Clockwise from top left: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa, Sergei Shoigu, Liz Truss, Kamala Harris, Mike Pence / public domain via Wikimedia Commons
One of the questions we should always ask ourselves is "what if we get what we want?"
Let me give you some examples.
Many people wanted Donald Trump impeached as US president.
If they had succeeded, Mike Pence would have become president. From a liberal POV, Pence is far worse than Trump on abortion rights, gay rights, and would never have passed a ban on bump stocks for guns (which Trump did).
Many people want Joe Biden impeached as US president.
That would make Kamala Harris president. From a conservative POV, that would be out of the frying pan into the fire given that Harris is far more left-leaning than the relatively neoliberal Biden.
Many people want Boris Johnson to resign as UK prime minister.
If he does, the likeliest replacement would be Liz Truss. Truss is proposing to simultaneously drive a truck through the Good Friday Agreement and the Brexit Deal . She is also proposing direct conflict between the Royal Navy and the Russians in the Black Sea. All of these sound far worse to me than Boris having parties during Covid lockdowns.
Many people want regime change in Russia with Vladimir Putin eliminated.
Wait! What if Putin is actually the “reasonable” one in the Russia political hierarchy? Would that country be a better global citizen with Sergei Shoigu in the hot seat? From the little I know of the defence minister, he’s likely to be far more likely to pursue military action than Putin. (Consider that Putin held back on bombing Azovstal because there were thousands of combatants trapped inside.)
Many people wanted Jacob Zuma replaced as president.
We got Cyril Ramaphosa. ‘Nuff said.
