Busy day today. First a quick test for coronavirus (if it turns out to be positive the world is doomed – I have not been in touch with people for so long now). Then running an online quiz.
It also didn’t help to get woken with urgent work early this morning.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Trump situation. Even if he survives there is a reasonable chance that he might need to take some time off work. In that case Mike Pense would take his place on a temporary basis. But just think – if Mike Pense had also been infected and turned ill on the same timeframe the job would have gone to Nancy Pelosi, and she would probably have been in charge over the crucial election period. It still could happen (now if that thought doesn’t get Republicans supporting masks then nothing will).
It struck me how weak that system was. Here Boris had a long line of fellow conservatives that would step up. Similarly we have a pretty powerless head of State in the Queen – and if the Queen, Charles and Will all ended up incapacitated there would be limited disruption to our political system. It might be a monarchy, but the way the system is designed offers much more resilience.
It strikes me that the republican system in the USA needs to adapt to survive. It really isn’t as robust as it seems.