Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Donald takes on Scotland

I'm not usually a celebrity-chaser on this blog, but this one just has me amused and bemused, I supposed.

The people of the British Isles, whichever of the various nationalities, ethnicities, and regional cultures we belong to, share one important trait. We're islanders. That makes us unusually independent in many, many ways. We can be persuaded, but we're not easily coerced.

Our multiple and overlapping internal factions, which today include a myriad of new British ethnicities from our most recent Asian, Caribbean, and eastern European immigrants, also have a shared experience of literally centuries of striving with one another internally, then coming together in various coalitions, sometimes a coalition of the whole, to strive against external enemies and competitors.

This makes it very difficult for outsiders to know exactly who is which side in any given conflict. Unless of course, you try, as did various characters throughout history, including a certain Mr. Hitler, to take on the whole island archipelago, with almost all it's various inhabitants. 

In an earlier note I commented on just how much trouble these features were likely to give Mr. Trump, were he to decide to intervene in island politics.

I have to say the results are beyond my wildest expectations. Apparently Mr. Trump was the focus of a near-riot yesterday in Edinburgh.

The educator in me is fascinated to know just whether or not he learned anything from this experience. It's what we call "a teachable moment."

Enjoy:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/25/donald-trump-appearance-scottish-parliament

No comments: