Whilst I couldn’t say that I would ever have voted Trump in a million years, I also wouldn’t have voted Hilary in a million years either. The last few weeks have seen protests across the USA and around much of the world and I really understand why however….
As much as I don’t like Trump, I just don’t get why people are so outraged about him and yet not against many other leaders who aren’t just horrible people but have done truly horrible things too.
President Putin of Russia, a homophobe, racist, murdering dictator, war-monger, committer of war crimes in Ukraine, massacres and the deaths of 10’s/100,000’s in Chechnya.
President Erdogan of Turkey, dictator, suppressor of hard-won 20th-century rights determined to take his country back to the 19th century. Racist and murderous towards Kurds and minorities and eliminating political opponents legally speaking if not physically speaking as in Russia.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia, waging war in Yemen, from a family that has exported Wahhabi extremism around the world and supported terror in multiple countries. An actual oppressor of women, from a regime that has executed thousands. There is no tourist visa to Saudi Arabia nor have they known for their open borders to refugees. They aren’t racist or anti-Islam, they are just very bad but extremely rich people who oversee a religious cult and won’t do anything that jeopardises that, even if it means helping their neighbours.
President Xi of China, a country that wants to lead the world but isn’t making any progress on taking on responsibilities of an important role. Never mind Tibet and threatening their neighbouring countries. Extreme censorship, political prisoners, exiles ane executions. The crimes of the Chinese state could make a great blog in themselves but of course, no-one in China would ever see it. The state is so terrified of dissent that they even hired in pro-Xi supporters last year in London when the locals and Chinese dissenters protested on the street. The persecution of minority groups is awful and when I last checked, there were 46 crimes punishable by death in China. That is 46 more than the 28 countries of the European Union combined. I’m not even sure I can think of 46 crimes, perhaps that could be justified as having a capital punishment maybe… Murder, Terrorism, any act that causes death such as drunk driving but 46 of them? No doubt drawing a fake mustache on the Portrait of President Xi is likely to be one of them.
Vicktor Orban the Prime Minister of Hungary, a fascist who is totally fine with the ethics of Europe so long as he can claim the money from the EU but as soon as he is asked to share some of the burden of refugees, the wire fences went up, armed patrols appeared and foreigners began to be intimidated and beaten up. Orban has publicly advocated taking Hungary down an illiberal path along the lines of Russia and China, despite being one of the early protesters against the Soviet Union influence in Hungary in the 1980s and studying British Liberal philosophy at Oxford.
Never mind the fate of the Palestinians who are once again being forgotten about. How long does it take to stop an occupation? Just because one-side is a friend of the USA in particular, does that mean they have carte-blanche to do what they like? If the Palestinians have been conquered or invaded then new borders or a system of government should have been decided immediately. It took a few days to resolve WW1 and WW2, no-one can say there are legitimate reasons for several million people to live their entire lives in a giant prison. It is always up the the strong to start negotiations and continue with them despite provocations… the white in South Africa, the British in Northern Ireland, the Israelis in Israel-West Bank.
The list is very long indeed and there is no need to even mention criminals such as Assad in Syria, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Equitorial Guinea and North Korea.
I’m sure much is due to America being the leader of a supposed free world but that doesn’t make Trumps actual actions and history any worse (or in most cases anywhere near as bad on a practical level) than people who have actual blood on their hands. One the one hand Donald Trump, blithering idiot and wholly inscrutable, on the other President Assad who only is responsible for the deaths of up to 500,000 people. It would be like protesting in the 1930 and 40’s against anyone but Hitler.
Even Obama increased the illegal use of drones to kill suspects without trial and due process, something which for decades was very illegal (murder) and now just a fact of life. 99% of these victims were Muslims. The fact is, he presided over the very same system as Trump, he was just clever enough and cultured enough not to make brash statements or back-pedal on social equalities but he made several big policy changes that were questionably related to corporate interests. Even in his last days allowing giant food manufacturers to further tamper with foodstuffs.
