• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • blog
  • About
  • Book Publications
  • Other Reading
  • Social Wall
  • Back Pages
  • Contact Me

Donald Trump

Trump and the Problem with Sexist Men and Masculinity

January 20, 2021
Trump and the Problem with Sexist Men and Masculinity Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 20th 2020 Today is the end of the Trump Presidency - four years of chaos, incompetence, hatred and prejudice, fuelled by his constant craving and need for attention and approval. But this is not just a story about one repulsive man in America; it is a global moment and warning. One of the underlying factors in the personality of Trump is his expression of masculinity – boorish, abusive, intolerant, lacking any empathy of others, irresponsible and unreconstructed. He has believed all his adult life that he

Continue Reading Trump and the Problem with Sexist Men and Masculinity

The Attack on Democracy and Breaking Out of the Empire State in the US and UK

January 12, 2021
The Attack on Democracy and Breaking Out of the Empire State in the US and UK Gerry Hassan Sunday National, January 10th 2021 Democracy is under attack. It is being challenged by the likes of Trump and his fascist supporters and by authoritarians the world over – testing its strength and legitimacy. And it is not in great shape in the UK, with academic David Runciman saying that “American democracy is stuck and British democracy is stuck.” The events of 6th January 20201 and the storming of Congress by Trump’s far right supporters has appalled most of the world. Much

Continue Reading The Attack on Democracy and Breaking Out of the Empire State in the US and UK

The Worldwide War over Truth and Free Speech

December 3, 2020
The Worldwide War over Truth and Free Speech Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 2nd 2020 The battle for truth is all around us. Fake news. Fake media. The argument over free speech and freedom to say what we like and think, alongside controversies over ‘cancel culture’ and ‘safe spaces’. Meanwhile an American President who has lost an election still, one month after polling day, refuses to accept the result. He has called the contest ‘rigged’ and ‘stolen’ – a denialism that 77% of Trump voters agree with according to a Monmouth University survey. This is the world all around us.

Continue Reading The Worldwide War over Truth and Free Speech

The future for centre-left politics after the Trump disaster

November 9, 2020
The future for centre-left politics after the Trump disaster Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 8th 2020 The most dramatic US Presidential election in recent times has caused the emergence of a host of issues about power, democracy and power. The election of Joe Biden and defeat of Donald Trump throws up questions about politics beyond the US - including how progressive politics can refashion what they stand for in a world of continual change and turmoil. Centre-left parties used to be anchored in organised labour and the politics of class. In Western Europe this grounded the appeal and rationale of

Continue Reading The future for centre-left politics after the Trump disaster

Will today mark the beginning of the era after Trump?

November 5, 2020
Will today mark the beginning of the era after Trump? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 4th 2020 Today the debris and damage that Trump has inflicted on the US will become a little clearer. There can be no return to the world pre-Trump and the supposedly more genteel, polite era of Barack Obama as if it were some golden age. The tensions, turmoil and evasions of those recent times laid the ground for and created the likes of Trump, Farage and others. Today may mark the beginning of the end of the Trump spectacle but the world and politics will

Continue Reading Will today mark the beginning of the era after Trump?

The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland

November 3, 2020
The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 1st 2020 We live in divisive, contentious times where the noise and claims and counter-claims in public life seem to never stop. Many people yearn for this age of rage and hatred to stop, and for a return to supposedly calmer, more enlightened times. This can be seen in part of the logic of support for Democrat Joe Biden against Donald Trump in next week’s US Presidential election. However, there will be no return to a so-called ‘normal’

Continue Reading The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland

Superman is not coming to save us: Trump, Boris Johnson and Regressive Masculinity

October 14, 2020
Superman is not coming to save us: Trump, Boris Johnson and Regressive Masculinity Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 14th 2020 It is not very surprising that Donald Trump was apparently considering wearing a Superman top under his shirt and then revealing it on leaving hospital after being treated for COVID. It is deeply symbolic of the allure of the Superman complex that a significant section of the public – usually men, including many of those in senior positions – are drawn to an erroneous belief in Superman as a viable form of leadership. The world is in crisis and needs

