Archive for the ‘USA’ Category
“Desperate for the Limelight” – in Britain Far Right Reform Recruits Dodgy Conservatives – bilious stomach cramps predicted
Dirty personalized politics are ugly.
A British Tory statement about their former colleague Suella Braverman (and recent government minister) stated she had mental health problems. Some trusting souls may believe party leader Kemi Badenoch and her colleagues sincerely regret that low blow. Possibly, if bad publicity becomes a serious difficulty, a very junior staffer will be blamed and sacrificed. But don’t hold your breath.
Let’s remind ourselves of a similar, and famous, Lyndon Baines Johnson dirty trick which allegedly crushed an election opponent in 1950’s Texas.
“Christ, we can’t get away with calling him a pig-fucker,” the campaign manager protested.
“Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that”. “I know,” Johnson replied. “But let’s make the son of a bitch deny it.”
LBJ let the son of a bitch deny it dirty trick hoax
LBJ went on to greater things and became President of the USA in 1963 after John F Kennedy was assassinated.
Very little political substance divides the Badenoch tories and the Nigel Farage reformites.
A correspondent notes “Suella Braverman is clearly a bloody awful figure but (it is) a low blow for the Tory leadership to comment on her mental health.” “The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health” is all a bit “she looks tired.” Braverman is a careerist racist. That’s more than enough to criticise.”
Mainstream British politics is in deep sewers.
This sludge has dangerous implications for Ireland. As things stand now Reform is on course to win the next British general election in 2029.
Read the rest of this entry »Donald Trump deploys US diplomats in Paris to threaten magistrate handling a corruption case against fascist politician Marine Le Pen
This story comes from the reliable source Le Monde, and is appearing on the public TV network.
Trump already has serious criminal convictions imposed by USA courts. Are French courts going to issue warrants for the arrest of the US president?
US official lobbied French magistrate over Le Pen’s election ban
The magistrate, Magali Lafourcade, said she was sufficiently concerned by the encounter to notify the foreign ministry.
PARIS — A senior policy adviser from the U.S. State Department asked a French magistrate last year whether she could interveneover the election ban on far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
The previously unreported details of the encounter will refocus attention on U.S. efforts to support the European far right. U.S. President Donald Trump has slammed the electoral ban against Le Pen as an example of using “Lawfare to silence Free Speech.”
French magistrate Magali Lafourcade told POLITICO that she and a colleague held a meeting in May with State Department adviser Samuel Samson, who made headlines last year for proposing the use of American taxpayer funds to support Le Pen.
Read the rest of this entry »“Progressive parties and civil society groups should jointly campaign to force the Government to drop the annual St. Patrick Day’s visit to the White House” – No Irish grovelling in Washington DC on March 17 2026 – Michael Taft’s Call is Spot On
Michael Taft, a researcher employed by the SIPTU trade union makes a very good proposal.
The President of the USA is backing reactionary genocidal actors in many parts of the globe – Ukraine, Palestine – and threatening the people of Iran, Venezuela, and Greenland – the list is growing.
Notes on the Front
Commentary on Irish Political Economy by Michael Taft, researcher for SIPTU
Abandon Paddy’s Day
January 12, 2026
Progressive parties and civil society groups should jointly campaign to force the Government to drop the annual St. Patrick Day’s visit to the White House. There is almost nothing to gain from such a visit and it can only perpetuate what Eoin Burke-Kennedy describes as the ‘Fawning, sycophantic, obsequious [and] “strategic self-emasculation’ approach to the US Administration pursued by Europe and Ireland.
How do you deal with a Head of State who says:
“I don’t need international law . . . [the only limit to my power] is my morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.’
In the last year the US bombed Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, Syria and Nigeria. It has threatened to invade or annex Panama, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, Cuba and Greenland. It armed the Israeli government’s genocidal attacks on Gaza.
It has withdrawn from 66 international organisations (a full list is here), including vital climate change bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Trump Administration’s ‘2025 National Security Strategy’ made clear the current US government’s intention to interfere in European democracies. As the Brookings Institute put it:
‘The document points to the “patriotic European parties”—a reference to the hard right as represented by France’s National Rally, the United Kingdom’s Reform party, and the Alternative for Germany—as America’s real allies in Europe. Its stated goal of “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations” amounts to a policy of constitutional regime change . . . it is the language of tyranny.’
Indeed, Trump’s document directly references Ireland, stating:
‘America is, understandably, sentimentally attached to . . . Britain and Ireland. The character of these countries is also strategically important . . . we want to work with aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness.’
And it just so happens that Steven Bannon, an important Trump ally and MAGA organiser, is already in Ireland:
‘I’m spending a ton of time behind the scenes on the Irish situation to help form an Irish national party , , , [Ireland is] going to have an Irish Maga, and we’re going to have an Irish Trump. That’s all going to come together. That country is right on the edge thanks to mass migration.’
