How short are people's memories - Back in June 1987, two days before Mr Trumps 41st birthday - 32 years ago, the then president of the USA, President Ronald Reagan gave a stirring and scathing speech at the Berlin wall "Tear down this wall Mr Gorbichof " - he implored. Two years later, in November 1989, the Border was open and two years after that, 30 years after it was built, it was torn down.
Walls are divisive by nature. More than 136 people are known to have died, trying to cross the Berlin wall and many more besides who are unaccounted for. It divided families, husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends. It was the cause of much heart-ache and untold misery for so many.
It was constructed out of paranoia - out of fear, by the Soviet Union. The ideological bully, perhaps reminiscent of Mr Netanyarhu and the Israeli West Bank Wall - of course, walls don't solve problems, they merely postpone them - or closer to home, the schoolyard - "you''re not cool enough to be in our gang" - but translated, actually means, "I don't want you in our gang because you might be better than me." It is all about fear, the fear of the bullies! Walls - physical of psychological - the inability to listen, let alone except that there might be something better or even comprehend the attitude of "I could be wrong" - so we go on mixing with the people who agree with us and hold the same view as us, so we further consolidate and justify our draconian and backward thinking ways. All the time ignoring the desperate human needs of others, our fellow human beings.
"Screw you - I am OK thank-you - but if I help you I might have less - so screw you!"
When you think about it like this, you get to realise it is "stone age man" thinking. And what accelerated civilisation was the swapping of ideas and listening and appreciating the thoughts of others.
On this side of the pond, we have a different set of circumstances with uncanny parallels. As the U.S. is consumed by Trump, his imaginary nirvana wall and the "Shut Down", so we in the UK are by "Brexit".
At the beginning of last week, a conservative Member of Parliment (the US equivalent of a Republican Representative) - Anna Soubry, was shoved, obstructed and jostled and called a Fascist and a Nazi as she tried to enter the parliament buildings - why? Because she is in favour of staying in the European Union. The "Far Left and Far Right" bullies are at work all over the world and the UK and the USA are no exception. All extremists are driven by fear and imagined fear at that. The sadness for the USA is that you have one of those Bullies running your country, or at least trying to.
Bullies are spread throughout the world - perhaps that is one definition of civilisation - Standing up to Bullies? If we didn't - we would be cowed beings, helpless and without a voice and democracy would never have taken off. So "Hope" is the word of the day. Perhaps patience also, coupled with a fearless determination to fight for the right. Trump will pass and history and the Human race will judge him.
The United Kingdom is the 5th largest economy in the world, and that is only because we had the industrious people with a work ethic to drive the economy. And, ironically for the hard-line Brexiteers, we attracted those people who helped drive our economy to such heights because of our membership of the European Union, which has a mandate for Free Movement of people within the EU - which is a bone of contention for the misguided. They want their cake and eat it - and still, don't realise they can't have it both ways. To be fair to them, they don't really understand because they, being professional politicians, most of them have not had jobs that create jobs and wealth for the country.
We all know that the EU is far from perfect, but it is surely much easier to fix things from within. But if you leave, you have extinguished all chances of rectifying, what is, like most institutions, an imperfect organisation. But what is work and constant improvement about if it is not about trying to improve and make things better?
David Cameron, the last Prime minister, was a conservative, and because twenty to thirty percent of the conservative party was anti the EU and wanted to leave, through desperation to keep his party united, he agreed to hold a national referendum. We should all be careful what we wish for and of passing the Buck. Arguably, if the EU had been a little more understanding and supportive of Mr Cameron in his pre-negotiation, we may not have ended up here, but as it played out; they weren't. With the benefit of hindsight, that could prove a very expensive mistake for the EU.
The Pro EU campaign, led by Messrs Cameron and Osborne was negative, unimaginative, lacklustre and centred on fear. It didn't help that the pro leaving lobby, led by Boris Johnston and Nigel Farage, exaggerated and told outright lies and made outlandish promises that they could not possibly keep. Nor that the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr Corbyn, who professed to be pro-EU was actually anti-EU and kept stum throughout the campaign.