Continue Reading Superman is not coming to save us: Trump, Boris Johnson and Regressive Masculinity

Trump and Trumpism have to be defeated

October 5, 2020
Trump and Trumpism have to be defeated Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 4th 2020   The October surprise has duly arrived in the form of Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump testing positive for COVID-19, leading to their self-isolation and the suspension of campaigning by Trump in person. In a year - and a Presidency of surprises - this was almost inevitable. Trump has consistently underplayed the pandemic only last month saying that it affects ‘virtually nobody.’ And he has shown a complete disregard for public safety and wearing masks, holding rallies - including his address to the Republican

Continue Reading Trump and Trumpism have to be defeated

Bad history leads to bad politics – from Trump to Brexit and Scotland

September 2, 2020
Bad history leads to bad politics – from Trump to Brexit and Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 2nd 2020 The past is always with us, being remade and reinterpreted to suit the needs of the present. Yet in today’s world of complexity, change and messiness - as well as constant information and disinformation - a lot of questionable interpretations of the past are gaining currency and being used to justify bad politics in the here and now. The most obvious is Trump who, despite over 180,000 Americans officially dead from COVID-19, is running for re-election as President on a

Continue Reading Bad history leads to bad politics – from Trump to Brexit and Scotland

How we should and shouldn’t commemorate VE Day

May 7, 2020
How we should and shouldn’t commemorate VE Day Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, May 6th 2020 This coming Friday May 8th is an important moment in the history of all of us - the 75th anniversary of the defeat of fascism and Nazism in Europe in World War Two. It is important to mark, commemorate and remember those who gave their lives in the defeat of fascism - and to learn from what happened. This means not allowing the anniversary to be taken over by unchallenged official accounts that feed into the endless British obsession with 1939-45. The rise and defeat

Continue Reading How we should and shouldn’t commemorate VE Day

< Older Entries

Primary Sidebar

categories

  • Blog
  • Events
  • Futures Thinking
  • International Conversations
  • Longer Essays
  • Short Essays
  • What Gerry's groovin' to
  • What Gerry's reading
FacebookTwitter

featured publication

Scotland after the Virus

Click here to buy Gerry’s latest book containing fiction, poetry and non-fiction from over 40 contributors

what Gerry’s groovin’ to

My Favourite Music of 2020

December 20, 2020

what Gerry’s reading

My Favourite Books of 2020

December 19, 2020

tags

Scottish politics | Scottish Independence | Scottish Review | British politics | The Scotsman | Scottish Nationalists | Open Democracy | Scottish Nationalism | Scottish Labour Party | Nicola Sturgeon | Scottish society | The British State | Sunday Mail | Brexit | Sunday National | Social Democracy | Conservative Party | Boris Johnson | British Labour Party | Jeremy Corbyn | Alex Salmond | David Cameron | Popular Culture | British Nationalism | Scottish National Party | Scottish Media | The Future of the Left | Social Justice | Bella Caledonia | Scottish Men | Scottish Parliament | Scottish Culture | Scottish Unionism | British Society | Football | CoronaVirus | 2016 Scottish Parliament Elections | Labour Party | Scottish Independence Referendum | The Guardian

Categories

Footer

about Gerry

Gerry Hassan is a writer, commentator and thinker about Scotland, the UK, politics and ideas.

More >

recent

  • Trump and the Problem with Sexist Men and Masculinity
  • Scottish Labour is the problem, not the leader. And the solution is a genuine Scottish Labour Party
  • I am a European and want to live in a country which calls itself European

search

FacebookTwitter

Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
Copyright © Gerry Hassan - writing, research, policy and ideas. All Rights Reserved.
Illustration and website design by Infinite Eye