A topsy-turvy time in global politics

IT’S been a pretty torrid few days of news, both nationally and internationally.

The weekend saw the first assassination attempt on a US president, or former president, since the attempt on Ronald Reagan’s life in 1981.

While it was a heinous and horrid crime, and one that ultimately cost the perpetrator his life, it is difficult to believe that it is the first attempt in so many years – given the very aggressive language that has been used in US presidential campaigns in recent times, not to mention the huge division in American politics of late.

Within minutes of the news being reported, supporters of both camps sprang into action on the ‘blame game’ – Biden supporters saying the Trump camp’s focus on vitriol and hate speech had reaped its own rewards, and Trump’s troupe saying Biden’s comment about putting a ‘bull’s eye’ on his rival had encouraged such a violent outburst.

In effect, it came down to both candidates calling for calm – Biden condemning the attack outright while referring to Trump as ‘Donald’ and on Monday saying the ‘bull’s eye’ remark was a mistake.

He even rang his election rival. ‘He said he was fine and he thanked me for calling him. I told him he was literally in the prayers of Jill and me, and I hope his whole family was weathering this,’ he told a reporter.

Meanwhile, a defiant but ultimately tempered Trump denounced the attack and added that Biden ‘couldn’t have been nicer’ on the phone call, leaving a lot of observers wondering if the former president had been hit on the head and not the ear.

But if one good thing has come of the disgraceful incident, then it was that it showed that even very powerful men under pressure can take time out to show empathy with those whose politics they abhor.

Both men behaved impeccably, although there were some wondering if Trump’s insistence on pushing his head back up into full public view, behind the podium, seconds after being shot, had put his own security staff in danger.

But it was certainly a show of strength, and one his supporters lapped up.

And the way both men acquitted themselves in the following hours gave us some glimmer of hope that all is not lost in America.

In fact, it was surreal to watch elements of the public being reprimanded about their behaviour by both the current and ex presidents.

Then, fast forward a few days to a suburb of north Dublin where our own police force was under attack from a very ugly element of society, in scenes almost reminiscent of last autumn in the city centre.

Our own Taoiseach came out fighting – verbally – the next day, denouncing the ‘thuggery’ and saying, in as many words, that he had had enough of such carry-on. Reporters describing the incidents as the work of ‘protestors’ were pretty much touting fake news, was the gist of what he told RTÉ.

So here we had, in the space of a few days, a selection of under-stress politicians calling out the bad behaviour of the public. We are more used to members of the public calling into question the actions of our politicians, and we had become used to that direction of rhetoric.

So it was refreshing, and somewhat hopeful, to find that when push comes to shove, politicians can, in fact, step up to the mark and call out those who are trying to force democracy into the gutter.

We also had, this week, the case of a politician being refused the host at a funeral mass, because the priest did not agree with the man’s stance on abortion. But in the days that followed a group of priests came out and expressed their disappointment at the gesture.

It is not the role of the priest to judge the conscience of another person, they said in a letter to the editor of this paper.

Those were three examples of men standing up against injustice and bad behaviour and giving out the message that there are times when hatred and hostility must be rejected in favour of hope.

Sometimes, when all seems lost, a little kindness can bring us forward again.