Brexit, Trump’s wall, and the cynical inertia of the political class

The Spectator USA ^ | 15 Mar 2019 | Roger Kimball

[Rummyfan]

In our democracies, politicians won’t do what people want

I had lunch yesterday with a friend from London who brought grim tidings from Albion. Like me, he is an advocate of national sovereignty. He thinks the people of the United Kingdom ought to be allowed to govern themselves. So he, again like me, is an advocate for Brexit. He had no idea what was going to happen with Brexit.

Yesterday was a busy day. I also chatted with friends about the crisis at our southern border. All honest people acknowledge that there is a crisis, that thousands upon thousands of people, most without English and without skills, are pouring over the border. Until Donald Trump became president, even the Democrats, who not without reason regard that human tsunami as a wave of embryo Democratic voters, said that something need to be done to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws. Google either Obama or Clinton on the issue. You’ll find statements indistinguishable from what Donald Trump has proposed.

But where are we with these two popular — not to say populist — initiatives? More people in the UK voted for Brexit — some 17 million — than have voted for anything at any time in the country’s history. I was in London in June 2016 covering the vote. Apart from my small côterie of knuckle-dragging reactionary friends, everyone said the Remainers would win by a landslide. Their hysteria about what would happen should the Brexiteers win comically undercut their whistling-past-the-graveyard show of confidence, though. I think it was (former) Prime Minister David Cameron who warned of ‘economic Armageddon’ should the inconceivable somehow materialize. When the impossible happened and the people voted against their self-appointed guardians, the result was incredulity, first, followed by shock ...

[Rummyfan]