When people talk in terms of making a country great again, I am never sure to what historical period they are referring.
In the case of US President Donald Trump does he mean the period when North American whites were killing Indians and stealing their land, or killing Mexicans and stealing their land, or using captive Africans as slave labour, or what?
What is greatness?
There are disturbing parallels between the rise of Donald Trump in the 21st century and the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 20th. They both used populist rabble-rousing speeches to get into power; both used unpopular religions as scapegoats (Jews in the case of Hitler, Moslems in the case of Trump) and both attacked the freedom of the press.
They both thought that the path to glory lay in building up a huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. In Hitler’s case the idea backfired and destroyed him and - temporarily - his country. In Trump’s case we have to wait and see.
It is good for British people to be on friendly terms with American people but the thought of a 'special relationship' between the UK Government and this particular President makes my blood run cold.
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