Irish Examiner view: Freeing violent criminals is an unsettling omen for Trump presidency
On Monday, Donald Trump commuted the sentences for most people convicted of offences related to the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP
The aftershocks from Monday’s presidential inauguration in Washington continue to reverberate around the world.
A random example — say America’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, or the WHO, would be sufficient to keep the commentariat busy for weeks on end at any other time, but we are living in a time apart. The challenge is rather to isolate the most important talking points arising from the Trump installation.
Take the gestures of Elon Musk, a charter member of the broligarchy backing the new president.
On Monday, Musk offered a salute of sorts while addressing a crowd; it was described thus in a Wired magazine headline: ‘Neo-Nazis Love the Nazi-Like Salutes Elon Musk Made at Trump’s Inauguration.’
Predictably, Musk himself dismissed the resulting criticism without overtly denying the charge, but the headline quoted above identifies the appeal of his salutes; emboldening those whose views and beliefs were seen as beyond the pale until recently.
It remains to be seen if Musk’s salute is a watershed of sorts or, as befits the owner of a social media site, a meme destined for a short blaze of notoriety.
Another decision made on Monday may prove to be more consequential.
US president Donald Trump has pardoned almost all of the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 — a mob encouraged by him to try to stop the US Congress from certifying his 2020 election defeat.
Over 140 police officers were injured during the seven-hour siege that day, which also led directly or indirectly to the deaths of four Trump supporters in the mob and five police officers.
The American justice system has spent years identifying, locating, and charging those rioters, but at a stroke of a pen on Monday, Trump made a mockery of that work.
It could be pointed out that Republican politicians who support Trump could have been killed on that day if it were not for the bravery of staff in the Capitol, but that would only scratch the surface of this farce.
It is difficult to conceive of a more blatant disregard for the rule of law, which is an unsettling omen for the rest of the Trump presidency.
Now that the coalition government is a going concern, one of its most significant decisions remains to be made — the allocation of Cabinet positions.
In that context, it was interesting to read Elaine Loughlin and Michelle McGlynn point out in the yesterday the need for balance in the new administration — and Fine Gael’s need for ministers in the Cork region in particular.
A party source told them: “He [Simon Harris] has to look at Cork as a counterbalance to Dublin. It has got five constituencies we can grow our vote there. You cannot let Cork become a wasteland.”
Fine Gael has certainly lost some experienced politicians from its Cork roster in recent years: Simon Coveney, Michael Creed, and David Stanton have all left politics in the past few months. Mr Harris may feel that, to bolster his party’s image on Leeside, the likes of Jerry Buttimer or John Paul O’Shea will need to be promoted.
However, the need for geographical balance is not just a consideration for political parties but a pressing requirement.
The discussion of possible ministers from Cork coincided with an investigation into two deaths in the city — Shane Grimes, 28, was found dead at Fitzgerald’s Park last Friday while Shane O’Sullivan, 31, was found dead in Kyrl’s Quay the same day.
While the authorities are trying to establish whether the deaths were linked to contaminated drugs, those working with the homeless in the city have reiterated the urgent need for medically-supervised injection facilities in Cork.
However, as has been reported here in the past, while an injecting facility opened recently in Merchant’s Quay in Dublin, a Cork facility cannot be opened until the operation of the Dublin project is reviewed.
As a result, it is unlikely that Cork will get a supervised injection facility until 2026 at the earliest.
No matter who is eventually appointed to Cabinet, this two-track approach must come to an end. A system where one part of the country benefits from services and facilities long before other areas cannot be sustained.
The shadow cast by AI is causing serious concern to those working in the creative industries, among other sectors. Those concerns look justified going by a controversy regarding two films tipped for Oscars this year.
Those films are and . The former focuses on a Hungarian immigrant in America; the film-makers recently admitted using an AI tool to improve the Hungarian dialogue spoken by two of the main actors.
is a Spanish-language musical and its makers have acknowledged AI cloning was used both to improve the range of one singer and to blend two different voices.
The immediate reaction has focused on whether these revelations will adversely affect the two films’ chances at upcoming awards ceremonies. A more significant debate may be needed about the implications for acting in general.
If it is acceptable to use AI to refine or finesse performances here and there it is only a matter of time, surely, before some filmmaker decides to dispense with actors altogether. An Academy Award for best entirely computer-generated film seems inevitable.
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