President Joe Biden Righting the Ship’s Course From a Once Disastrous Trip for America!

[AdSense-A]

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

As I sit in my Kailyard I wonder often about the future.

In a simple flurry of the pen, many were gone. Signature policies that blighted the last four years in American politics have managed to be consigned to history as if they were a mistake.

Oh, they so were.

We all know they were.

Well apart from those who think they were not… But they have other fantasies that take up their time where we have reality with which to deal.

And the wall has been stopped, the WHO rejoined, immigration policy halted and Greta Thurnberg has taken to Twitter to welcome the USA back into the fold of environmental forward thinking.
The USA has rejoined the human race.

We are all grateful but in amongst it all, the use of an Executive Order seems an odd thing.

In the UK we do not have such a thing. The Prime Minister can pronounce, and the Government can change policy but the ability to make laws and change legislation remains with the House of Commons as it is the Executive branch of government.

So, seeing the flurry of pens was a little disconcerting.

We like democracy to flow in a manner with which we have something in common and when people, do it differently it causes some concern. There is, of course, an arrogance over that. Why should people copy us? There may be a comfort in knowing it is done in the same fashion but evolving democracy is a good thing. But we want to be assured that changes are for the people but the method of change proves it is also by the people.

Of course there is more to unite us than divide us.

Our democracies may still have the common first past the post system that leads to strange results and counter claims of legitimacy and I would love both the USA and the UK to take the bull by the horns and start to look at why, if the majority of Americans vote for a President, why don’t they get them.

There shall be many who would balk at the thought as smaller states would be constantly outvoted but if all the American people wanted X, surely they should get X and not someone else who might make you wonder Y they were ever elected at all.

This is not as wipe at the 2016 result where Trump got fewer votes – twice in a row– but won in an electoral college that is ever so slightly unfair.

In the UK we have seen change come for elections to the Scottish Parliament, and local councils, in Northern Ireland for all plebiscites apart from the UK parliament elections and a similar situation in Wales for alle elections apart from one see proportional representation hold sway. It is designed, especially in Scotland, to lead to circumstances where no one party shall hold power and will need coalition to govern.

Many opponents point to insecurity and particularly the likes of both Israel and Italy who have never really had political stability or at least not for some considerable time. But the stability of more coalitions that are based on consent out sway the ones where there are difficulties.

All political systems have flaws. The question though is, in the pursuit of democracy should we practice it or should we export it? The system of Executive Orders are welcome and it is good to see that they can lead to instant changes, especially good change but they leave us all a little concerned. Perhaps as part of the next administration, once the specter of the Mango Mussolini has been expunged from the process true democratic change can happen. I doubt it but in the Kailyard we can aye dream…

A view from the new Kailyard or, how you look over there, from over here…

(kailyard n. a genre of sentimental Scottish literature turned into effective invective comment from one Donald worth reading…)

[si-contact-form form=’2′]