Michael Kelly“The fact that he could be elected in the US is revealing of a wider alienation that many people feel”, writes Michael Kelly
In his iconic poem The Rebel, Patrick Pearse warns the establishment of his own day: “Beware of the thing that is coming, beware of the risen people who shall take what ye would not give”.
The lines came to mind as I watched the results of the US presidential election unfold in the early hours of Wednesday morning. I was initially watching the results at a party organised by US Ambassador to Ireland Kevin O’Malley. To say that the atmosphere began like a coronation party for Hillary Clinton would be an understatement. All that changed, of course, as the results started to emerge and the electoral college pattern was clear. The rest, as the pundits say, is history.
Some commentators have spoken of Mr Trump’s election as a revolution. And it is – of sorts. The defeat of Hillary Clinton was a rejection of the status quo – but the election of Mr Trump leaves me deeply troubled.
Many US Catholics were faced with a hellish choice: Clinton or Trump. Some felt that Mr Trump – despite the obvious drawbacks – was closer to them on issues like abortion. Many supported him with a heavy heart. Others, despondent at Mrs Clinton, couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Mr Trump and opted for a third party or an independent candidate.
Nevertheless, Mr Trump’s election is clearly a statement by all sorts of groups that have felt disaffected and unheard by the political establishment. It has been described as a reaction against elites. Mrs Clinton – with the backing of virtually all the media and every Hollywood celebrity from A-Z – seemed impenetrable in the closing days of the campaign. The irascible Mr Trump, on the other hand, lurched from one crisis to another over vile comments and vulgar behaviour. Evidently, many US voters saw in Mr Trump a man who was different. It’s ironic that many working class voters who have seen their standard of living fall in recent decades felt compelled to turn to a bombastic billionaire as their hero.
Reaction
Only time will tell what sort of President Mr Trump will turn out to be. Undoubtedly, he is an extremely flawed man – the fact that he could be elected in the US is revealing of a wider alienation that many people feel.
Unless mainstream politicians address this sense of alienation, there will be many more Donald Trump’s and the standard of political debate will continue to diminish. The reaction to his election from mainstream commentators does not leave me hopeful that the deeply-held views of people who have found an unlikely hero in the awful Mr Trump will be heard and engaged with.
Being angry and sneering at Trump voters is precisely what will generate more such voters. The establishment – including the media – needs to wake up and accept genuine people have genuine fears around things like immigration and the future direction of their country. Demonising them only makes them desperate – and desperate people sometimes find answers in unlikely places.
Beware of the risen people who shall take what ye would not give.