The Critical Commentator

 You are reading this, most of you, knowing at least something of the result of the presidential election. I am writing before the votes have been counted. This allows me to avoid the error of the campaign books. My reflections are not biased by any knowledge, however incomplete, of the outcome. Hearts are Trumps John Everett Millais (1829-1896) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]  So I am able to write about Donald Trump without knowing whether the swing states are falling his way. And without that knowledge, it is already obvious that he has changed our understanding of politics profoundly. That his political career has been, however grim it may be to acknowledge it, a stunning success. And that, as a result, we have seen things about democracy we can never unsee. This will be the case whether he is heading for the White House or not. At a campaign stop in Iowa in 2016, Trump remarked: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voter...

  The private property empires that fund the King and Prince William are making millions of pounds a year from charges paid by the armed forces, the NHS, schools, mining companies and big businesses. An investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches has revealed full details of the vast ancient estates owned by the King and the prince and the business deals struck to fund their lifestyles. The Coming Storm John Miller Nicholson (1840-1913) Photo Credit: Manx National Heritage [CC BY-NC]   Over five months we identified 5,410 landholdings, mineral rights and properties held by the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the king, and the Duchy of Cornwall, for the prince, and then examined business agreements and leases linked to these plots. These contracts show the duchies generate profits by charging the army, the navy, hospitals, the prison service, schools and councils for the right to use lands, rivers and seashores seized for the duchies in medieval times. Last...

  Settling Scores "So boring you fell asleep halfway through her name." (Alan Bennett on writer Arianna Stassinopoulos) A Boor Asleep Adriaen Brouwer (1605/1606- 1638) Photo Credit: The Wallace Collection [CC BY-NC-ND] "Hang on, I'll just check my diary... Oh dear, I find I'm watching television that night." (Peter Cook when asked by David Frost to attend a dinner party with Prince Andrew.) Professionals "The only difference between doctors and lawyers is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too." (Anton Chekov) Cricketers "Would you like  me to bowl you a piano and see if you can play that?" (Merv Hughes to Graham Gooch) Shane Warne: "I've been waiting two years for another chance to bowl at you." Daryll Cullinan: "Looks like you spent it eating." Actors "Dear Ingrid - speaks five languages and can't act in any of them." (Sir John Gielgud on Ingrid Bergman) "You can ...