There is something comical, indeed farcical (but for the gravity of the general situation), about some of President-elect Trump’s proposed political appointments. Health is to be run by a vaccine sceptic, and energy by a climate change sceptic. It reminds me of the inappropriateness of some of the appointments in Stalag Luft III, at least according to the film of The Great Escape. The chief tunneller had claustrophobia, and the chief forger was blind. Even the illustrious Herr Bartlett, Big X himself, outside the wire, was a security risk. Richard Hannay, in one of John Buchan’s thrillers, passes a wry remark about the British military and British Intelligence’s absurd propensity for placing round pegs in square holes.
Another unusual political appointment is that of Elon Musk, charged with the task of doing away with red tape in Washington. I always get nervous about people who want to get rid of red tape. All this bumf, they say, it’s health and safety gone mad, I tell you. Getting rid of red tape usually turns out to be an attack on legislation put in place to defend the poor and vulnerable.
Mr Musk famously bought Twitter at vast expense and then rebranded it as X. I have no idea what it means to buy something like a social media platform. It would be like buying a cloud, an atmospheric area of cumulonimbus. But a lot of people are shunning X, because its content has apparently become too toxic. Good for them. Besides, I always think it’s a good idea to shun any goods or services which make any one individual, or group of individuals, a vast sum of money.
Talking of bizarre appointments, there is a recurring theme in the bible about God calling the most unlikely people to fulfil equally unlikely tasks. Moses was inarticulate, David was an adulterer and a murderer, Peter, called upon to be a rock, had already shown himself liable to cave in under pressure. The underlying theme here is that God moves in a mysterious way, and that if you get the call, you must cast aside any personal doubts and misgivings, and put your trust in Him. Don’t allow yourself to succumb to Impostor Syndrome. If you are called upon to be a witness, don’t worry about what you are going to say. You are a vessel, a conduit. The script will be given to you.
Well, I’m all for Faith, Hope, & Love, but I prefer to back them up with 10,000 hours of practice, preparation, and rehearsal. You really ought not to entrust somebody with a huge task, when they are really not up to the job. My impression of Mr Trump is that, basically, he is winging it. That is not to say that he is not in many ways a shrewd operator. He knows how to work a crowd; well, his own crowd. He can be charming if he feels so inclined. He certainly knows how to win a political contest in a world which, by his own admission, is not very nice. But he’s at heart a game show host. He thrives on entertainment value. He operates on the surface. He is a superficialist. I don’t believe I have ever seen him subjected to an in-depth interview at which, under the forensic probing of a Robin Day or a David Frost or an Eddie Mair, the BBC used to excel.
Mr Trump appeared to enjoy his visit with Mr Biden in the White House, as part of the transition of power. He had a nice day. He was very courteous to the incumbent president, whom he had lambasted during the presidential election campaign, as unfit for office. He did the same with Mrs Clinton in 2016, after he had defeated her. He was terribly gracious. He thanked her for her public service. “And I mean that most sincerely.” Previously, he had wanted to lock her up. In Victory, Magnanimity, Winston used to say. But this is something different. It’s just a blatant disregard for the truth. You say whatever is politically expedient.
Meanwhile, President Biden has given the green light to President Zelenskyy, allowing him to fire US rockets deep into Russian territory. It’s an abrupt change of policy, a volte face. Why now? Could it have something to do with the fact that the President-elect has reportedly been on the phone to Mr Putin? It is said that Mr Trump asked Mr Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine. But Russia has just launched the largest drone and missile attack on Ukraine in the last three months – 90 drones and 120 missiles – targeting energy infrastructure, as winter looms. The attacks reached Western Ukraine, and Poland scrambled its fighter jets. That Poland should be extremely nervous about Russian military activity on its eastern border, is very understandable.
Sir Keir Starmer is currently in Brazil, urging member states of the G20 to show solidarity with Ukraine. But people in the Trump camp want a negotiation. Some of them address President Zelenskyy with great condescension. You can forget Crimea. Crimea’s gone. But they don’t share the experience, and the collective memory of the European continent. Civil war aside, apart from their War of Independence, Pearl Harbour, and 9/11, they’ve never been attacked. Negotiating with Mr Putin will surely be like an episode of The Apprentice.
Well, it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. But I have a horrible feeling that Mr Trump, alleged master of the art of the deal, will be no match, even, perhaps especially, at the negotiating table, for Mr Putin.
jamescalumcampbell 