Trump!

 I had a very strange experience today. I was discussing the Middle East peace deal with someone and I realised that they had the look of someone who has just had a bereavement. It is no surprise to anyone that Mr Donald J. Trump produces rather mixed emotions, but I was mildly surprised that when he actually does something useful (ie stopping people killing each other), people can't just say "Thank God he's done something useful for once" if they hate his guts. I dislike the man intensely, but if I recognise the fact that if I was a citizen of Gaza, who was no longer getting bombed and may get a decent meal soon, or if I was an Israeli who's brother/sister/etc had just been released, when I though I'd never see them alive, I would probably not be too bothered about all of the reasons that liberal minded folk (like me) generally can't stand the fella. 

There has been too much talk about the Nobel Peace Prize and Donald Trump. My view? It was too early to give it to him this year. If he'd received it and five minutes later Hamas and Israel had resumed hostilities, the Nobel committee would look ridiculous. If thise time next year, the deal has held. Given him an extra special, super bigly amazing one in a solid gold frame. He will have done something I thought nigh on impossible. 

The bottom line with Donald Trump is that, as my Dad always explained to me, you have to deal with the realities of the world we live in, not the one we want to live in. In a perfect world (if I was the architect), we'd all be nice to each other and whatever gene makes us such a psychopathic race, would be eliminated. When there were earthquakes, floods, famines, tsunamis and meteorite strikes we'd all chip in to help the victims. When plagues hit, we'd all support the efforts of scientists and doctors to cure them, not scoure the web for bonkers conspiracy theories that it's all a plan to enslave us. People wouldn't fight or abuse children, because they knew it was wrong. People wouldn't care about people's colour. If someone was a different religion, we'd just say "Well we can all believe what we want and we will be happy with each others choices and respect them". In truth, most people (I know) already live by these rules. 

However, the rich and the powerful don't. That is why we are where we are. However much I wish I could change the way people behave, I can't. So we have to live with people in power we don't like. Be it Trump, Starmer, Sadiq Khan, Vladimir Putin, etc the world is full of leaders who I hear people despair of. It seems almost every conversation in a pub ends up with some sort of discussion about leaders and how rubbish they are. I sometimes wonder if Donald Trump is simply a practical joke played on left wing people by God (yes I believe God has a sense of humour). You put a man like Trump in charge, he fixes a problem that all rational people would want fixed and then you watch as those who don't like him try and find a reason to hate him even more. 

As far as I am concerned, all of the reasons I had to dislike Trump before the peace deal were signed are still valid. But...... And I know this upsets many readers of this blog massively, if he has managed to sort out peace in the Middle East, then people like me should acknowledge the fact that he's pulled off something good. I've no idea what the future holds, whether Israel and Hamas will stick to the deal, whether the ordinary people on both sides who have suffered will see their suffering end. What I do know is that today, it seems as if they might. So be grateful for small mercies. I heard a conversation where one party said "I can't believe that ordinary people in Gaza are chering Trump". The other person said "You'd cheer Trump if it meant people stopped bombing you and you were going to get a proper dinner for the first time in months".

The world will keep turning. I won't be around to read it, but I'd love to know how history book writers perceive what has happened over the last few days and months. Trump is not a year into his second term. There are doubtless going to be many more chapters. There is a Chinese curse that says "May you live in interesting times". Whatever you think of Trump, there is certainly many things of interest to blog and chat about. Someone, who does like Trump, asked me if I could sum up mu views of his efforts in the Middle East today. My response? Ask me in six months time, when we have seen what actually happens. Sadly, I've seen all manner of deals come and go and the reason we are where we are is because they've all fallen apart, through mutual suspicion and ill will. If Trump can put that Genie back in the bottle, he deserves the plaudits. If it doesn't, then he will join the long list of politicians like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, who thought they'd sorted it all out, only to see things become even worse. I genuinely hope I have to join in the plaudits through gritted teeth, as he gets the Nobel prize next year. If I wanted it to crash and burn, because of my personal emnity towards Trump, what would that make me?