Friday 13 November 2015

Viewing the USA from afar

So in the last post I was talking about the circus that is the Republican slate of candidates for the Presidency. Not sure how many we are now down to but it's over a dozen and there's no room for all of them on the same debate stage.

One thing many Americans don't know about (or don't care about in some cases) is how this all looks to the rest of the world. Think about it -

We have a builder-cum-TV personality as a potential President, whose current wife is a former model and for some reason, she carried a Union Jack clutch bag (made in Italy) at the last debate, despite the fact that Trump's slogan is "Make America Great Again". She would be the first First Lady who has ever (to our knowledge) posed nude (in the British GQ magazine). How classy. Apparently they are very happy together....
Can't you just see it?

Then we have an admittedly once brilliant neuro-surgeon who now appears to be living in his own little world, where discussions on climate change are deemed "irrelevant" and where the Pyramids were built by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain. Egypt has pointed out that he's not an archaeologist, perhaps forgetting that a total lack of knowledge and experience is no hindrance to Carson. He also admits to being "something of a novice" on foreign policy, which is always comforting, given the current state of affairs) and suggested that if the Jews had all had their own guns, the likelihood of the Holocaust would have "greatly diminished". He is generally what it known in this part of the world as bat-shit crazy.
 Carson the Clueless

And of course who can forget the babies - Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both vying to oust the old guys.

Cruz was actually born in Canada, so all that hoo-haw about Obama having been born somewhere other than our 50th state (despite birth certificate evidence and other inconvenient items) is presumably no longer an issue. Despite having a lot of experience and being a Constitutional lawyer, Cruz relies heavily on hyperbole, exclaiming things like Obama being "openly desirous to destroy the Constitution and this Republic". (Obama is a Constitutional  lawyer too so he probably knows a thing or two.) Oh and he supports the death penalty. And he looks like this when he makes speeches. 

Last of the top four (but there are lots more in the circus parade) is Marco Rubio - While he may look like a normal person, he is in fact the most right-wing of the lot of them and is the the darling of the Tea Party. He too, denies human activity has anything to do with climate change (despite not being a scientist) Like his pals above, he is apt to throw out "facts" without actually fact-checking them. The other night, while trying to propose a move toward more vocational training, he stated that America needs welders, not philosophers (which may be true) but that welders make more money. They simply do not. 
Pants on fire

So there you go. Hours and hours of entertainment in the form of the Republican Candidate race. Aren't you  jealous?

11 comments:

  1. It kind of looks ridiculous from inside the border too. I mean. A wall?

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  2. I'm quite glad they're all crazy really - means less chance of winning (at least I hope so)

    Can you do a blog about Bernie Sanders? Would love to know more about all of that. He sounds a little like Jeremy Corbyn.

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  3. I've just returned to the US after a six week trip 'home' to the UK, so at the moment I'm only too aware of how the Republican presidential candidates look to other countries. Bat shit crazy is one way of putting it. I wish I could find the whole thing amusing, laugh it offf, and not worry about the future of the USA. But I can't.
    I'd like to put a link to your blog article on my Facebook page. Is that possible? Permissible?

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  4. I'd say I'd be very annoyed, not amused. Trump was bad enough. Not that any country does not have their fair share.

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  5. I have my hands full over here (Britain) trying to convince people that not all Americans are like that. What rocks did these people crawl out from under? I mean, politicians in any country can be a bit strange, but ... wow.

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  6. I'm with Michael - every time something ridiculous happens in the US ("The solution to all the mass shootings is more guns") I feel like walking around wearing a t-shirt that says, "Don't blame me. It's not my idea." I think the most troubling thing for me is knowing that there are (apparently) millions of people in the US who sincerely believe that having little to no experience in public office is actually a legitimate qualification for running one of the largest and most powerful countries in the developed world. If nothing else, it should be a ringing endorsement for education reform.

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  7. And apparently if Europeans carried guns, terrorists would be able to be stopped in their tracks. Did you see him talking about that?

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  8. I thought his timing was terrible. And the content of his argument terrible (Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the US, and the most problems, for example). Oh, and shutting mosques in Paris would be the answer.

    It worried me that people were cheering.

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  9. Thank goodness I don't live in the USA, that's all I can say! What a bunch of clowns.

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  10. I do find it amusing that the so-called 'most powerful' country in the world can only find bat-shit crazy presidential candidates, but less amusing that one of them may one day have their finger on the button. I mean, why can't America follow our lead in the UK and have politicians who are men/women of the people. Oh, hang on...

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