Meanwhile, across the Atlantic....

In this, probably my last post of 2011, I thought I'd comment on something that's been keeping me bemused over the past few months - the antics of the contenders lining up for the Republican nomination in the USA. It's not something that has had a lot of coverage in the UK media but, through the internet, it's been interesting tapping into a few US news sources. As an apparently weak and vacillating President Barack Obama struggles on, US governance and policy-making has recently been described as "less stable, less effective and less predictable than it once was". It is obviously in everyone's interests - and I do mean everyone's - that the man in the Whitehouse is of the highest calibre: how do the Republican hopefuls measure up?
It's only a few days before the Iowa caucuses (and I can't pretend to understand fully the caucus/primary system) but all I seem to read about is talk of who is up in the polls, who is down, who has made the latest gaffe and who is the most conservative candidate of them all. To a distant observer like me, they are all saying absolutely nothing of substance. None of them has articulated a vision for the future that seems to be in line with what I perceive most Americans want. Stripped of the rhetoric, the stark central choice they are offering boils down to regression versus progress. And the more regressive the policies, the louder their supporters cheer.
The contenders will keep up their farcical jousting until the presidential race begins in earnest next year. And with what result? The former US president Harry S Truman once remarked "Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better". From where I sit, I can't see any of the Republican contenders matching this description: unfortunately it pains me to write that I'm not certain that Barack Obama does either. And I don't think we can look to the UK for exemplars: no doubt I'll be ranting about that in 2012. Now there's something for you to look forward to!