Tag Archives: Trump

Trump of Toad Hall

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My mother read Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows to me when I was a small child. As soon as I could read for myself, I reread it. I’ve reread it numerous times as an adult; it is a wonderful book.

The animals in it all have human characteristics.  Badger is a crotchety secluded introvert, Mole and Rat are unlikely friends, Otter is a worried parent, Toad is a wealthy braggart – sorry, we should show some respect and call him Mr. Toad. If you haven’t read Wind in the Willows, you should. It has wit, charm, pathos, humour, mysticism and a final battle between good and evil.

In a previous article I compared Trump to Rex Mottram in Brideshead Revisited, someone with a fluorescent shell, empty inside but able to dazzle the unwary. I hesitate to compare Trump to Mr. Toad because Toad, in addition to being an egotistical braggart, has charm; Trump doesn’t. And I don’t want to insult the lovable Mr. Toad.

Nevertheless, the comparison is illuminating. If you can’t be bothered to listen to Trump’s address to Congress yesterday, here is a panegyric of Toad to himself which nicely summarizes the Trump speech:

“The world has held great Heroes,
As history-books have showed;
But never a name to go down to fame
Compared with that of Toad!

“The clever men at Oxford
Know all that there is to be knowed.
But they none of them know one half as much
As intelligent Mr. Toad!

“The animals sat in the Ark and cried,
Their tears in torrents flowed.
Who was it said, ‘There’s land ahead?’
Encouraging Mr. Toad!

“The army all saluted
As they marched along the road.
Was it the King? Or Kitchener?
No. It was Mr. Toad.

“The Queen and her Ladies-in-waiting
Sat at the window and sewed.
She cried, ‘Look! who’s that handsome man?’
They answered, ‘Mr. Toad.’”

And here is Toad’s Homecoming Song having defeated the evil weasels with the help of Mole, Badger, Rat and Otter. To be recited upon re-entering the White House as Leader of the Free World:

The Toad—came—home!
There was panic in the parlours and howling in the halls,
There was crying in the cow-sheds and shrieking in the stalls,
When the Toad—came—home!

When the Toad—came—home!
There was smashing in of window and crashing in of door,
There was chivvying of weasels that fainted on the floor,
When the Toad—came—home!

Bang! go the drums!
The trumpeters are tooting and the soldiers are saluting,
And the cannon they are shooting and the motor-cars are hooting,
As the—Hero—comes!

Shout—Hoo-ray!
And let each one of the crowd try and shout it very loud,
In honour of an animal of whom you’re justly proud,
For it’s Toad’s—great—day!

 That Zelensky Trump Meeting

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When Donald Trump won the White House for the second time, I was not unhappy with the result in spite of his evident character flaws so blatantly – even proudly – on display. I agreed with many of the things he attempted to do in his first term and the alternative candidate was so much worse.

The credit Trump accumulated in my mind was squandered yesterday in his meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelensky.

Even during Trump’s first term, he struck me as a character extracted from a comic book; a cardboard cutout, two dimensional, a Marvell hero or villain, depending on your viewpoint. If I were to compare Trump to a character in literature, it would be Rex Mottram in Brideshead Revisited. Here is Mottram’s wife’s assessment of her husband:

“He wasn’t a complete human being at all.  He was a tiny bit of one, unnaturally developed; something in a bottle, an organ kept alive in a laboratory. I thought he was a sort of primitive savage, but he was something absolutely modern and up-to-date that only this ghastly age could produce. A tiny bit of a man pretending to be whole.”

One could argue that Trump’s arrogance, braggadocio, pomposity, and hyper-inflated ego are all part of the package, as is the frequent nonsense he spouts with such relish. After all, it’s the end result that counts. I probably did say that to myself; but no more.

The pilgrimages foreign leaders have been making to the Oval Office remind me that in the exercise of raw power, nothing ever changes. Just as weaker kings used to bring offerings to stronger kings to appease them, so they continue to do so. Kier Starmer’s was the most nauseating, particularly when he produced the Letter From the King. Trump lapped it up.

