ANOTHER articulate and well thought-out article by Pat Kane in Saturday’s edition (There’s an obvious question being asked this week: Is Trump a fascist?, July 20). One of the few writers who has me reaching for the dictionary!
I would agree with the argument that we have to be cautious in ascribing the epithet “fascist” to Donald Trump, not wanting to be seen to be lessening the crimes of the fascist dictators of the 20th century such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.
READ MORE: Donald Trump: there’s an obvious question – is he a fascist?
However, a counter-argument would be the speed with which those on the right, particularly in the US, label those who are deemed to be even slightly left-leaning, or who promote socially conscious policies, as “communists”. This is something we can accuse Donald Trump of. And whilst it is true that Mr Trump is not in nearly the same mould as Adolf Hitler, it is worth bearing in mind there was a difference in extremity between the likes of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini; Joseph Stalin and Ho Chi Minh; or going back further, Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton.
READ MORE: When racist chants poll well, what hope is there for the US?
And is it just me, or is there something scary in the two pictures of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump in Saturday’s paper (pages 7 and 19 respectively), showing both men adopting a pugilistic stance? Does this mean they are prepared to use force to get their way? As someone who advocates non-violence and the path of peace (Mahatma Gandhi said: “There are many causes that I am prepared to die for, but no causes that I am prepared to kill for.”), I find this aggressive posturing very worrying.
Solomon Steinbett
Glasgow
IN America if a politician abuses women verbally and is considered to have a questionable reputation in his physical relationships with women in his past, they still call him Mr President, and may yet re-elect him, despite his behaviour having at the very least brought the USA in international respects to a new low. In the UK if a politician shows himself to be incompetent and destructive, deserts his large family for another women, then has a drunken row with her sufficiently public to involve the police, he is likely to be shoe-horned into the post of Prime Minister.
In Scotland we do things differently. If it is alleged that a politician put an unwanted hand on one of the opposite sex he is immediately cast into the outer darkness. Though he lifted Scotland to a new level of self-respect internationally and in terms of our respect for one another did much to liberalise our attitudes, his achievements have been forgotten.
He has not left his wife with a family to care for, he never asked people who made Scotland their home to go away, and is not known to be a drunk in public. I am sure history will come to a more fair assessment of Alex Salmond, whom I fear has become a victim of the British establishment. He had become a threat to their hegemony.
The mention of the establishment has reminded me of a BBC programme that traced the geneaology of Boris. He was related to one of the King Georges whom he resembles in appearance and manner. He is therefore related to the Queen. Is this behind the talk of proroguing Parliament? The fact that the American president is a fan of royalty too comes to mind. I am not a believer in conspiracy theories, but if such a concatenation of personalities was allowed free rei(g)n we might end up released from all their baleful influences. The happy thought is that a free Scotland could elect Alex Salmond as its first president. He deserves it.
Iain WD Forde
Scotlandwell
PLEASE warn Alison McAdam (Letters, July 20) not to approach BBC-TVL, especially if she is legally licence free (LLF).
The best tactic (www.tvlicenceresistance.info/forum) is stealth. Have nothing to do with them. Make them do the hard work of establishing that you exist and then trying to figure out whether you are LLF or an evader. They will spend a fortune sending you monthly “threatograms” which you should treat as trophies. Pin them up on your toilet wall.
Remember that Lord Reith tried to starve us of the oxygen of publicity. Now, let us starve his organisation of the oxygen of information.
Name and address supplied
CONGRATULATIONS to Shane Lowry on winning the Open Championship. Another great achievement for a small, confident, independent nation. I love it when Ireland or other small nations show what is possible. It infuriates me that there are still people in this country who think that we would not thrive as an independent nation.
C Tainsh
via email
A GREAT week for Scottish golf thanks to Calum Hill and Robert MacIntyre. We shouldn’t forget Martin Laird’s closing 63 for joint 6th in the Uspga’s Barbasol tournament, as he fights to keep his card for about the 12th year running on the American tour.
Alastair Mcleish
via email
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