The absurdity of American politics

I suppose to some extent we have all been unduly influenced by America. For me it started when the Marines gave us rides in open top Jeeps and packets of delicious tasting chewing gum during World War II. From then on we were bombarded with the Los Angeles culture in movies and then television and the obsession continues as exhibited by the Auckland glitterati who were fawning over Quentin Tarantino when he paid us a flying visit last week.

My own ongoing fascination is probably influenced by a lifelong subscription to Time magazine and as a result I have perhaps an unhealthy interest in American politics. Time arrives weekly and has become more liberal in its editorial stance over the years. To balance this I watch Fox News which is about as conservative as you can get. So I run with the hares and hunt with the hounds.

I have learnt that the race for the American presidential nomination is bizarre. At the time of writing the Democratic nominee may well be extreme left wing socialist Bernie Sanders who is polling ahead of Hilary Clinton in the crucial primary states. Sanders catch-cry “I don’t believe that the men and women who defended American democracy fought to create a situation where billionaires own the political process” has resonated and he has raised millions for his campaign through small donations.

Meanwhile Ms Clinton is apparently losing favour with young American women voters, many of whom weren’t even born at the time of her husband’s dalliances with Ms Lewinsky and other previous trysts. It seems they are not impressed that she stood by her man, Tammy Wynette style, instead of ditching him as modern womanhood decrees.

Bill’s appearances at her rallies can therefore be a two-edged sword.

On the other side of the great divide the likely Republican nominee is ultra-conservative Donald Trump who is despised by the mainstream media, but against all odds is becoming a champion of the hoi polloi.

Surprisingly Trump has supported both the Democratic and Republican parties in the past and therefore believes he will get bipartisan support, but he has upset so many minority sectors of the population it’s hard to imagine that he would be electable. Being unpopular however is apparently a blessing for contestants. His nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, is said to be “hated” by his fellow senators, but he wears this as a badge of honour to prove he is not one of the establishment politicos.

You can’t believe in a country of 300 million inhabitants these aspirants are the best options to take charge of the biggest economy on earth. The Republicans have put up a coterie of credible candidates including businesswoman Carly Fiorina, one-time CEO of Hewlett Packard, Ben Carson a personable African-American neurosurgeon and young Cuban-American Florida Senator Marco Rubio, all of whom seem to possess the hallmarks of presidential leadership. But against the populous Trump pronouncements they aren’t making any traction.

Also in the line-up of the potential Republican candidates is Jeb Bush. If he’s nominated and elected that means three Bush presidents.

The other two hardly set the world on fire - although on reflection George W. very nearly did.

“There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.” - Alexis de Tocqueville

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Swimming against the tide - again

I never did get David Bowie. I totally accept that this is my fault and not Mr Bowie’s. I didn’t even know how to pronounce his name correctly until he died. I thought the bow was as in lowering the head or upper body as a social gesture and found out instead that it was as in bow tie.

So his son’s name rhymes with Chloe.

Countless millions worldwide considered him one of the greatest artists of all time; his undoubted talent passed by me unnoticed.

I did try to get an understanding. I watched a 90 minute tribute to him on Prime Rocks last week. At the end of the programme I was more confused than ever.

I guess my problem is that I was brought up on a diet of the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. These two didn’t have gimmicks; just nice voices. Notice I didn’t say they didn’t need gimmicks, that would be too unkind during this period of mourning.

My uncle had a purebred Pointer named “Bing.” He reckoned when he whined he sounded like the celebrated crooner. I’m not sure who would feel the most demeaned - the dog or Crosby.

But honestly Bowie’s voice did not have a particularly pleasant sound. Cast back to the likes of Eddie Fisher, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Perry Como, Bobby Darin, Matt Munro, Julio Iglesias, Guy Mitchell, Pat Boone, Vic Damone, Mel Torme, Jim Reeves, Harry Connick Jr; even Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. Bowie wouldn’t feature on this list.

Mind you, neither would Ringo Star or even Paul McCartney.

