There'll be no going back . .

Following the confirmation of Trumps’ latest pick for the Supreme Court, speculation has mounted that the Republicans will do better in November’s mid-term congressional elections. Republicans it seems are energised by displays of misogyny, ill-will and arrogance. It seems the opinion polls are now painting a more complex picture, when not so long ago the Democrats looked a shoe-in for taking control of the House of Representatives and may even have had a long shot at the Senate. It has to be said that this time round the Democrats are defending far more seats than the Republicans, so it was always on them to win more seats, rather than the Republicans to lose them. Excellent analysis of the race(s) can be found on the fivethirtyeight.com website.

One wonders of course what difference it would make if the Democrats did win. One looks at the record of Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin for example. He supported Trump’s nomination earlier this year of someone who supported torture as head of the CIA; he supported Trump’s latest pick for the Supreme Court. Apparently Manchin represents a right leaning state and so wants to keep his seat. So he behaves like a Republican. Which only goes to show that if you want the real thing, vote for it. If I were a Republican why would I vote for Manchin?
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The Democrats are in a mess and the right seems to be more accepting of Trump. The only reason I can think of for rooting for the Democrats is to clip his wings. Today we have seen the publication of yet another ‘landmark’ report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is destined to sit on top of a pile of previous landmark IPCC reports. With the now likely election of another populist in Brazil, who is threatening to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement, there is developing an anti-climate change axis, and Trump will reap further endorsement for his Neanderthal mindset. The time has passed when it was felt sufficient to mock an allegedly dysfunctional Trump presidency. He appears to be in tune with the zeitgeist, not merely in the States but elsewhere. We may have had entertainment value from books exposing the inner workings of the White House, with juicy titbits from disgruntled former aides, but these exposés, illuminating as they may be of Trump’s psychological issues detract from the bigger picture. The alarm bells are ringing.