However, the population of the UK, by a narrow majority decided when poled, to leave the EU. A surprising and somewhat disastrous result for the whole country. David Cameron, utterly defeated, feeling his position untenable, rightly or wrongly, duly resigned and the vacuum was filled by Teresa May, our current Prime Minister.
If any Prime Minister has ever inherited a poisoned challis, Brexit was it. That was Cameron's gift to the incoming PM.
To some, leaving the EU represents a bold and fresh new start where we can wind back the clock to the colonial days when Britain ruled the waves and we took no truck with Johnny foreigner at our border.
To others, if ever there was a case of a powerful country shooting itself in the proverbial foot - The UK had just done it.
Some believe the future is bright, unfettered by petty EU regulations, while others look out bleakly, likening the UK to that irrelevant country it once was, beset by debt, unemployment and raging inflation, as in the 1970s.
Poor old Teresa May, our stoic, tenacious to the end, embattled Prime minister has negotiated the best deal with the EU that she can. Of course, it is far from perfect - but this is a divorce, not a marriage. Consequently, because we have become such a fractiously, divided country, No one is very happy about their lot. But that is the essence of negotiation - compromise.
As all good negotiators will know, except Mr Trump it seems, the success is understanding what other peoples "red lines" are, and of course your own and acknowledging that everyone will need to compromise. So this process is as much, if not more about walking in other's shoes as it is about getting what you want. It is about deep listening and understanding and common sense, and the art of persuasion. But when dealing with so many factions, so many red lines, it becomes highly complex and ultimately controversial, because it becomes impossible to please everyone. So there are bound to be disgruntled parties who dislike any compromise, particularly when they feel it is on one of their red lines that have been sacrificed on the altar of making the deal.
So, here we are on this side of the pond, wondering if our Members of Parliment are going to step up to the plate and do what is best for the country, stick their pride in their back pocket, compromise and make a deal or will they succumb to their own petty but no doubt deeply held prejudices and bring this country to its knees? And believe it or not, some actually favour a Hard Brexit. Perhaps they know something the rest of us don't.
We will have to wait and see. My fervent hope is that common sense will prevail in the end, even if we don't get Teresa May's deal, which looks unlikely, we will take a middle ground and perhaps rejoin the European Free Trade Association - (EFTA). Ignoring the extreme views of the far left and right, my feeling is that there are enough sensible MP's from all party's, who could come together and make a deal that is in the interest of all the UK. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump, hoisted on his own petard of a divisive wall, knows that if he buckles in any way, he has lost his presidency. He has gambled and it looks like he will not be able to win now, possibly he could find a way of scoring a draw, but his credibility has crumbled and I don't see it is recoverable. So I predict that the remaining two years of his presidency will be full of acrimonious squabbles and bickering with not much forward movement. That is if he has not been forced to vacate the White House before then.
Finally, it strikes me as ironic, that the two countries in the modern world, who stuck together and fought for the ideal of freedom and stood up against tyranny and sacrificed so many lives of their children in order to champion these ideas. These two country's who fought through two world wars together and many other battles since, in order to keep the light of freedom and hope burning in the world; both begin their countries titles with "United" when in fact, they have never been so disunited, just when the world really needs them together and United the most.
I am not sure what happens next in our world, but I do know we are in desperate need of sensible, strong, balanced, compassionate leadership. Leadership that brings us together and points us in a direction of friendship and understanding. The optimistic kind of leadership, driven by the values that brought us together and made us great, leadership that exemplifies our truth, our determination and our love. This is worth fighting for, so don't lose heart - Trump and Brexit will soon just be dark blobs in the annals of history. All is going to be well, We still have Hope.
Happy January. Richard Summers - Suffolk UK
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