To equate Donald Trump with any of those listed above is laughable. No-one can seriously think otherwise, especially as he is only putting into practice the policies he was elected on. The time to protest was before the election, to actually change the system to one not dominated by vested interests and money. The people of Uzbekistan have never had an election, it’s not like 48% of them asked to suffer… none of them did. Do the Anti-Trump protesters even know who the Uighurs are for example?
I’m all for protesting, I really don’t think we protest enough. Living in Britain, lots of people make fun of the French for continually being on strike about something or other and I know other nations do too but generally those in the West don’t and if they do they only protest for their own narrow self-interests. The Black Lives Matter protests were generally attracting different crowds than the Anti-Trump protests for example.
I find it very hypocritical that there are no protests or media attention on these things. By all means protest against Trump but it all seems a bit like the disdain many white people have for ‘Black Lives Matter’ if you don’t stand up for people suffering everywhere and not just because you/we/friends are directly impacted by Trump or because the media have had their noses put out of joint. To a degree, it is all narrow self-interests just as he is pleasing those with their own self-interests. People should stand up against tyranny and suffering, especially when it is not their own suffering… that is when protesting has the most merit. Standing up for those who can’t protect themselves. When a million people march in New York or London against any of the dictators above, then I might
To a degree, it is all narrow self-interests just as he is pleasing those with their own self-interests. People should stand up against tyranny and suffering, especially when it is not their own suffering… that is when protesting has the most merit. Standing up for those who can’t protect themselves. When a million people march in New York or London against any of the dictators above, then I might think take their new found protestations as being more worthy.
In the meantime, seeing as the mainstream media isn’t interested in highlighting them, my next blog post will highlight some of the most persecuted peoples and minority groups in the world who are suffering terribly but seemingly aren’t worth getting upset about.
Stephen Liddell 
I think you make some great points, but I disagree very strongly with the idea that protesting Trump in the United States is somehow hypocritical because Americans are not also out protesting Putin, Erdogan, Xi, Assad, etc. Problems and injustices abound. If a person’s decision to speak out about something had to always be weighed against the hundreds of things he/she could have spoken out against but didn’t, we’d never contest anything. (I want to note once more that I enjoyed reading the post. Food for thought, which is always good.)
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I’m glad that you like the post overall and I understand it is a slightly contentious point of view that I make. I hesitated about writing it all but felt so strongly having seen such a global (over?) reaction to the election of Trump compared to others with a proven history of evil.
I do agree that people have to start protesting somewhere and defending your own ‘group’ is as good a place as any but I really do think Trump is the icing on the cake.
It certainly wasn’t aimed to be particularly against American demonstrators though I do wish they’d shown more enthusiasm for other good causes. It was actually in London where hundreds of thousands marched which on its own is a good thing but then a few days later there was a protest about a group in Asia being actively suppressed and killed and I could count their numbers on both hands.
Thanks for commenting and my next post will be about other disenfranchised groups so I hope you will enjoy that too 🙂
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I forgot to add that the post made me think of the MLK quote “an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere”.
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I haven’t heard that quote but I think it is excellent and lives up to his name.
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I just looked up the exact quote, I was a bit off – “…is a threat to justice everywhere.”
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They are both good, his and yours 🙂 I think what he said is true though. A little bit like the quote about with the first link, a chain is made.
