Sir, – There will be no “soft landing” for the ego and nastiness of the US president-elect, and no one can pretend to expect one. Mr Trump has deliberately exploited the honest difficulty of millions of decent striving struggling American citizens to be their next president. He has made promises he certainly will not keep. Every US president must uphold the ordinary principles of human decency and yield to the law of the land. I believe that Mr Trump is utterly incapable of doing so. I would be amazed if his inevitable misconduct does not result in his impeachment. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DEASY,
Carrigart,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – During our recent financial crash, the global policy was to privatise the profits and socialise the losses of financial institutions. This resulted in hardship and loss of income for all except a protected elite.
These chickens are now coming home to roost, as evidenced by recent political upheavals and disenchantment with “the establishment” . – Yours, etc,
AILBHE MURRAY,
Cabinteely,Dublin 18.
Sir, – Two days after his inauguration in January 2007, Barrack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantánamo Bay. Current inmates of the detention facility must rue the gap between presidential ambition and the reality of power. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Vienna.
Sir, – While I share the immense disappointment of many at the election of Donald J Trump to the office of president of the United States, I do not share their surprise.
We were put on notice by Brexit that many Western electorates are so thoroughly disillusioned with the establishment that they would support any disruptive cause or candidate. And the vitriolic reaction of many anti-Trump media figures to this democratic election reveals that, perhaps inadvertently, they are part of the problem, not the solution.
Two aspects of this reaction have been particularly counter-productive. First, prophecies of immediate social and economic meltdown merely erode trust in the media when they don’t transpire. A Nobel prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, speculated that the plunging markets would “never” recover from this shock. He was out by infinity minus two hours, with the Dow Jones then hitting a record high the following day. Second, the characterisation of Trump voters as racist, bigoted or misogynist is an extremely alienating generalisation. There is probably no better way to lose a voter than to tell them that they are racist. An equivalent generalisation would be to cast all Hillary supporters as callous warmongers, given her senior position in an administration that has used drone strikes extensively, with fatal consequences for many innocents, including children.
It is far more likely that economic self-interest was the primary motivation for a Trump vote, however misguided.
We risk permanently losing another generation to demagogues if we do not address the increasing gap between rich and poor.
A failure to appreciate why these choices were made by the US and UK electorate will continue to polarise opinion, and ensure that the fractures exposed by these results become trenches. – Yours, etc,
BARRY FLANAGAN,
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Sir, – A property mogul bribes the masses to win power. Within 25 years the republic has been replaced by tyrannical dictatorship. Of course that’s Marcus Licinius Crassus and the Roman consular elections of 70 BC.
Interestingly, the career and life of Crassus ended in an ill-advised war in the Middle East, and some accounts have it that his enemies poured molten gold into his mouth as a symbol of his thirst for wealth. Bigly. – Yours, etc,
BARRY DEVON,
Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Lara Marlowe asks “how could nearly a third of Hispanics vote for Trump?” (“Political anger spreads in western democracies”, November 10th).
Illegal and unrestricted migration supplies American and European elites with low-wage waiters, cleaners, labourers, etc. These people then compete with existing workers for housing and healthcare. This explains why so many legal immigrants supported Mr Trump in the US and Brexit in the UK. Meanwhile, the politically correct media and conventional politicians prefer to look the other way. – Yours, etc,
KARL MARTIN,
Bayside, Dublin 13.
Sir, – It is unlikely that Donald Trump or his supporters will worry about The Irish Times, but it was still depressing to read your thunderings at the result.
He’s a “brash property and entertainment mogul”, whose presidency will be “painful and horrifying viewing”, said your front page. “The United Hates of America raised its middle finger”, shouted your columnist, Fintan O’Toole.
Your editorial was breathtakingly condescending, with the writer quoting an “expert” branding the US a “rogue superpower”. The vast bulk of letters published reflected this perspective.
I happen to like the Americans and admire much of what they have made of their country, especially thorough their electoral system. I do not like Donald Trump: there’s no requirement to do so. I do accept that 59.4 million Americans are as discerning as the rest of us, and had their eyes wide open as they made their choice.
I respect that choice. So should your newspaper. – Yours, etc,
MICK SHERIDAN,
Bray, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I wouldn’t have voted for Donald Trump in a million years. Nevertheless it is depressing to note that, just as in its response to Brexit, the Left is determined to learn absolutely nothing from the experience. – Yours, etc,
C LYNCH,
Castletroy, Limerick.