Sir, – Having waded through much of the angst-filled hand-wringing of Irish writers on the election of Donald Trump (“President Trump: Irish writers have their say”, November 10th), I wondered where all that tear-sodden passion has been this past few decades as the ideology that created homelessness, despair and deprivation for many gained ground. Do they really not understand why so many voted for change – any change? – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Sir, – There’s one significant difference between the Brexit result and the outcome of the US presidential election. On June 23rd, the Leave side won that ballot by a straight majority of 1,269,501 votes. So the ballot of an unemployed plasterer in Bolton carried exactly the same impact as that of a well-off stock trader in the City of London. It’s that absolute equality of franchise that conferred moral legitimacy on the Brexit result.
By contrast, Hillary Clinton actually beat Donald Trump last Tuesday in terms of the popular vote. But because of the ridiculous electoral college system, Mr Trump is president-elect. It’s the ultimate electoral anachronism, dating back to a century when it just seemed more practical to send a handful of “electors” riding on horseback to the nation’s capital to announce who’d “won” their state. It’s almost as idiotic as the UK’s “first past the post” system for Westminster seats.
All over the US, protests are taking place against Mr Trump’s victory. Instead those protests ought ideally to be targeted at the unfairness of the electoral college voting system, without which Mrs Clinton would be president on January 20th. Otherwise it makes the protesters appear as bad losers, akin to the large gathering of Remoaners that assembled in London for a collective whinge in late June. – Yours, etc,
RONAN SCANLAN,
Leopardstown,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – E Pluribus Unum, Latin for "out of many, one", appears on US coins, currency, and in other places.
It is no longer the official US national motto! That honour was given to “In God We Trust” in 1956.
It would appear the American people chose the wrong “one”, “out of many”
God help them! – Yours, etc,
DAMIEN CARROLL,
Kingswood,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – First we had Brexit. Now we have Trump. Are Le Pen and Wilders next? We have everything to fear – even fear itself. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK O’BYRNE,
Phibsborough,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Some object to Donald Trump’s use of the word “bigly”. But do they realise that the use of “bigly” dates back some 500 years? If indeed it is the word used by the future president of the United States, then his only crime is that he misunderstood its meaning. I say “if” it is the word used, as there are some who think that the new leader of the free world actually has rather poor diction, and that what he was trying to say was “big league”. However, sadly this still does not exonerate him, as “big league” started life as a noun, has since been turned into an adjective, but now it would appear for the first time it is being used, in public, as an adverb. – Yours, etc,
ANNE STRAHAN,
Ballynonty,
Co Tipperary.
Sir, – Lara Marlowe is clearly overwrought at the outcome of the US presidential election (“The world has just become a more dangerous place”, Analysis, November 9th).
With the re-run of the Austrian presidential election due next month, followed by elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands next year, may I suggest that it might be wise for your Paris correspondent to start preparing that darkened room? – Yours, etc,
CONOR O’BRIEN,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – Anne Enright’s analysis of the US presidential vote was almost comically self-righteous (“Donald Trump is ‘the male president of the United States’”, Opinion & Analysis, November 10th). In its pseudo-Freudian huffing and puffing, it displayed the kind of inability to grasp why Trump succeeded that has marked nearly all of the professional commentariat. Enright reduced the loss of Hillary Clinton to its basest level. She is in complete denial about the fact that something like noble motives may have had more to do with it for the American people than simplistic accounts of “misogyny”. Enright, like others in her “cultured class” just do not get it. The people are rejecting the new priesthood of elites, something which Enright might wake up to soon. – Yours, etc,
DAVID MULLINS,
Arklow,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Hail to the creep. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW LAWLOR,
Delvin,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – With Donald Trump’s victory, will we see the first instance of the family of a Caucasian billionaire moving into publicly funded housing, recently vacated by an African-American family? – Yours, etc,
DAMA CUNNINGHAM,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – It amazes me the tone used by so many people describing the US election results. The very same people who voted for Barack Obama, and who at that time were described as intelligent, progressive, etc, are now ignorant and racist.
This vote was obvious to anyone who has been paying attention to the decline of life in America, where opioids and crystal meth are gripping most American towns and cities in what can only be described as an epidemic, where violent crime is on the increase in every Democrat-run city, and where police feel the government is out to get them, not protect and support them.
The people have had enough of being patronised, or listening to presidential candidates who describe anyone who supports Mr Trump as “deplorable”.
