Archive for the ‘American current affairs’ Category
Where the Trump presidency came from and where it might go to
January 31st, 2025 by Roger Darlington
This week, Mark Malcolmson, the Director of the City Literary Institute in London gave one of his popular online lectures on the current political scene in the United States. Here are some take-away points with a bit of extra information from me.
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What is incoming President Trump up to with all his Executive Orders?
January 21st, 2025 by Roger Darlington
In a posting on this blog just over four years ago, I explained the nature of executive orders in the American political system and provided some data on their historical use. I’m reproducing that posting here: “This time of year four years ago, I was on a flight to Washington DC. The Americans had just […]
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What should we understand by President Trump’s references to American exceptionalism
January 20th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
In his inauguration speech today, Donald trump used the word ‘exceptional’ quite deliberately as a reference to the notion of ‘American exceptionsalism’. But what does this term mean? In my website guide to the American political system, I provide this explanation:
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Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: who will win?
October 31st, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This evening, I attended online a 90-minute presentation on the US presidential election given by Mark Malcolmson, the Principal of London’s City Literary Institute and an expert on American politics. Here are my take-aways with some key quotes. Following Joe Biden’s eventual withdrawal from the race thanks to the decisive intervention of longtime ally and […]
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Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World?
September 25th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This is the title of a new eight-part series which has just completed broadcasting on the BBC and is now available of the BBC’s iPlayer. An impressive array of senior figures speak with knowledge, candour and regret, making this one of the very best documentaries on global politics that I’ve ever seen. It looks at […]
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Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: the first (and last?) debate
September 11th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Fascinated though I am by American politics, I was never going to stay up and lose sleep watching live the ABC one and a half hour presidential election debate between current Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. But I made a point of recording the debate and watching every minute today. I rather […]
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It’s looking a lot like Kamala
July 22nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
If we were starting from scratch, I would have liked to see a variety of possible Democratic presidential candidates in action and I’m particularly interested on Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California. But already it’s looking as if Kamala Harris will replace Joe Biden as the Democrat candidate to face Donald Trump on 5 November. […]
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Thanks, Joe. Sorry, but you had to go.
July 21st, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Eight days ago, I did a blog posting arguing that Joe Biden needed to step down as the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. He has now – after much pressure and delay – agreed to go. The selection of a new candidate is uncharted territory. I would like to see a contest rather […]
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Joe Biden now needs to make the most difficult and honourable decision of his career
July 13th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Joe Biden has been an excellent president – decent and progressive. If he had had a majority in both chambers of Congress, he could have been a truly transformational leader. But he needs now to do what is best for the United States and the world and recognise that, while he is still an able […]
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Three quotes from three US presidents
February 13th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
“Ich bin ein Berliner.” — President John F. Kennedy, June 26, 1963 “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” — President Ronald Reagan, June 12, 1987 “I would encourage [the Russians] to do whatever the hell they want.” — Donald Trump, February 10, 2024
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