Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day

Thank goodness. In just a few hours the world will not have to endure the obscenity called Trump and something resembling normality will soon return. Regular readers will be aware that the on-going US morality tale has been an important personal escape and refuge from domestic politics and pandemic concerns. It continues to be a source of hope amongst so much terrible news, but most importantly reaffirmation that good must and will triumph over evil.

So much has been staggering it's genuinely hard to know where to start, but news regarding the quantum of lies, mistruths, alternative facts, bull shit and bat crazy b*llocks is simply hard to comprehend. In four years the Washington Post reckons Trump has been responsible for over 30,000 lies, trumped of course by the Big Lie that the election was a fraud and he 'won big'. Interestingly it's been shown that since he was booted off Twitter internet references to election fraud have reduced by 73%.

Of course the dark secret behind all the rhetoric is that he did of course win if you discount the black vote and therein lies the tragic truth of the matter. Trump and the bulk of the Republican Party are racist to the core and it's something the US has been pretending isn't so for years. In the recent CNN documentary about Vice President Kamala Harris she confirmed that the lid has finally been lifted on a very dark truth about racism that's simply got to be addressed and it's not going to be easy or pretty.

At the weekend there was a CNN interview with Tim Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University and author of 'On Tyranny - Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century' and he spelt out a pretty simple message, 'post truth is pre fascism'. There was a real danger in discarding truth and only accepting opinion. Under Trump sources of truth had gone away and people had returned to beliefs. In such circumstances it was not enough for the passive position of relying on institutions to hold, it was necessary for everyone to affirm what democracy looks like and become actively engaged in its support. 

I found this interview spoke directly to me as a reminder of the importance in every citizen playing their part through personal, civic and professional actions - very relevant I thought during recent discussion regarding probation's core beliefs, ethics and values. 

The good news is that the GOP are going to be convulsed by division which should buy time for the Democrats to repair much of the Trump damage and push forward with reforms. They have their own divisions of course, but Biden is a seasoned and skilled operator most importantly trusted by many even of opposing political viewpoints. If anyone can build consensus it seems he can and having control of Congress, albeit by the narrowness of margins, should mean the obstructiveness by the likes of Mitch McConnell is history. 

Readers will be aware of the particular disdain I have for the former Majority Leader, more than borne out in my view by him sitting on his hands regarding Trump's impeachment. Once I eventually got over my anger and disbelief that Republicans had difficulty in just 'doing the right thing', I've taken some delight regarding their position being between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Dump trump and they would surely be 'primaried'- do the right thing and they'd probably lose any election such is the current negative feeling towards the GOP thanks to Trump.

It will be fascinating to watch the inevitable internal battle play out over the coming months and how they can reinvent themselves post-Trump. It all depends on a political calculation over impeachment - daddy or chips? Doing the right thing is not an option it would seem, which brings me neatly to the subject of the media in all this. CNN have recently reported a surge in viewing figures and remain extremely profitable in a field not well known for combining integrity with money-making, as Rupert Murdoch and Fox News have discovered. Hitching their waggon to Trump has landed them in a very tough spot with loyal Trumpers deserting for even more right-wing sites! The loathsome Murdoch has been forced to attempt a bit of rebranding and earnt a stern rebuke from at least one of his children for the media's role in the Big Lie.  

Still on the subject of the media, it was noteworthy that Andrew Marr interviewed CNN's chief political analyst Gloria Borger on Sunday and cheekily posed the question of the US news media being 'broken'. In response she outlined the initial difficulty of having to call out the lies of a President, but that essentially it was very necessary in terms of integrity. Was it a set-up message to BBC management and the inherent problem posed by a 'balanced' approach in dealing with lying bastards? It was this ongoing feeble BBC insistence on 'equivalence' that drove me off into the arms of CNN essentially in order to maintain sanity. Is Marr unhappy too?

As an aside, I was intrigued to read at the weekend that much of CNN's success has been due to a former BBC veteran who recently passed away. Chris Cramer had been Head of Newsgathering and was recruited in 1996 to run and essentially design CNN International and I suspect much of his ethos of integrity lives on. Continuing the theme, Piers Morgan at GMB continues to wind up government ministers. I notice the video clip of him trying unsuccessfully to get Matt Hancock to say he regrets voting against the extension of free school meals during half term is the most viewed ever at over 30 million!  

Postscript  

Piers took on the Northern Ireland Minister this morning for having no explanation for the UK's largest Covid death rate of any nation. The minister was roundly lambasted for wanting to take credit for favourable world comparisons in relation to vaccinations, but dismissed those for deaths as not being valid. Piers Morgan continues to not let government ministers get away with obfuscation and dissembling each weekday morning Monday to Wednesday and the share of viewing audience is steadily climbing as a direct result.