On Donald Trump’s Acquittal: A view from the s***hole South
I’m interested in American politics only as far as its tentacles extend way beyond its borders because of the interventionist nature of its politics in the primary objective to maintain capitalist ideology. I’m am not a Trump groupie like so many. Trump for me is the most obvious manifestation of how ugly and unpalatable America is and has always been. He is not a new paradigm…only the most expressive of what has always been. Sometimes though, I am forced to break down that virtual wall that keeps me away from all the soap opera that is Donald Trump and American politics. The Impeachment circus was one such that I gave some notice to.
The acquittal of Donald Trump by the United States Senate was among the clearest indicator of how politics works all over the western political system directly and in the outposts of most post-colonial societies. The clearest indicator that the US preach democratic principles but have never given and don’t know how to give credence to the very ideals that with bombs, drones and ammunition they supposedly go in defence of elsewhere, in a world that they have commandeered like the aggressors and tyrant powers of old.
The acquittal of Donald Trump validated, consolidated some of those Machiavellian truths: that in politics nothing takes precedence over Party, personal and individual interests. Dissent in the cause of truth & justice is the greatest service you can do for your country. The Senate failed as we all expected them to. An inevitability perhaps because they are a product of a system not rooted in general principles of justice, democratic ideals and the rule of law. Of course, the US is not the sole heir to all that. Neither, in the American context, can the Republicans be left to bear the burden of this lack of giving expression to conscience.
Turn the pages back to the Clinton impeachment and how the very same Democratic players engaged in all manner of contortionism to rationalize and turn the truth on its head, to save a Presidency and a comrade facing the heat of the Opposition. If the situation wasn't as serious as it is, it would be more than hilarious how karma never forgets an address. The very same people who never stood against a leader who lied are now the ones demanding ultimate condemnation for a man who has committed a fundamentally egregious act like the previous villain. If there was any lesson to be learned, one could say the Democrats got what they deserved. But of course in politics, there is not — not the ones that would matter anyway.
Ironically Donald Trump is not the real villain — — however, unpalatable and hard to reconcile that is. How can you blame a man solely when he chooses to do as he pleases because no one has the gall to stand up to him? Who would deny such a privilege? Especially if you are one born devoid of the restraining possession of conscience like most of humanity. Undoubtedly the real villain is partisanship. The real villains are those in the Republican Party who continue to be enablers and the public which remains largely indifferent to the dangers of this man. America did not lose anything by way of credibility with the acquittal of Trump. Its history at home and in foreign policy shows that it had none to lose. What it did was underscore the nature of politics and politicians. What it most emphatically did was underscore that democracy is an ideal in the abstract that when the time comes for it to be respected and honoured, is almost inevitably failed by the very people that fly its banner.
As I said I am interested in the politics of America only because the US is an intrusive force, and in as much as who sits in the White House is a matter of degree rather than kind, the fact is, at some point and especially as a citizen of one of those s***hole countries, decisions there will have an impact on my consciousness…perhaps me directly. Whether it’s declaring war on some unmatched developing country like Iraq, orchestrating regime change in a country like Venezuela because the United States cannot get its way or instigating and funding or at the very least supporting the overthrow of progressive leaders like Evo Morales, I have to pay attention to who sits there and Donald Trump is the most ominous danger to the world at large since the nightmare that was George W. Bush.
