US elections

Trump’s Carter-shaped omen might keep SA’s foot in the US door

For the first time in 40 years, on Tuesday night a US presidential debate was televised from Cleveland, Ohio. Since this debate is scheduled for just after the deadline for this column, it is impossible to know if the result of it will move the dial on the outcome of the election on November 3. [...]

By |2020-10-14T08:13:54+00:00October 14th, 2020|Donald Trump, US elections|0 Comments

Poetic justice in the way court-stacking is so often foiled

Back in the early 1930s, SA, perhaps in echo of those times, had a Hitler-admiring, German-speaking minister of justice. History does not remember kindly, or perhaps at all, the name of Oswald Pirow. Still, in the momentous drama of events in the US following the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last weekend, [...]

By |2020-09-27T07:56:57+00:00September 27th, 2020|Donald Trump, US elections, World Politics|0 Comments

In the US, it’s dog-whistle Daddy against a soft Mommy

At the Republican national convention, the keynote speaker on its first night delivered a thunderous address. He declared: "This election is about who we are. It is about what we believe and what we stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war, as critical [...]

By |2020-08-30T07:46:25+00:00August 30th, 2020|Donald Trump, US elections|0 Comments

Getting sick from Covid-19 might help us bin political fantasies

On the issue of the widening and constriction of our sovereign borders, the propulsive fuel for populists far and wide, the virus is a global crisis, though infection rates and governmental responses differ widely.  US President Donald Trump’s cry of “America First” and Boris Johnson’s “take back control” Brexit had winning voter appeal. Writing in [...]

By |2020-03-10T07:03:23+00:00March 10th, 2020|American Politics, Opinion, US elections|0 Comments

As Covid-19 threatens the Trump roadshow, an anxious world watches

It is both uniquely national, even intensely parochial on any given day, and yet it really matters hugely to the world, even here, beset though we are with our own problems. I refer to the current spectacle of the US presidential election, which still has nearly eight months to go until voting day on November [...]

By |2020-03-04T07:14:53+00:00March 4th, 2020|Donald Trump, US elections|0 Comments

Gigaba can learn a trick or two from fellow liar Trump

The apparently reckless US president has mastered the art of blurting out falsehoods - particularly in the witness box Here’s a teaser as political enthusiasts absorb the results this morning of the hugely significant midterm elections for control of the US Congress. What is the difference between embattled local home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba and [...]

So much for the ‘new dawn’: SA silent on Mideast atrocities

In the face of a murderous Assad and possible war in the region, our response has been tepid and fearful Two events of global significance occurred this week. On Tuesday, in the US, President Donald Trump signalled his decision not to apply a further waiver on sanctions against Iran, thus resiling from the nuclear deal and [...]

By |2018-05-09T11:45:36+00:00May 9th, 2018|Cyril Ramaphosa, Donald Trump, US elections|0 Comments

Trump’s dream has come true — now for swamp-draining, walls and wars

Tony Leon: The president-elect might pay little attention to SA or tear up key treaties in order to ‘make America great again Karl Marx was right and Thomas Friedman was wrong. That’s one of the "huge" — to use one of US president-elect Donald J Trump’s favourite words — consequences of Wednesday’s US electoral earthquake. [...]

By |2016-11-10T19:32:09+00:00November 10th, 2016|Brexit, Donald Trump, US elections|0 Comments

The Big Read: Cheap-seat tweets expose Trump as the ultimate hack

Two events last Friday morning, oceans and several time zones apart, remind us that politicians embrace the full spectrum of the ethical universe. First up, literally since it was predawn, were the intemperate, vituperative and ranting tweets - starting at 3am - of US presidential candidate Donald J Trump. These were on heavyweight matters: on [...]

By |2016-10-05T10:27:26+00:00October 5th, 2016|International Politics, US elections, World Politics|0 Comments

Tregernomics: An Interview with Tony Leon

Tony Leon is a major figure in South African politics. He became the leader of the Democratic Party in 1994, and over the next five years, he helped grow it into South Africa’s second largest party, making him Leader of the Opposition. He held this role for several years until 2007, keeping the ruling African [...]

By |2016-10-05T10:48:09+00:00October 3rd, 2016|International Politics, US elections, World Politics|0 Comments
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