And it so happens that the US Ambassador attended a recent far-right conference in Meath.
Trashing international law, bombing countries and threatening others, pursuing ‘constitutional regime change’ throughout Europe and Ireland: does this deserve a bowl of shamrock?
Humiliation Redux
It’s not as if the Irish Government is ignorant of what could be in store for them on St. Patrick’s Day. Remember the humiliation it received last year. The Taoiseach received an invitation to the White House late in the day (only 12 days’ notice) and it wasn’t even for St. Patrick’s Day. Of course, the President might have been too busy to meet with the Taoiseach. But Trump and Elon Musk had time to meet Conor McGregor on the day, despite the fact that McGregor had been found guilty of rape by a High Court civil jury.
So why would Trump meet McGregor on St Patrick’s Day rather than the elected representative of the Irish people? According to The Times:
‘The Trump family have deepened their business connections with Conor McGregor with the promise of a $23 million investment in one of the form MMA fighter’s business ventures . . . MMA Inc., an American listed martial arts training company . . . Last September Donald Trump Jr. was announced as a “strategic advisor” to the company.’
The Irish Government will have to come up with something special to compete for the US President’s attention.
What’s the Point?
It is difficult to understand what can be achieved with a visit to the White House on St. Patrick’s Day – that’s if the Irish Government even gets an invitation. There is little political influence Ireland can exert given that Trump has scant regard for international opinion (especially European opinion), never mind international law. If anything, a shamrock-as-usual approach is likely to feed Trump’s belief he can act with little blowback. And it is highly unlikely the Taoiseach would sit down in the Oval Office with the US President and, in front of the cameras, lecture him about a rules-based world order.
There is the foreign investment angle; namely, that Ireland needs to maintain inward US investment and, therefore, refusing to meet the US President could stem the flow of US investment. This doesn’t stand up. Over the St. Patrick’s day holiday, Irish Ministers and representatives can continue to meet with American CEOs, as they have done in the past, based on the work of Irish civil servants in US consulates around the country.
Indeed, Ireland might even get some quiet kudos from American CEOs. Trump has made it his business to humiliate CEOs who are reduced to bringing gifts of gold to the White House. The IDA reports that US companies are so cowed by the Trump administration that they don’t release information on investments and job creation here for fear of retribution from Washington. Ireland provides something that Trump derides – consistency and stability. A bowl of shamrock will not impact this dynamic.
A Coalition to Stop the Visit
According to the Minister for Foreign Affairs:
“Where we see challenging behaviour, we have to call it out, and unfortunately there’s been a lot of that from the US . . . So we will always use our voice, however small it might seem”.
What’s the best way to call out ‘challenging behaviour’? Refusing to visit the White House over the St. Patrick’s Day period. This would be a clear statement that Ireland opposes Trump’s arbitrary, chaotic foreign policy; a clear statement of support for a rules-based international order; a rejection of Trump’s ethno-nationalist portrayal of Europe (‘civilisational erasure’); and a determination to stop American nativist ideologues interfering in Irish and European democracy.
The parties that made up the ‘Connolly coalition’ should come together, with civil society organisations, to campaign against a St. Patrick’s Day visit to the White House – putting forward the arguments, mobilising public opinion and showing the power of progressive cooperation on a key foreign affairs event.
However, it is unlikely the Irish Government will concede. So the opposition parties should plan out an alternative St. Patrick’s Day visit with the participation of opposition party leaders and representatives along with civil society activists. This could include solidarity visits to cities that are under siege: Minneapolis, Chicago and Portland. The party representatives could meet with social constituencies that are struggling under Trump’s rule – in particular, the US trade union movement.
Indeed, there could be an alternative ceremony complete with a bowl of shamrocks Why not hold it in New York City and give the bowl to the newly elected Mayor, Zohran Mamdami? The symbolism would be profound, popular and progressive.
And, without interfering in US electoral politics, if the opposition to a White House visit provokes those sections of Irish America who previously supported Trump to re-think their political support – then we will have done the world a service.
That is how you make even a small voice speak loudly.
Link :
Some Extra Context :
Gazan doctor fears she will lose place on University College Cork (UCC) course after visa application rejected – Irish Times Story
From the Irish Times, November 1 2025
Well done to the journalist Órla Ryan
One word sums up this story – Despicable
Gazan doctor fears she will lose place on UCC course after visa application rejected
Baraa Mansour, who was evacuated from Palestinian enclave in 2024, says refusal of her visa is ‘devastating’
A doctor from Gaza fears she will lose her place on a Master’s course at University College Cork because she cannot secure a visa to come to Ireland.
Baraa Mansour was evacuated from Gaza in May 2024 so she could complete her medical studies. She has been in Cairo in Egypt since then.
Ms Mansour (25) initially applied for a short-term study visa, which would have allowed her to stay in Ireland for three months, in March. This application was rejected in April.
