Dunge

Perhaps we should forward the idea to the Kremlin, see what they think.

I think they judged that they were walking into a trap, but the whole episode demonstrates a lack of leadership within the party. They desperately need a new star. I know there’s occasionally buzz around Pete Buttigieg, but I fear his sexuality would count against him in America.

There’s a phrase that keeps coming to mind regarding the last four years: If you’re aiming for the king, you’d better not miss. Well, the Democrats missed.

Surely the big question is whether he can appeal to moderates? Love him or loathe him, Farage has always had a reach outside of the right wing base. It’s likely a limited reach, but he has one nonetheless. Can Rupert Lowe inspire the centre right to his cause? Or would they just drip back to the Conservatives (or political apathy) without Farage’s charisma and reach?

I miss Daniel Amartey.

Markets: “What we want most of all is predictability.” Trump:

There could be great irony awaiting as environment-conscious left wingers turn their back on Tesla while climate change deniers turn toward them as a show of support to the Trump administration. In terms of numbers, I suspect the former would hurt more than the latter would help.

I wonder whether it was about making Russia feel weak domestically in accepting the ceasefire proposal Ukraine agreed today, provoking them to reject it and annoy the Americans. May not work but it doesn’t seem to have hampered developments today.

This has a feeling to me of Waltz & Rubio taking the situation off Trump’s hands for now, officials trying to work out an actual, defensible way forward. The problem may come when Trump gets his hands back on it and pivots America back toward the Russian line.

It was rumoured that they would. It was strong-arming and punishment for Zelensky’s display of petulance (in their minds) at the White House. As for your last sentence, I ponder that most mornings these days.

I understand this but it depends what Ukraine’s strategy is. There’s been talk that they’ve been discussing negotiating tactics with the UK, and that they were going to go with a plan of being more visibly on-board with America, trying to make Russia appear more the ones who are a blocker to peace. If that was to be their strategy then this is questionable timing.

FWIW, I don’t think any of this is engineered. I just think he doesn’t fully understand what he’s doing.

Poland are also making noises toward getting their own nukes. I’ve been wondering for a while whether nuclear proliferation would be a consequence of the old order breaking down, and the Trumpian White House should only serve to hasten that. Keep an eye out for the actions of other likely countries on that front too - Germany, Finland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, Australia and perhaps others. I wouldn’t blame a single one of them.

Bum

I don’t know the best way forward right now as far as Ukraine goes. With Trump as he is, I only see a choice of bad options. What I would say is that I have a degree of sympathy with your realistic view here in that I think quite a lot of the support for Ukraine right now is emotional - our allies have fought hard and well for so long for a cause that’s in our interest, and I don’t think people have the stomach to turn away from them the way Trump has.

One of the reasons I’m a monarchist is because the royals get the ceremony and the prime minister is the head administrator. I like that it forces the distinction and fits with a suspicion of anyone who desires power for adulation. I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that a charismatic maniac could come to power in the UK, particularly at a time of economic difficulty, but the closest we’ve had to that over decades is Boris Johnson and he was actually pretty centrist overall - just with misplaced loyalties and a challenging relationship with integrity. I do think we’re naturally and inherently suspicious of anyone who chases power.

Actually I think both are credible in their way, but one’s expensive and not guaranteed to work, while the other is a political concern that stops America from freeing itself of a conflict. Actually I find it ironic that Russia today is talking about how irrelevant Europe is whilst also complaining that European troops in Ukraine as part of a peace deal is unacceptable. I mean, which is it? Is Europe an irrelevance or an existential threat to Russian sovereignty? It can’t be both.

I remember reading the other year someone saying that there’s a reason that Jesus’ preeminent speech - the sermon on the mount - is not on the walls in US classrooms. The meek shall inherit the Earth? This is America, mate.

It’s all Greek to me.

I feel I can understand a lot of Americans’ positions even where I don’t agree with them - eg felt wealthier under Trump, concerned about immigration, hate woke, etc. I even understand where they believe he’s been unfairly targeted by law-enforcement and Democrats. What I cannot understand is why they could accept voting for someone who’s on record trying to rig the last election by trying to “find” votes in Georgia, is obviously lying about losing and incited an insurrectionist riot that almost got lawmakers killed.

Worth adding that I fully believe he’s a narcissist, that he has a personality disorder. I’m just not convinced he has dementia. I think that’s what people just hope on the basis he wouldn’t be able to continue as president for much longer.

Interesting article, but difficult to take that seriously given how they start by stating that Biden was not suffering from significant cognitive decline despite his own side ultimately admitting that he’d been suffering from it for years.

I wonder how much the next US election will affect ours, particularly with regard to Reform. In theory it’ll happen 6 months before ours, so you’d imagine Farage would be hoping for a Republican win to give him a psychological boost.

It is entirely possible that most of them don’t work. However, most of them don’t need to and I’ve no desire to find out.

What do you mean, “and”?