Instead of name-calling, perhaps those who are upset with the election result should reflect on the disaster that was Mr Obama’s presidency, and learn to listen to people and their concerns, instead of just labelling them as racist and ignorant. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT COOPER,
Causeway Bay,
Hong Kong.
Sir, – As an apolitical observer of the US elections, it strikes me that the biggest shock in the Trump victory is that he won despite having very little support from the "fourth estate". He was up against the might of the New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC, CNN, etc. Perhaps if traditional media outlets are to remain relevant and survive the new revolutions or movements around the world, they will need in future to present both sides of every campaign with more balance to avoid being labelled as another part of the "Establishment". – Yours, etc,
DECLAN O’DONOGHUE,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – When Donald Trump went low, the electorate went lower. Not all of the people, but too many. – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA MULKEEN,
Ballinfull, Sligo.
Sir, – The electoral victory of Donald Trump confirms that the United States will remain a republic. The prospects of a ruling family dynasty, in this case, the Clintons, has been cut short, just as had been that of the Bushes, the Kennedys, and the Roosevelts. – Yours, etc,
JOHN P McCARTHY, PhD
Professor Emeritus,
Fordham University,
New York.
Sir, – Donald Trump’s praise of Hillary Clinton, whom he promised to imprison, in his victory speech suggests that, in accordance with political tradition, many more of his campaign promises will be broken, much to the disappointment of his supporters. – Yours, etc,
TOM O’ROURKE,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – If anything positive can be salvaged from the US presidential result, perhaps it could be an opportunity for more tolerance, inclusiveness and kindness as a counter-measure to what we’ve heard. Ireland could very easily fall into the same aggressive politics where the very fabric of our democracy would be undermined. It is the responsibility of each of us not to tolerate hate and racism. We in Ireland could be a beacon of hope by the example we show. – Yours, etc,
ANNE MARIE MORAN,
Raheny, Dublin 5.
Sir, – The US election result has delivered a sharp lesson to the liberal elite. The most important debate is always between the rich and the poor – not between intellectuals. Clinton is still wealthy. Trump is still wealthy. Whether Clinton or Trump was elected a poor and unemployed person is still poor and unemployed. Those without power and privilege have diminished agency in our globalised world. A vote costs nothing. Go figure. – Yours, etc,
ALISON HACKETT,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir , – The snowflake generation is all for democracy until it smacks them in the face.
Drowning in the sounds of their own echo chamber, the entitled were always going to misjudge the sentiment of the working class and those of middle America. What’s all the more depressing is that in their post-election hangover, the fog has yet to rise, and their moment of clarity has yet to dawn upon them.
Like a drunk going through withdrawals and shaking with delirious spite, all those swing states in the US that voted in Barack Obama, not for one but two terms, are now labelled nothing more than rednecks and racists, worthy of only contempt.
The irony of the democracy-hating-democrats in labelling someone a misogynist, while on the other hand claiming a candidate has a rightful place as president due to her gender, is completely lost on them.
Crucially this was not lost on the women of America, who rose above a token vote based on gender and voted for an alternative to the establishment.
Liberals have always prided themselves on seeing beyond creed or colour, but if they fail to leave their “safe space”, how can they see beyond black and white? – Yours, etc,
GARY MURPHY,
Hamrun,
Malta.
Sir, – Writing recently about Brexit, Andrew Marr very wisely said that the vote boiled down to a simple question, “Are you happy with the way things are?” The British people answered no.
Trump v Clinton effectively boiled down to the same debate and with the same answer. The western world has been in a decade-long recession and only the extreme right is offering people a way out of their predicament. Meanwhile their opponents, whether Remain or Clinton, campaign on the awfulness and idiocy of people on the other side, with lamentably predictable results.
It is clear that anti extremists (I count myself among their number) must change tack and quickly. We must be proud of what we stand for and must make a virtue of our pluralism and open-minded values, not just attack (or try to imitate) the other side. Crucially we must propose solutions to the desperate – to offer economic hope to the poor and local power to the disenfranchised. Before it is too late. – Yours, etc,
JOHN COTTER,
Ferrybank,
Waterford.
Sir, – If Brexit is Brexit, that presumably means that Trump is Trump. But will it be a hard Trump or a soft one? – Yours, etc,
JOHN EOIN DOUGLAS,
Edinburgh.