Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Trump is certainly a fascinating development and the level of media attention for his actions is probably unprecedented. His actions are so erratic, vulgar and tactless that the public is finally paying attention to things that have been going on for years, but under the watch of more polished and less transparent politicians. As a result of legal challenges in the US against Trump's so-called travel ban we are discussing something that happened for two weeks and then stopped and now just the threat remains, but for Americans living abroad who happen to hold the wrong citizenship or those living in America with the wrong citizenship this threat is very real and has already led to the separation of families. Trump is a problem for neoliberal politics and neoliberal politicians. He is a neoliberal and much of the same religion as Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil except he does what he says he will do, which is obviously scary. He has bypassed the pretence that the American political system is anything other than a brothel for the corporate class and their lobbyists. He has directly appointed to top Cabinet positions former CEOs of corporations that used to have to pay to have their views represented and interests defended in Congress and the Senate. Many of the people who are in his Cabinet at the moment are the very same people who were pulling the strings in Obama's government and Bush's government before that. It might be interesting that we can see them in the plain light of day now.

If we want a more honest approach and if we are genuinely interested in honesty this would be a very different place. The manner in which the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government and the current Government have defended what has gone on in NAMA and defended the Garda Commissioners-----

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