I'm certain you've all heard by now of the chaos that's befallen Washington, D.C. this fortnight. President Trump's supporters sieged the city to try to consolidate his position and invalidate his election loss. His reluctance to condemn that violence, or comment on it in general, inevitably and quickly alerted suspicion. What subsequently emerged were allegations that he secretly incited that siege, and a phone call he made on 2 January to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he pressured Raffensperger to change that state's vote totals from the election.
Joe Biden, who, although I wanted him to win, I am not always in sync with, was correct in saying Trump was tarnishing his legacy by encouraging all these guerrilla tactics against the Capitol and the democracy it usually represents. Additionally, by resorting to them, all the participants were making him, themselves and, since this storming has made global news headlines, indeed the US itself look bad. Now, as a would-be Democrat (since I'm Australian), you may be wondering why I even care about their violent actions; I obviously don't. I simply do care about democracy, and the sentiment behind the adage "the pen is mightier than the sword."
But I digress. All this has added up to Trump now being the first US president ever to have been impeached twice, and he's managed that fitting fate in just one term. Come to think of it, if he really did encourage his supporters who've waged their siege to do that, it means he was even prepared to disregard the COVID-19 pandemic which has killed more Americans than it has any other nationality. Which in turn means he doesn't even care about his supporters' medical safety, never mind that of his opponents.
Now, I think thankfully, efforts are being made to block him from ever being able to run for political office in the US again. And this week even George W. Bush issued a statement condemning Trump's actions in the Oval Office and his fanbase's outside it. Unless some miracle occurs, his life will end no differently to how his political career has: with him as a cautionary tale for history. Having gone from a popular and respected real estate mogul, to a disgraced tyrant who formed and led a literally violently devoted cult and crippled the world's biggest superpower. And after repeatedly insisting he would make it great again.
No comments:
Post a Comment