Tag: Jeremy Corbyn

By Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

As the British General Election cycle heats up — they election is just a few days away at June 8th — it seems as though something must be up with Jeremy Corbyn given that portions of the British Press are growing pretty hysterical at the prospect of him winning.

I honestly am a clueless American, so I don’t know if what I’m observing is accurate of what is going on or not. But it makes sense that the mood of Great Britain’s populace may have shifted and there could actually be a chance that Britain’s Bernie Sanders may, in fact, win.

Now, there are some things to take into consideration before center-Left people like in America can get all excited that maybe the long-hoped for “Blue Wave” here in the States may first start across the pond. None of this means squat until people have actually voted and I don’t know about Great Britain, but in America a similar point in an election campaign people are so worked up one way or another that the some of the hysterics on the part, of, say The Sun, could, in fact, just be that.

Jeremy Corbyn would bring Britain to its knees within a week if he snatches power as a chaotic alliance would prop him up is the headline that caught my attention on this matter. So, that seems to be the opinion of people who read The Sun. As you know, The Sun has a topless Page 3 girl, so take that into consideration.

But having said all that, for me, a moderate Liberal, if Corbyn won it definitely would put a spring in this American step. It would indicate that maybe the tied is turning against the forces of Trumplandia. Maybe if someone as Leftist and odd ball as Corbyn can win for no other reason than he’s not center-Right, then maybe, just maybe something similar can happen here in the States.

When Margret Thatcher won in the late 1970s, it was looked upon in hindsight as an indication that the Reagan Revolution was about to happen in the States. The American press would probably flip out if Corbyn won, and make a lot of similar comparisons, only for the reverse political spectrum.

Yet it doesn’t take too much thought to realize a Corbyn win might be a goof, a one-off caused by some very specific British conditions. Say what you will about Donald Trump, he is surprisingly good at the divide and conquer tacit and unless something truly astonishing happens, it is very possible he will not only survive but prosper.

Having said that, a Corbyn win would really make me happy on a personal level. For the center-Left in the States, it would signal that maybe, just maybe the pendulum is beginning to swing back towards some sort of sanity and there might just be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel that, for once, isn’t a train.

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I’m just a clueless American, but at least from what I can tell from my Twitter feed — it definitely seems as though British Prime Mister candidate Jeremy Corbyn has got some energy behind him. Now, relative to American politics, it seems as though Corbyn’s old school Labour politics are Left of even Bernie Sanders.

But I’m only now getting up to speed about what’s going on in Great Britain in large part because, well, things are getting interesting. Incumbent Tory PM Theresa May, at least to these American eyes, has a little bit of Hillary Clinton in her, in that she’s kind of a meh candidate. And, yet, Corybn seems so Leftist in his outlook that I struggle to believe Great Britain would vote him in.

The fact that Corbyn is beginning to surge in the polls seems to indicate that Corbyn is benefiting from something of an anti-Trump effect. Corbyn is a way for British people to express their displeasure with Trump on a practical level. If Corbyn was to win, I think it would give a lot of heart to people like me in the States who hope that maybe, just maybe, the mythical “Blue Wave” everyone hopes will happen in 2018, might, just might in fact happen.

But I just don’t know enough about British politics to know if I’m anywhere near making the right conclusion. One question I have is what would happen to Brexit if Corbyn pulls off a miracle and wins? Is it too late to stop the Brexit process altogether?

If anything, given that Corbyn was 20 points behind up until recently, is is pretty obvious that Trumplandia’s gravitational pull is far more significant than any of us are willing to comprehend. It could very well be that Trump’s victory will be sen as the high point of the Right Wing Nut Job movement and as the pendulum swings back to some sense of sane thought, Trumplandia will begin to fade.

But I fear that’s really too wishful thinking on my part. It’s going to be a struggle to extract the rotting tooth of Trump. He ain’t going nowhere. But, if nothing else, a Corbyn victory would be a victory for the global Resistance to Trumplandia.

It will be interesting to see how things work out, indeed. I just wish I knew more about this subject. I’m going to keep a close eye on things and try to write blog posts that are a little bit more clued in as we grow closer to the actual election date in Great Britain.