have missed out.
Meanwhile here in the UK. I am not quite sure what or PM is doing at the moment. Come to that I'm not sure what anyone is doing. Seven weeks to the end of the 'transition period' and where are we. Dominic Raab does a lot of shouting about Ireland....
(Have you noticed how the Great Tanker Hijacking seems to have faded away?)
Let's see, when do the MPs go on holiday again?

[Tizer]

Well at least there's something positive going on upstairs...
`Government's Brexit bill suffers heavy House of Lords defeat' LINK
`The government has suffered a heavy defeat in the House of Lords over its controversial Brexit legislation. The Internal Market Bill contains measures that overrule parts of the UK's Brexit agreement with the EU. Peers voted overwhelmingly to remove a section of the bill that would allow ministers to break international law - by 433 votes to 165..'.

What worries me is that 165 of our MPs think its' OK for the UK government to break international law. Time they were sent on a re-education course!

`John Major: Brexit set to be 'more brutal than anyone expected'' LINK
`Brexit may be "even more brutal than expected" due to the UK's negotiating "failures", Sir John Major has said. In a speech in London, the ex-prime minister said the UK's "inflexibility" and "threats" towards the EU would make future trade "less profitable". And he warned of the "corrosive" impact to the UK's reputation of a proposed law giving ministers the power to over-ride aspects of the Brexit agreement....Sir John, who was an outspoken critic of the UK's exit from the EU on 31 January, said this "was a slippery slope down which no democratic government should ever travel". In a pre-recorded lecture at Middle Temple, Sir John - who led the UK from 1990 to 1997 - urged Parliament to resist measures in the bill which he said threatened essential liberties and could place ministers above the law. "This action is unprecedented in all our history - and for good reason. It has damaged our reputation around the world," he said. Lawyers everywhere are incredulous that the UK - often seen as the very cradle of the rule of law - could give themselves the power to break the law"...

[Stanley]

I too applaud the Lord's decision Peter. As for John Major, funny how he's improved since he retired! He's quite right of course. It's instructive to see that interested parties don't seem to be questioning the gaps that are still evident in provision for a 'No Deal' Brexit. (Or perhaps they are not being reported.)
From what I can see Raab says there will be no border between the north and south and Gove is minimising the paper work that is going to be needed in the Irish Sea. We have no updates on the myriad of other details that will be affected. All we have is shadowy figures telling us 'not to worry' when anyone with any sense knows that a change of this magnitude, particularly no-deal if that is what it comes to, means we will all have problems.
In case anyone has forgotten, only seven weeks to go!

[plaques]

I wonder what our Mr Gove thinks about this. Why is it that I can't bring myself to trust anything he says?

.

Trump.jpg

[Stanley]

Is it a genuine pic? I can't trust anything I see Ken.

[plaques]

I would imagine if the Guardian Newspapers publish it there must be some degree of authenticity about it.
Gove & Trump

[Stanley]

Yes but the trouble is it's from January 2017 Ken. Not quite up to date!

[Stanley]

See THIS report from the Parliamentary Commission on Conduct in Parliament saying that amongst others, the results of the enquiry into allegations of bullying against Priti Patel should be made public.
Quite! I hope it actually gets done.