Zelensky’s visit was very different. He didn’t grovel enough. He was insufficiently grateful for the beneficence of the dominant super-power. He didn’t say thank you enough.

When Zelensky attempted to make his case in a language that was not his native tongue, he was shouted down, bullied and ejected.

Quite possibly Trump’s attempt to come up with a peaceful solution was genuine; perhaps Zelensky should have abased himself more thoroughly. Either way, what we witnessed was the exercise of raw power of the strong over the weak.

Although one probably shouldn’t apply this to nation states, Malcolm Muggeridge had a point when he used to say “You can have love or power, but you can’t have both”.

Peter Hitchens was correct in this article published today:

Well, at least the silly myth that America is the world’s kindly sugar daddy has been killed off forever. I do not like Donald Trump and I feel quite sorry for Ukraine’s President Zelensky. But Friday night’s White House melodrama will be good for the world, if only we heed it. And if you think nothing like it has ever happened before, you are gravely wrong.

It is indeed a wake-up call for Canada and Europe. The US is not our friend; nation’s do not have friends, they have allies; sometimes the allies are rather disagreeable regimes. Whether the US is Canada’s ally remains to be seen; either way, we can no longer depend on the US to be our sugar daddy.

Anglican Church of Canada opposes Middle East peace plan

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It’s easy to see why: first, it’s a Trump proposal and the ACoC loathes Trump, second the ACoC is biased against Israel almost to the point of being anti-Semitic.

If only the primate were as interested in the salvation of souls as she is in hating Trump, perhaps fewer souls would be fleeing her church.

From here

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau:

Greetings to you from The Anglican Church of Canada.

I write today to urge Canada to maintain a principled policy position in accordance with international law, and to strongly, publicly oppose President Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan for Israel and Palestine announced January 28th, 2020. Your confirmation in 2017 that Canada’s embassy in Israel will remain in Tel Aviv, affirming the open, international status of Jerusalem as a city of two peoples and three faiths, and your 2019 vote at the UN General Assembly affirming the right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, clearly demonstrate Canada’s commitment to principled leadership.

We commend to you the spirit of the Statement of the Patriarchs and Heads of the Holy Land Churches on January 30, 2020, on the “Deal of the Century”, urging instead “a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on the international legitimacy of relevant UN resolutions, and in a manner that guarantees security, peace, freedom and dignity to all of the peoples of the region.”

We lament with global and Canadian ecumenical partners that the Trump administration’s plan is far from being a “win-win” for Israelis and Palestinians. Rather, we recognize, with many others including Canada, peace with justice will not come by discounting or ignoring Palestinian rights and aspirations. For solutions to be based upon equality, human rights and self-determination for all, the occupation of Palestinian lands must first end and Palestinians be meaningfully involved in planning processes from the beginning.

In 2013, The Anglican Church of Canada General Synod adopted a resolution calling on our church to support the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. The resolution recognizes the legitimate aspirations, rights and needs of both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, with dignity within sovereign and secure borders. It condemns the use of violence of all kinds, especially against civilians, calls for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and upon Israel, as the occupying power, to respect the Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids the transfer and settlement of its own citizens in the occupied territories.

The Anglican Church of Canada commends your “commitment to a safe and secure homeland for the Jewish people, and to a lasting peace between all peoples in the Middle East”. We pray with the Holy Land Patriarchs and Heads of Churches that, for their part, all Palestinian political parties, factions and leaders end their internal conflicts and adopt a unified stand towards state building based on plurality and democratic values.

With this letter comes the assurance of our respect for your leadership and prayers for you and the Government of Canada. I look forward to supporting Canada’s efforts with other international leaders in denouncing the notion that President Trump’s “Peace Plan for the Middle East” offers a framework through which peace could be negotiated.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Linda C. Nicholls
Archbishop and Primate