Last weeks’ Time magazine, published just prior to his death, said Bowie’s voice had a “dry metallic timbre”. Hardly flattering, so was it the lyrics that made him such an international icon?

I Googled Bowie’s lyrics. In a song called Moonage Daydream, from the celebrated Ziggy Stardust album, I found this opening stanza:

I’m an alligator,
I’m a mama-papa comin’ for you
I’m the space invader,
I’ll be a rock’n’rolling bitch for you
Keep your mouth shut,
You’re squawking like a pink monkey bird
And I’m busting up my brains for the words.

He suffered a severe eye injury when a friend punched him at school. This left him with an unconventional facial feature and people seriously began to wonder if he was from another world. After reading these lyrics, apparently totally acceptable to the rank and file, I’m starting to think that I’m on the wrong planet. They are like the peace of God; they pass all understanding. 

Time also said: “Bowie wrote hard-driving, angst-ridden songs.” This week, in a more sombre mood, I’m sure they’ll be more charitable.

So if it’s not the voice and it’s not the words then it must be the melody, though I don’t recall anyone ever whistling a David Bowie tune.

David Bowie smoked, drank, and took drugs; a typical diet for so many celebrities for whom fame and fortune still doesn’t seem to quell relentless ambition.

A close relative tweeted: “I love that Bowies death was massive news that resonated globally. Means we have our priorities right.”

The whole world, except me.

“I’ve never responded well to entrenched negative thinking” - David Bowie

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Going against the trend

Warning: This column will offend believers in global warming and papal infallibility. Although I never joined the flat earth society and stopped believing in Father Christmas when closed-door log fires came into vogue I tend to be a sceptic on climate change. I recall how the boffins from the now extinct Wairarapa Catchment Board warned us back in 1986 that the sea at Riverdale was encroaching towards the land at the rate of a metre a year. This caused the District Council to declare a hazard zone on the beachfront houses which lowered their values considerably at the time.

Thirty years on and the last time I looked the waves were still breaking in the same place as they were in 1956 when I was a member of the surf lifesaving club at Riversdale. Australian climate change denier Trevor Sykes, who writes under the pseudonym Pierpont, reckons he’s not going to worry about sea level rises until Al Gore moves from his shoreline mansion and shifts to higher ground.

Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore, who resigned from the organisation because of its slavish belief in global warming, says the science is not settled and contrary to media headlines there have been no significant warming trends in the twenty-first century. “We don’t deny the climate is changing; it always has and it always will,” Moore says, but he reckons to use the word “climate change deniers” is mean-spirited “Because it intentionally links us to people who deny the holocaust.”

Perhaps the world’s number one climate change denier however is Professor Ian Plimer, an Australian geologist whose recent book “Heaven and Hell” advised Pope Francis on the subject. Plimer says that by equating moral virtue with green left political ideology the Pope is at risk of condemning the world’s poor to eternal poverty and should not have allowed himself to be advised by green activists who have shown they are “mean, treacherous, shameless liars, who are vulgar, cowardly, anti-environmental and ignorant.”

Climate change fears will certainly have had poverty outcomes for people on the west coast of the South Island and Huntly where our once profitable coal industry sites have been shut down.

Since the alarmist International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports began coming out they have prompted substantial scientific research into climate subjects. Some research published is at odds with the IPCC computer predictions. In 2007 for example alarmists were saying the Arctic would be ice-free by 2013. Instead the Arctic summer ice stopped retreating and has begun advancing again. The European Space Agency has reported that the Arctic sea ice increased by 33 percent in 2013 and 2014.

And so it begs the question: Was the UN Climate Change Convention held in Paris last month a great waste of time and money? Probably not for the thousands who went. The first-class air-fares, top quality accommodation, and copious amounts of food and drink would have been a compelling reason to attend.

And another gem from Pierpont: “When Al Gore was born, the world’s estimated population of polar bears was 7000. Now it’s 26,000.”



Says it all really.

“Global warming - at least the modern nightmare vision of it - is a myth. I am sure of it and so are a growing number of scientists. But what is really worrying is that the world’s politicians and policy makers are not” - David Bellamy

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