Trying to get back onto the regular blogging rota! But I have been lucky enough to be away in the US for a couple of weeks so the new resolution starts now. I say lucky enough because I know we are fortunate to have taken a lovely holiday when so many will not go anywhere, let alone abroad. And we did have an amazing time.
But it was also quite instructive to be in the States. We were last there three years ago. It was the summer before Trump won the election in the November and I eagerly questioned people then about whether he might actually get into the White House. I came home unsure as to whether Hilary Clinton could beat him. I picked up many negative comments about her during my conversations, with people who didn't want to vote for Trump feeling that they could not face her as an alternative.
This time, I have returned to the UK with the strong feeling that Trump will win again in two years time unless there is some kind of majorly disruptive event which cannot be predicted. I have written previously about the start of fascism and about the conditions which lead to it taking hold. And I believe the current situation in the US is ticking nearly all of those boxes right now.
Some things which I noticed or which happened during our admittedly brief visit:
1) The news channels are even more polarised than before. The Trump-supporting channels such as Fox are on in bars as much as any other channel and people do parrot what they have heard from these 'journalists'. I overheard numerous bar, pool, restaurant etc exchanges of views where I just wanted to interrupt and say 'prove it!' to whatever mad point they were coming out with.
2) Racism is definitely more prevalent. For example, we noticed a real decrease in the number of hijab-wearing women visible in all of the four cities we visited - two which we also visited three years ago. Which cannot be a good sign. And casual racism is almost a 'conversation starter'. No checking to see if we would be offended by an assumption. Whether it be about Hispanics or Muslims or 'foreigners'. We even encountered a Brit in LA who said he'd lived in the US/Malta (yes, weird) for twenty odd years and he could not go back to Luton (his UK hometown) because of the horrendous 'Muslim problem' - he was sure Luton is a 'no go area'. He firmly believed this despite not having set foot there and worse, was repeating these false claims to people he had just met in a bakery. Yes we were apparently fellow Brits but who the hell else is he saying this to? Didn't he get this rubbish from certain US news outlets? It was not from experience. And he expected us to join in with his pronouncements. To commiserate with him and reinforce what he was sure he knew.
3) The above two points are also tied together by another story. My husband was queuing for a pizza takeaway and the customer next to him asked how we in the UK were 'doing with our new prime minister? Tommy Robinson isn't it? Great Guy!' (Johnson had just got into Number 10 - lovely news on your holidays). There was almost an altercation as husband, having been about to say Boris is a t**t, tried to explain that Robinson is not PM and is in fact a racist t**t. The other customer just would not believe that Robinson is a nobody. Presumably because Trump and others tweet about him. Did he therefore think Katie Hopkins is Chancellor and Farage is Foreign Secretary? We didn't wait to find out. Boris Johnson is mad but clearly not mad enough to merit far Right coverage.
4) Anti-Trump acquaintances were quick to say that Trump and his ilk are racist. There was no doubt in their minds. But there was shaking of heads at what to do about it. It was almost like they'd given up already. The first Democratic candidates debate was during our visit. It did not offer much hope, I must say. Trump opposition is badly divided. Much as the anti-Brexit side is in the UK.
Now these are small examples but I believe many such small stories are being played out across the USA. And in watching the coverage of Trump's tweets, it seems clear to me that he has no interest whatsoever in keeping anything other than his core support happy. He does not respond to satire, to a Twitter 'backlash', to reasoned argument even.
As long as he keeps the right proportion of the electorate happy, he just does not care. The constant cry of 'fake news' is not him being thin-skinned and reactive to news. He is simply reinforcing his message to that core - 'you can't trust anyone but me to tell you the truth.' The symbiotic relationship with Fox News helps to push the simplistic messages. Because his line on everything is nothing if not simplistic. Things are 'very good' or 'very bad' in Trump world. 'American' or 'Un-American'. This language is not because he is inarticulate himself. He is simply aiming squarely at the lowest common denominator - his core support. He does not need to win anyone over to his cause.
The seeds are being sown very cleverly for the next presidential election.
'Fours legs bad, two legs good' ringing any bells?....
*in looking for an image to use for this piece, I came across an article which is kind of saying what I am saying. I promise I wrote my piece before I read it! But click here - it's worth a read.
