Leonard Cohen has died aged 82, old and blessed. His life struggle was a form of classical Liberalism which many on the left may aspire to, but few understand. Cohen was a Zen Buddhist and a faithful Jew. It is worth reflecting on his life, his path was not an easy one, he was a poet. He had many relationships and children. But he wasn’t self absorbed or self destructive, so much as cognisant of the disparity between the dream of iconic love, and the fact of compromise. Everybody knows of what Cohen sang. It was personal, and explicit. The song Hallelujah took some five years for him to write, and includes many more verses than what are used in the variations sung. Cohen has given a gift of his legacy. His last album was “You want it darker.” And so it is.

Doing his bit from Melbourne on 3aw, Neil Mitchell interviews a Bernie Sanders supporter who claims he was a “Never Trump,” except “Never Trump” people are GOP supporters who oppose Trump. The idiot being interviewed was a Democrat supporter who felt Clinton had stolen preselection. She had. But that is no excuse for disrupting NYC in protest of President elect Trump. But that makes him interview material for Neil Mitchell who seems to go far to find people who don’t get Trump, but won’t interview someone who does. We are being told that the lesson of Brexit and the Trump election is that political elites need to listen to the average person. One gets the feeling that Mitchell never listens to the exceptional or gifted, and only really interviews himself or people that are safe for him. A little under half of all who voted supported Trump. Maybe Mitchell might interview one of them to get answers to his concerns.

IPA Review (Aug 2016) features an Elle Hardy article on “The Rise of Identity Politics” which is nominally about Trump but really about Bernie Sanders. Only the Trump platform and Sanders platform are very different. Trump’s base crosses the left right divide. Trump was on insider terms with left wing politicians, and his support helped fuel their corruption and helped make him rich. Trump is a neo con by literal definition. Trump aims to be pragmatic and will negotiate in a way one feels Libertarians should cheer if they understood him, instead of hating him. By way of contrast, Sanders is a carbon copy socialist who offers nothing beyond hyperbole. Sanders draws on a tradition of left wing ascendancy drawing on the peace movement of the sixties. There is no policy he has that would be successful, but spending a lot of money from tax must appeal to many. In gushing for Sanders, Elle got to quote Australian art critic Hughes. But to understand Trump, one need only see the slogans #MakeAmericaGreatAgain and #DrainTheSwamp Recognise Sanders is a swamp creature.