She appealed this decision via Khurshid and Co solicitors, a legal firm based in Dublin. Her appeal was rejected in August.
n a detailed letter, the department outlined several reasons for refusing the visa. It set out concerns relating to an existing personal relationship Ms Mansour had in Ireland and “grave concerns” she may seek to overstay a visa and remain in the country without permission.
Later that month, she was offered a place on the Master of Public Health programme at UCC. She then reapplied for a long-term study visa and is awaiting a decision.
Ms Mansour said UCC “kindly” allowed her to delay her arrival to date, but she fears she will lose her place if the visa is not granted imminently.
A number of doctors based in Ireland have supported her application, including one who has paid around €9,000 in tuition fees and another who has offered her accommodation. The tuition fees will be refunded if Ms Mansour is not granted a visa and cannot come to Ireland.
Ms Mansour, who was studying to be a doctor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza when the war broke out, said it was “very, very difficult” to leave Gaza while her parents and other loved ones stayed.
Read the rest of this entry »“Businessman behind smears against Jim Gavin previously spread false claims about rival” – Irish Times report on Kieran Kelly, far-right targeter of Irish presidential candidate
Far-right activist Maria Steen, who failed to secure a nomination for the 2025 Irish presidential election, agrees she spoke with Kieran Kelly.
The 2025 Irish presidential election is toxic and dirty, and that is going to continue, TrumpSteen or no TrumpSteen.
“When contacted by The Irish Times on Monday, (Kieran Kelly) declined to share any evidence for the claims, saying it would be made available at a later date.
Mr Kelly said online that he had a call this month with Maria Steen, the conservative campaigner trying to enter the presidential election.
Ms Steen confirmed the call during a press conference on Tuesday.
She said: “As you can imagine, I’ve been getting calls from lots of different people who I have never met before and have never spoken to before.
“I had a call with Kieran Kelly. He mentioned nothing about Jim Gavin or any other candidate to me. He talked about, I think, that there’s an organisation called the Wild Geese, of Irish people abroad, who are taking an interest in Irish politics.
“That was the sum total of the phone call. I listened to what he had to say, and that was it.”
- Cormac McQuinn and Pat Leahy Irish Times, September 23 2025
The left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly needs to promote a positive anti-racist message.
The absence of Steen from the presidential ballot paper is tempting government coalition partners Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to play the racist card in support of their candidates Jim Gavin and Heather Humphreys.
Read the rest of this entry »Kirk Assassination Puts the Left in Danger; US workers fired over Charlie Kirk social media posts
The assassination of far-right personality Charlie Kirk is now used as an excuse to purge and silence many people in the USA who are opposed to the authoritarian and anti-democratic government headed by President Donald Trump. We are reaching a point where citizens of the USA must be entitled to political asylum in countries like Ireland
Kirk Assassination Puts the Left in Danger
Dan La Botz Tuesday 16 September 2025,
Source International Viewpoint
Link :
Kirk Assassination Puts the Left in Danger – International Viewpoint
The assassination of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old leader of the far-right youth organization Turning Point USA has intensified the political polarization in the United States and has led to calls by Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement to call for the elimination of the left from American political life.
Kirk was assassinated by a single rifle shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Within two days, Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old student, turned himself in to the police and was charged with the murder.
Following Kirk’s killing, President Donald Trump in a national address stated, “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.” Laura Loomer, who influences Trump, wrote, “We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The Left is a national security threat.”
Read the rest of this entry »“Approximately 100,000 on a far right march in London. A grim new milestone in post-war political history” – Great Article by A Very Public Sociologist
The writer angrily says “This is the culmination of Keir Starmer’s rancid approach to immigration” – and he is spot on. We have problems confronting a growing racist right in Ireland also, and can learn a very important lesson : Dog-Whistling and Pandering to racists creates a catastrophe.
Link :
Grim Political Milestone in London 13.11.2025 – A Very Public Sociologist
US Police Investigators in Utah claim killer of high -profile Trump activist Charlie Kirk was Tyler Robinson – What Do We Know about Robinson’s political beliefs and his possible motives?
In the age of the internet as information travels and changes with lightning speed, some very old journalistic values remain necessary – be sure of your hard facts before publishing anything – and if you make a mistake, correct it immediately – especially dealing with a story like this.
Tyler Robinson is in custody and the evidence against him looks very strong. He remains innocent until he is convicted, and is entitled to a fair trial. It remains to be seen if that happens.
Reliable sources state that his father turned him in after seeing photographs of the alleged assassin, who fired one successful shot at Charlie Kirk, who was answering a question about gun control at a public rally staged on a university campus.
USA President Donald Trump is using this event to target opponents to his left.
But, was Tyler Robinson motivated by left-wing or progressive ideas?
More and more evidence suggests the exact opposite.
Here, for example, is the direct testimony of Robinson’s grandmother, and the source is a right-wing British tabloid, the Daily Mail :
Tomás Ó Flatharta 