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I agree with you on Obama. I voted for him twice but became totally disillusioned with the drone attacks and continuous wars, blanket surveillance, and especially his support of Monsanto and their manipulation and poisoning of our foods. There were pundits on the left who rightly warned us that Obama was handing Trump a carte blanche on executive orders. Looks like they were right. The things that are most troubling about Trump: He has invited a white supremacist into the White House and onto the National Security Council. I am referring to that Death Eater Steve Bannon. Trump doesn’t or can’t read so he is totally ignorant of the Constitution and the rule of law. He has surrounded himself with big money corporatists, racists, pathological liars, and nincompoops. I am referring here to that billionaire dummy Betsy deVos, Education Secretary, who is also a Christian fundamentalist extremist. The only good I see now is the huge backlash that is taking place. There is promise in that. For the record I did not vote for Trump and I did not vote for Clinton. They were both horrible choices. I went Green hoping that they would get a large enough percentage of the vote to qualify for federal funding. They did not. I am no longer a Democrat and I left the Republicans many years ago. Now I am part of that enormous demographic of independent voters.
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I really like your comment Rosemarie. I think it is the quietness amongst supports of Obama or Clinton in the USA and of the Labour Party in the UK for example that is greatly to blame to the current position. It’s not enough to support or turn a blind eye to a Liberal or Socialist party just because they are less offensive than the alternative.
I voted for all 3 main British political parties and my vote next time could go to any one of them or indeed someone new all together. I did vote for Brexit and nothing since June has convinced me one bit that I was deceived or not educated enough to vote in a supposedly more enlightened way. Voting to stay, supposedly a Labour and so socialist ideal isn’t good enough if one thinks they aren’t representing the values that used to be inherent in the party. Just as I don’t believe Democrats of old would support Drone Strikes or illegal murders as everyone outside of the USA and parts of North London call them.
I do have this feeling that Trump himself isn’t the bad one. As you allude to, it seems like he is more the weak and slightly dimwitted leader who is almost a figurehead and the much more intelligent and considerably more extreme figures who wield the real power and influence events behind the scenes as used to be the case with young and inexperienced monarchs.
I’m sure I would share your position if I lived in the USA and I have voted for the Greens too at a local level before.
As is so often the case, I think these particular protests are a bit like closing the door after the horse has escaped and they should have been ran years ago during the Obama or previous administrations to change the entire system, not now when the system has produced a result that is unpleasant to the losing side.
Let’s hope that they keep the momentum going and get a movement for real change going before, during and after the next election. Protesting for truly oppressed people around the world would do wonders to shake up the Left too.
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>>> “People should stand up against tyranny and suffering, especially when it is not their own suffering… that is when protesting has the most merit. Standing up for those who can’t protect themselves.”
Bingo! And, that is the critical difference between today’s protests and the anti-war/civil rights protests of the 1960s. Back then, we fought for principled ideas. Now, it’s all about self-interest.
Fine editorial. I would also add that a great many of today’s protesters, at least in America, hypocritically do not vote.
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I’m glad you agree. Obviously those being impacted by issues are almost expected to be unhappy and protest and so little notice is taken, it’s only when everyone protests to help to help from a totally impartial point of view will anyone take notice. I wasn’t around in the 1960’s but I’m sure you’re right. It couldn’t just be young men of fighting age campaigning against the war or black people campaigning for civil rights, there would have to be mass support from across society. As in Britain (and I presume other places) when Women were given full voting rights, it wasn’t the fact that women themselves were protesting and making things difficult though obviously that was really important but what swung it was that more and more reasonable men sided with women too. You can see it in Russia with the increasing crackdown on gay and lesbian people there. Only those affected dared to march so they were ignored and after a few days every died down. If half of Moscow protested then something would have to be done.
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Exactly.
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The problem with Trump is he’s a fat cat for whom the presidency is just his playground to share with the already wealthy and rich. Those who finally got health insurance are in real danger of losing it. Social Security which older people have paid into all their lives has long been the piggy bank of the government; now seniors could see that go. And, of course, as you know, according to Trump, global warming is just a hoax, so expect huge losses in environmental issues. The list goes on, and the worrisome thing is Trump lives in an alternate reality, making up his own facts. At first, it was amusing, then comical. Now it’s becoming worrisome. As for the protests, my wife and I have been saying for years: “Where are the young people taking to the streets to protest so much of the injustice around us?” We grew up in the sixties when protests were common for a cause bigger than anyone person. Even on a smaller scale, I nearly had my head busted by a bigoted cop in a small southern town because I dared help some black folks whose car broke down. For the most part the voices of the young have fallen silent for way too long. Now it seems they are waking up. And that’s a good thing. Maybe they’ll learn that it’s not “All about Me!” It’s time for countries all around the globe to wake up, and, as Bob Dylan said in one of his songs. “… strengthen the things that remain.” Thanks for a provocative blog.
