“There ought to be clowns – Well, maybe next year” are the haunting words at the end of the Stephen Sondheim song that is a lament using a circus metaphor. We were reminded of the song as we were reading and hearing about the American president’s travels this week. Is this what world politics is becoming today? Are we replacing our serious need for effective politicians with clowns?
Are there right-wing clowns? Are there populist clowns? Are there bitter and hateful clowns?
Is Donald Trump of the United States one of those scary clowns? And why was he in London? Theresa May needed no farewell tour from him. It is her farewell that is coming. She is toast. She tried the impossible in getting the United Kingdom out of the European Union. She is a scraggy clown.
But the bookies have picked her successor, Boris Johnson. Can you imagine that clown in 10 Downing Street? Here is a guy who needs his own James Boswell and a decent barber. He is a scary clown and Donald Trump likes him.
Donald does not like Sadiq Khan, mayor of London. Donald is an equal-opportunity bigot. He does not like any people with Muslim names. The Brit politicians quickly dumped Donald and Melania on the royals. The royals played the game with him, gave him lots of ceremony but not much love.
Trump is off to the Channel and the beaches of Normandy for the anniversary of the D-Day Invasion. And he will get a chance to scare French President, Emmanuel Macron. Mind you the French are hoping to keep the task of entertaining the Trumps filled with the ceremonies about how America saved France in the Second World War. I guess Trump will not be meeting his French counterpart, Marine Le Pen. Now that is one scary clown.
But after all this ceremony, Trump will be off on a well-earned holiday at another of his golf resorts, this one in Ireland.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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