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MEDDLING “DON”AND OR WHACKY “TRUMP”.

Politics always has a certain degree-of element of surprise.  Therefore any shock arising means either pleasant or a foreboding rarity.  But by its very nature, this unusual loses the power in its influence to command ponderous attention when it is too frequent, becoming banal and thus a nullity or derisive and or even both—talk, talk, no use and disturbing because it is demeaning of the source and destructive of the same in its rob-off for a larger number beyond.

 Such would be Donald Trump, the US president who meddles everywhere and pollutes international diplomacy using uncouth language and no longer unexpected-badly behaved.  America is befogged.  You wonder about the apparent sense of haplessness in that country today for what their president showcases to the world, an absolute contradiction of history, wealth, power and consequential image.  However, it does not mean all is lost and Americans are completely unconcerned.  You know in evidence-tracking, every spec information counts, in as much as it embeds a crucial lead to “OPEN SESAME” and then the sequaebantur [what would follow] provides intelligible reasoning for hopefulness such as in the gloom thought, ‘all is not lost’ encourages. 

The speculation does neither necessarily allow sweeping conclusion, nor stuck with prior estimation into give-up.  Here is a short statement to illustrate the argument: “I don’t think anyone on the team has any interest in leading the platform that we’ve worked so hard to build, the things we fight for, the way we live our life, I don’t think we want that to be co-opted or corrupted by this administration” [Megan Rapinoe—US female football world Champion’s goal star].  This and goings-on hold the world in bewilderment. 

The man’s latest antic looks part strategic and mischievous on the other.  He screams that the British Ambassador in Washington is “stupid” for writing a secret assessment of him and the administration.  The strategic bits are: he visited London in June and it was one guest the Brits were happy to see the back soonest.  The stories about his meddling in British politics are too fresh.  But single significant inclusion was his support for former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a Brexit founding-father, campaigning to lead the ruling Conservatives and become the Prime Minister after Mrs Theresa May resigned, failed to negotiate post-Brexit. 

Johnson is Trump’s only ally across the world apart from the Russian comme ci, comme ca.  And whatever happens, Britain is important in world affairs.  The logic is if Trump has a friend in London as the Leader of the Brits, outside of the historical Anglo-US blood relations, it would give Trump a card of some tolerable-standing—whether its heft [weight of being heard and influence] is limited, credible or dodgy. As for Trump’s vituperations against the British Ambassador, the clear revelations are he hardly understands the kernel-role of that position and he has fundamentally not learned three years in office. 

So it confirms the British Ambassador’s key observations in his confidential brief that no one should expect change and not hope implicitly that the worse isn’t yet to come.   Why that Report was leaked is the puzzle which Jeremy Hunt, present Foreign Secretary contesting Johnson said in conjunction with Ten Downing Street [Prime Minister’s Office] that an investigation was being launched.  Whoopee…are we, or are we not reaching out for a resurrection of type of Enquiry on BBC’s Andrew Gilligan and Dr. Kelly’s suicide, Tony Blair/George Bush and the “Invasion of Iraq”.   

To confess I felt there was something like Johnson or his camp torpedoing Hunt with that stuff to the Mail Newspaper; and or indeed an “axis of evilo” involving Trump and Johnson when the leak was published.  I wonder this following summary of the British press [Thursday 11 July 2019] is not fully instructive or cannot be linked up interpretively? :

 “Sir Kim Darroch’s resignation from his Ambassadorial role in Washington dominates the front pages of the UK daily papers.

The Daily Mirror blames Boris Johnson calling him ‘the man with no shame’.  This view is shares by the Guardian which said the episode demonstrates that MR. Johnson has no ‘concept of loyalty’ and has diminished the office of Prime Minister before reaching it.  The Daily Telegraph is concerned that a Johnson Premiership could be undermined. 

Many of the papers focused on the resignation of Sir Kim Darroch as UK Ambassador to the US.  The paper said the former ambassador was ill-advised in making clear he thought Mr. Johnson was responsible for his exit. 

The Times says what it calls Sir Kim’s ‘clumsy ejection’ suggests the ‘only way to gain the year of the President (Trump) is to flatter him’.   This, its leader concludes is a ‘miscalculation’. 

Informatively, credence to the apparent Boris collusion is that he had had rough time just before the spill on Sir Kim and it ran against his public opinion standing which detracts or derails his chances to win.  The logic of ‘heads you lose and tails, you lose’ fits or might, finding factors to legitimise the accusation against him.

Beyond these, there is the wider global requirement to anticipate (i) what a Boris success to the premiership for Britain; (ii) relations with Europe; (iii) Britain’s own internal political and governance; and (iv) globally: (i) he will be a sitting Duck, the Tories would be splintered as Farage has taken away a chunk already; (ii)the EU does not him; (iii) stability would limp at best and opting for a snap elections would be fool-hardy because the Party would be routed and the history is that it is a Party that takes longest out after losing power; and a Labour government would, its leadership not fully embraced yet, would shilly-shally on “deal” or “no deal” with the EU.  That spells aggravating the uncertainty or chaos on whichever key between high and low in Britain; (iv) the outcome either way is a cut-price Prime Minister about whom the world would be wary.

My hunch is that of the ‘now is the time for all men of goodwill to come to the aid of…’  It may not come to that precisely; but the Commonwealth would be handy to intervene from the back.  The organisation after all needs self-regeneration desperately, I think.  No one thought Britain would have left both a vacuum and becoming distant, abandoning to lead this mini-UN.  The sad aspect is Geoffrey Rippon promised the African Commonwealth that he had achieved opening as much as 256 new markets for them as Britain joined the EU.

 I was there when he delivered that triumphal speech [Britain’s third time lucky, finally breaking into the EU, former French President Gen. Charles de Gaulle having stumped the application to join twice previously; and oh! as if destiny commanded, the Prime Minister then was Edward Heath who had led the first negotiations, beginning of the 60s, which fell through] at Lancaster House on a typical British staccato-drizzle-weather morning.

While on that recall, it is worth saying the Mail it was which had questioned in a stinker the necessity for the Commonwealth Secretariat 1965 as proposed by President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and endorsed by its Summit at Malborough House.  The same issue asked who the first Secretary General Canadian-born Arnold Smith thought of himself and the Secretariat asking a few things to be transferred by the British Foreign Office to the Secretariat.  “What does he think he is presiding over– the United Nations”? , the paper asked.  I am taking this line of thinking to facilitate examine what made the paper accept to publish the leaked despatch, being classified and throw up connections between the newspaper and Boris on the one hand and discomfort the idea of the Commonwealth to the rescue, if……..

Any way the results should decide the options by the close of 25th July 2019.

(c) Prof. nana essilfie-conduah.    

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