Irish Examiner view: By ignoring context we invite chaos

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar survived a Dáil motion of no confidence brought by Sinn Féin over his inappropriate leaking of documents. Mr Varadkar was wrong to breach established disciplines, he and the Government cannot contest that. 

Without real, mutual trust, a relationship cannot survive. Trust might be stretched to breaking point but if it is well-anchored then almost any storm can be weathered. Trust, as the melodrama around counting votes in America shows, is a cornerstone of democracy’s housekeeping. That is why those behind the ordeal that began in 2016 did so much to undermine it. Two years ago, Steve Bannon, once chief strategist to the dismissed US president, described how to destroy democracy: “The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” 

Bannon, predictably facing fraud charges, did all he could to break the trust between the media and America’s electorate. He succeeded to a dangerous degree, helped by a Democratic party that adopted causes that undermined its core constituency. It mattered little to Bannon that his attacks were often dishonest, his eye was on the bigger prize.