PRESIDENT TRUMP: THE WORST AND LEAST OPTION

A TRUMP SUPPORTER AT THE BALL

I will spare you, in this brief editorial post, too much gnashing of teeth, and too many dire predictions. I will even offer the briefest of summaries: Trump is a very bad thing indeed - let's get on with democratically opposing him, in the USA and globally, within legal limits, as strongly and intelligently as possible. Satire and comedy, tweets and posts will be a part of this, but not enough - Chaplin's The Great Dictator did not save Poland. For its part, as a small publisher, my company Eyewear is open to ideas for books that further such aims of seeking to defend the world against its worst Western threat in 75 years.

So, okay. That's what I wanted to say. But, to be gloomy, for a moment, yesterday was truly a low, in my lifetime, and historically, for America, and its struggling democracy. A low for the world. Yesterday's neo-fascist inauguration speech, then the dance to 'My Way', and the immediate gutting of Obama-care, and creation of Patriots Day, signal a turn to the ultra-nationalist extreme right - a populism based on race-hate, lies, xenophobia, paranoid threats and sabre-rattling - that is in its America First incarnation at least - terrifying, unacceptable, and loathsome. If you had ever wanted to script a TV series about the rise of an American dictatorship, similar to the German one of the 1930s, it would look like this - pompous white men wrapped in the flag, a divine mission, and a sense of history at their backs, seeking to make their "land" and "people" the most "powerful" and "great" in the world.

There is nothing comforting in what comes next. Presumably, America is set to have a trade war with China, more closely align itself with Russia, bomb and otherwise attack places it thinks "Islamic terrorism" thrives; plus antagonise or attack Iran, and North Korea; and meanwhile, support Brexit and the collapse of the EU - while vilifying its Mexican neighbour. Oddly, Canada has yet to be mentioned, perhaps because Trump admires handsome men, and Justin Trudeau is telegenic.

I predicted, correctly, that Trump will win.

I predict he will mandate the use of at least tactical nuclear weapons within the next 4 years. Why? Because he loves power for its own sake, and has a personality that uses (and abuses) power for the glorification of his own sense of greatness. This personality type, part of the "dark triad" of mental disorders, is never a good thing in a person, and in a world leader, usually leads to war, and terrible disruption.

It is possible the American economy will thrive, and the progressive backlash will lead to solidarity, great art and deeply moving images of brave and decent people defending the values that the gentle, decent, and brilliant Mr Obama epitomised. We could have a new 60s style renaissance of protest, poetry, and ultimately see a new progressive leader come to power in 2020. In time, Mr Obama will be seen as one of the ten greatest of Presidents, up there beside Lincoln in terms of moral rectitude, and grace under pressure. The 45th is, for the foreseeable, going to be the very worst. America is at rock bottom today.

The future is not so hopeful, anymore.

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart? A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional. Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were. For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ? Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets. But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ? How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular. John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se....

"I have crossed oceans of time to find you..."

In terms of great films about, and of, love, we have Vertigo, In The Mood for Love , and Casablanca , Doctor Zhivago , An Officer and a Gentleman , at the apex; as well as odder, more troubling versions, such as Sophie's Choice and Silence of the Lambs . I think my favourite remains Bram Stoker's Dracula , with the great immortal line "I have crossed oceans of time to find you...".

THE SWIFT REPORT 2023

I am writing this post without much enthusiasm, but with a sense of duty. This blog will be 20 years old soon, and though I rarely post here anymore, I owe it some attention. Of course in 2023, "Swift" now means one thing only, Taylor Swift, the billionaire musician. Gone are the days when I was asked if I was related to Jonathan Swift. The pre-eminent cultural Swift is now alive and TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR. There is no point in belabouring the obvious with delay: 2023 was a low-point in the low annals of human history - war, invasion, murder, in too many nations. Hate, division, the collapse of what truth is, exacerbated by advances in AI that may or may not prove apocalyptic, while global warming still seems to threaten the near-future safety of humanity. It's been deeply depressing. The world lost some wonderful poets, actors, musicians, and writers this year, as it often does. Two people I knew and admired greatly, Ian Ferrier and Kevin Higgins, poets and organise...

E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

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