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Thanks for commenting Bill. I think you’re right with Trump, I got the feeling he didn’t even expect to win and is doing the whole thing as some sort of game.
I haven’t seen such an awful press officer as Sean Spicer since the Iraqi Minister of Disinformation, it was almost like watching a satirical comedy show.
I agree entirely about young people today. Many too busy complaining about how unfair things are or just putting up with it without even trying to change things. I was a student in the 90’s but remember protesting on over a dozen issues over 3 or 4 years but mostly it was for people in other countries or the disadvantaged in the UK.
That sounds awful about your encounter with a cop. The most similar I had was that I got stopped in my car for no good reason except I was poor and had a really old but very safe and clean car. They followed me for nearly 2 miles and in that time I saw people driving through red lights, not signalling and various other misdemeanours but all in nice cars. I told them that and they spent 15 minutes trying to find a single illegal problem with my car but couldn’t.
I’m really glad you enjoyed the blog and thanks again for commenting.
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Good post. I almost hate to comment, but I have to.
Trump isn’t the fool so many people make him out to be, he’s just dong something unheard of in politics: telling it like it is, or like he sees it. Unfortunately too many people are so against him that if he said the sky was blue, people would say he lied because there was one cloud that was white instead.
There are things worth protesting, but to go about and say ‘not my president ‘ is just foolish, the only way to make that a reality is to leave the country and give up your citizenship, the election is over and he is our president (at least for those of us in the USA).
On the Black Lives Matter group, I’m not racist, they have a point, but I think it’s more important to make everyone of all races, sexs and creeds step back and realize that everyone matters and everyone’s life matters. Parts of the black lives matter group are very… radicalized and are doing their cause more harm than good.
Thanks for letting me says these things, I hope I didnt upset anyone.
Thanks again for such a great blog.
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Thanks Colin, I know how you feel. I wrote this last week and wondered whether to post it or not but I’m glad so many people are engaged with it.
I agree, people are picking fights about everything that no-one would mention if it were someone else. So it’s bad to block immigrants coming to the country? But then isn’t even worse to kill them in drone strikes? People have to be consistent or else it’s like cheering on your football team and turning a blind eye to fouls or cheats for your own team and booing the other side when they do it.
You’re right of course, everyone has an option to give up their citizenship and find a new home. Wait until there is something to protest about internally before protesting.
It might be just me as I’m foreign but I can think of numerous issues that are worth protesting about in the USA, I won’t mention them here as I think it is rude to give out my opinion but what ever factors much of society have issues with whether guns, GM food, taxes, big corporations or whatever, I can’t believe if the same number of people protested on them every day and did a virtual sit-in on Congress that something wouldn’t change.
I totally agree with you about the Black Lives Matter protests, I think the leaders if they were white with short cropped blonde hair would be labelled nazis. Every time a group deliberately differentiates itself then really I think they have lost the argument.
Everyone matters whatever the colour, sex, religion or gender and that is what I think makes America great… along with many other similar nations too.
I hope you didn’t upset anyone either. I think it says a lot that we worry about upsetting people but some get offended too easily on all sides and a little bit offence isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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Great blog as always Stephen. The over riding thing that is still in my head is about the media and lack of reporting.
The sad fact is our media is not free. I had a silly illusion right up until last year. I still had hope that some of our media, especially the uniquely funded BBC would be reporting news worthy events around the World and at home. Silly Billy me! My daughters went on an anti austerity March in London last year (eldest is a teacher and we object MASSIVELY to the cuts in education). They sent me live feed video, there were easily tens of thousands if not a hundred thousand citizens marching toward Trafalgar Square. Not one single mention on any news channel, let alone mainstream channel.
