Archive for the ‘American current affairs’ Category
How do you impeach a president of the United States?
January 8th, 2018 by Roger Darlington
Who’s asking? Well, almost everyone after the fierce controversy stimulated by the book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff. The short answer is: it’s not easy (and I guess it shouldn’t be). The longer answer is: The House of Representatives has the sole power of initiating impeachment charges, while the […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (2)
Why sadly we’ll have to wait at least another year before President Trump can be impeached
December 30th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“In 2017 we saw with new clarity that the strength of the US constitution depends entirely on the willingness of those charged with enforcing it to do their duty. And today’s Republicans refuse to fulfil that obligation. They, like Trump, are without shame. This was a fatal oversight by Hamilton, James Madison and their fellow […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Some good news from the United States for a change
December 13th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Doug Jones has become the first Democrat to win any statewide office in the state of Alabama in decades after Republican candidate Roy Moore’s campaign for the Senate was marred by sexual assault claims. More news here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
American elections provide major wins for Democrats and diversity
November 9th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Outside of the USA, the media focus on American elections is concentrated on the four-yearly event when Americans elect the president, the whole of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate. There is some media interest in what are called the ‘mid-term’ elections when every two years voters again elect the whole of […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (4)
Do you understand how the American political system actually works?
August 27th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
On my web site, I have short guides to the political systems of 15 nations. Given the importance of the United States to the geo-politics of the world and the erratic behaviour of the current occupant of the White House, I receive most visits to my short guide to the American political system. I have […]
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs | Comments (0)
“House Of Cards” or “Games Of Thrones” Trump-style
August 18th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Who has now left Trump’s White House team? Steve Bannon, chief strategist – 18 August Anthony Scaramucci, communications director – 31 July Reince Priebus, chief of staff – 28 July Sean Spicer, press secretary – 21 July Mike Dubke, communications director – 30 May James Comey, FBI director – 9 May Michael Flynn, national security […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Getting to know Democratic Party hopeful Kamala Harris
July 23rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Kamala Harris is the newly-elected Democratic Party senator for the state of California and only the second black woman to have been elected to the Senate. Her mother, who was born in India, was a breast cancer researcher, and her father, from Jamaica, was an economics professor at Stanford University. She started out as a […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
How much does it cost to elect one member of the US House of Representatives?
June 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
This week, Jon Ossoff for the Democrats and Karen Handel for the Republicans faced each other in an electoral contest in what became the most expensive House of Representatives race in history. The candidates, their parties and super Political Action Committees (PACs) poured more than $50 million (£39 million) combined into the effort to win […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Never heard of Kamala Harris? You will …
June 18th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Kamala Harris is the daughter of an Indian American mother and Jamaican American father, She was raised in Berkeley, where she was introduced to civil rights activism from a young age. She served two terms as the district attorney of San Francisco, the first woman to hold the position, before being elected the first female […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (2)
What is the Qatar spat all about? And why have there been so many foiled and successful terrorists incidents in the UK recently?
June 6th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
In a perceptive article in today’s “Guardian” newspaper, Paul Mason examines “Britain’s game of thrones in the Gulf”. On the clash between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, he agues: “The issue torturing the Saudi monarchy is Iran. Obama made peace with Iran in 2015, in the face of Saudi and Israeli opposition. Qatar is diplomatically closer […]
Posted in American current affairs, British current affairs | Comments (0)