I was cruising through YouTube trying to find a particular video when I came across this one. The title intrigued me so I listened in. It is a discussion about Trump which took place at Emmanuel Centre, London UK before a live audience who were given the opportunity to ask questions near the end. The panelists are American with the exception of the moderator. I enjoyed it . . . hearing their thoughts, all from different perspectives, so I thought you might too. Forgive me if it does not interest you. I am a bit of a political junkie, not that I would ever go into politics myself. It is about 1 hour 20 minutes in length.
YouTube — America has never seen anything like this. Time and again, Donald Trump has attacked the very fabric of US democracy. He has called the press ‘the enemy of the American people’. He says that claims that Russia interfered in the US election are a hoax. And that the FBI – currently investigating his campaign – should be personally loyal to the president. And it’s not just political institutions Trump is damaging, his opponents say: in America he has stoked racial tension, coddled Wall Street and given succour to the gun lobby. On the world stage, he’s alienated key allies, slapped $50 billion in tariffs on China that may spark off a trade war, and appointed the hawkish John Bolton, who has advocated regime change in Iran and North Korea, as national security adviser. If Trump is a new kind of threat, the big question is whether the damage he is doing to America will be permanent. Will the country that survived two world wars, the Cold War and the attacks of 9/11 really be put off its stride by a reality show host who could be gone in less than three years’ time? Or is Trump dismantling the robust system that has kept America united and irreparably damaging its standing as the most powerful nation on earth? But perhaps this is all liberal hand-wringing. Could Trump, in fact, be that rarest of things – a politician who delivers on his promises – and prove to be the reformer the American electorate voted for? To examine the political health and standing of the United States at this crucial moment, Intelligence Squared brought together Ronan Farrow, former US government adviser and journalist, who has just been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for breaking the Harvey Weinstein scandal; Mark Lilla, the American political scientist who hit the headlines last year with an article arguing that it is the left’s preoccupation with identity politics that opened the door to Trump’s victory; Lionel Shriver, award-winning novelist and commentator; and Brian Klaas, an expert on authoritarianism who claims that with every autocratic tweet Trump is edging America away from its democratic norms.
10 Responses to “The Disunited States: Is the Trump presidency causing irreparable damage to America?”
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Ronan Farrow has been on Bill Maher sometime in the last year. Mark Lilla apparently doesn’t know that the only “identity politics” which is divisive is WHITE identity politics. I don’t really know the others.
I also don’t know Lucian K. Truscott IV, and looking him up doesn’t help much – a 50 year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter covers a lot. But he presents a modest proposition that, if the founders had intended for a President never to be indicted, they would not have placed in the Constitution a crime that only a President can commit. This crime doesn’t have a short, simple name, but it can be described as “failing to take care that the laws of the United States be faithfully executed, as directed in Article II Section 2 of the Constitution.” It’s not a unicorn. Court precedents regarding it go all the way back to “Marbury v. Madison.” But he explains it much better than I can.
Someone suggested that the American people should bring a class-action lawsuit against the Kochs, Mercers and Murdoch for the damage they’ve done to our nation.
I like it.
Sounds like a good idea! They sure have screwed the country!
Thanks, for sharing, excellent piece. Will listen to video later.
Thanks, Lynn.
“Could Trump, in fact, be that rarest of things – a politician who delivers on his promises – and prove to be the reformer the American electorate voted for?” No, plain and simple. Reformer? Only if one takes that word in its most literal sense: re-forming; moulding into something different. He had no interest in “reforming” in the usual sense, as in fixing, as MLK might have used the term. He was, and remains, interested in creating a country that would bring joy to the Koch brothers, a country divided between the super-haves, and the rest of us, living in Favelas. He does not really joke when he thinks aloud about being president for life. CONSIDER, his promises were to the bigots, that’s why he could use the term “The great state of Mississippi,” after it elected Ms. Front Row to the senate!!
Thanks for sharing, Lynn. I’ve bookmarked it for watching later. Now if I only had the time…
He is definitely disuniting you! ?
The damage Trump is causing is not irreparable, but it will take years to repair if the Democrats can regain and keep majority, otherwise, Republicans will continue to destroy America. Our reputation with the rest of the world will come back quicly once we get rid of Trump and change some of his decisions on world issues.
There may be some things that are irreparable like the appointment of partisan conservative SCOTUS justices like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh who are relatively young and have lifetime appointments. But I think you are correct in saying “it will take years to repair if the Democrats can regain and keep majority, otherwise, Republicans will continue to destroy America.”
Thanks all! I know the vid is long, but I thought it was worthwhile.