I’m off on the ‘Save Our NHS’ march on 2nd March. I’ll have a wager that thus doesn’t get reported either!
It doesn’t serve our masters for us to be educated in any sense of the word, hence the strangle hold control of the media. Damn even the BBC can’t say controversy the ‘English’ way any more but the Americanised way, which further suggests the level of ‘control’ inside our media.
Blogs like this are so valuable as it makes us question (which of course the powers that be hate). I’m pretty sure I was born saying ‘why’? but your blog will get folk asking that same question, so keep posing the questions. I’ll give you wave from The March, just in case it gets some air time (don’t hold your breath) 😉
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Thanks so much. I agree about the media, even the BBC have their own agenda even if it is due to them to be seen to be neutral. I really believe a lot of it is because they are all trapped in the ‘Westminster’ bubble and just don’t experience real life here or in America. Certainly Brexit and Trump were not surprises to the people I knew.
That’s really good that you go on the marches. In the 90’s I used to go on protests too and in recent years have gone and bought hot drinks and snacks for local junior doctors who have been on strike.
I was actually witness to your big march as I was giving a tour and I can vouch for you that it was very hard to miss!! As a neutral, I expect and want to know of any major protest. It could be about saving grasshoppers in Argentina but if more than a few dozen people care enough to protest about it then obviously it’s important enough to know about it even if it does mean less time on sport or stupid celebrities…. which again why do I care what their opinion is. If I want music I might listen to Beyonce but I don’t care that she likes Clinton. Similarly I don’t care what Clinton thinks about singing.
I agree about the BBC presenters, they are becoming a bit lazy and have terrible diction too. I also don’t appreciate their subtle hints at how to think. Yes Trump might be a clown and I would never vote for him but the presenters should be impartial and they should talk about him, Brexit or any other issue entirely neutrally. Whether it is The Pope, Assad, Trump or Corbyn, it should be exactly the same.
It is interesting also how there is what even they admit is a news agenda. How come every morning almost every television news, radio or newspaper all talk about the police on one day or trains or Trump. I call that acting as sheep.
I will keep an eye out for you on March 2nd… I might even join you 🙂
You’re right, governments and big business hate questions and differing opinions, yesterday my blog got over 500 readers, the highest number since November so I wonder if it is just a co-incidence.
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I ditto everything Stephen.
One minor amendment is the March is in the 4th in my haste typing my response to you I didn’t check for typo’s. If you happen to be in London you’ll see us meet at Tavistock Street midday and march to Parliament. I’ll be the slow one at the back 🤗
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Great post as always, Stephen. Good work. I find the protests and apparent acceptability for poor behaviours by some members of the public following both the US election and Brexit to be fascinating for the wrong reasons. I sometimes think people forget they live in a democracy of late when they don’t get their own way. Whether you love or loathe Trump, I genuinely hope he just starts getting on with the job, stops manipulating the media (which they still conveniently and conceitedly don’t seem to have noticed) and makes a success of things…for positive reasons.
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Thanks Graham. I agree entirely. It isn’t like either party is sneaking in policies that weren’t known in advance. 52% voted for Brexit so Brexit it is. Tough for the losers but I guess the losers in the 70’s weren’t thrilled when we went in. Democracy doesn’t mean you always get your own way, it just means that in a very small way, your opinion is taken into consideration but you can still lose by 99.99999% in a vote. I agree about Trump, the best thing now would be for him to get on with the job. If he is going to mess things up, he doesn’t need our help but lets hope whatever policies he enacts are actually successful which they very might well be even if they are unpopular amongst opponents.
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and then came Biden. It’s hard to believe it can get worse, but every year under Biden it did become worse. 2024 Biden, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
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