Theatre, tragedy and Trump

Things seemed so bad, so ugly and divisive for America’s politics that one Republican senator felt compelled to ask: “What the hell is going on here?” And as if to get to the central reason, another senator (D-NY), Kirsten Gillbrand, last Wednesday described President Donald Trump as “kicking up like the spoilt child he has always been.”

Trump’s self-serving media obsessions and bravado displays have been uncharitably noted in several former White House staff interviews and recent books (eg Fire and Fury Inside the Trump White House; A Higher Loyalty, Truth, Lies and Leadership). In a recent tv interview, famed actor Robert De Niro described Trump as “a disaster, ignorant, not respecting the office and not knowing what to do,” etc.

Impeached but not dismissed, Trump’s persistent refusal to demit office and allow Joe Biden and Kamala Harris a smooth transition has become troubling. Several things about this US election have attracted our attention: the dangers of putting an intemperate, bullying and narcissistic person in high office, Kamala Harris’s becoming vice president, immigration and energy policies, the strength and weakness of democracy and America’s (temporary) loss of moral leadership.

Were this matter settled, it is refreshingly likely that Kamala Devi Harris (of mixed Jamaican-Indian heritage) would have lit a deya on the steps of the White House. Her several political victories in California were significantly propelled by the large population of Indian immigrants who dominate the motel and other niche businesses. Her Jamaican roots (from her father) would also attract a political base in the eastern US. Biden’s current search for the best available talent and experience from inside as well as outside in the private sector, university and civic society will certainly add to the integrity and professionalism of his administration.

Will this theatrical tragedy soon end? Trump’s critics, high-grounded as they appear, must mash some brakes in facing the political realities. He got over 72,365,600 votes with 48 per cent of the popular vote, versus Biden’s 77,572,100 and 51 per cent (three days ago). He demonstrably knows this.

In the US demographic politics, he got the majority of white votes while Biden got the majority of black and Latin votes. Together with the evangelical movement, there is even a “Catholics for Trump” organisation. Trump also got more votes than he got in 2016. His loyalties remain deep if not victorious. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, once declared: “I am prepared to take a bullet for Trump.” Cohen has just been released from jail

America is democratically and demographically divided. (So is this country.) Moreover, many of Trump’s Republican colleagues argue that he is within his constitutional rights to challenge some of the results even when several state commissioners explain that no significant fraud or irregularities took place. So it seems far from over.

We here wildly speculated about the outcome of the November 3 elections and kept following the snail-paced tabulation of final votes. However, thinking that Biden’s 279 electoral votes to Trump’s 217 (three days ago) would have settled the presidency, the political scenario moved into the theatrical with tragic implications.

Now it isn’t that US political system is all that bad. Its founders and the Federalist Papers shaped a cleverly decentralised, checks-and-balances, anti-Westminster system that put a lot of faith in voters and the political integrity of their elected leaders.

However, as recent events in the US and around the world reveal, political leaders, including those promising nobility and integrity, quickly abuse the privilege and space provided, and surrender to hubris, narcissism and vain obsessions with office. It’s often the driver, not the vehicle.

While we may review structure, this capture by megalomaniac leaders is pressing for a serious look at “who we go put” in high office. Traditional recruitment or election seems insufficient. It looks more like a lottery. Too often we are seeing how the pathological personality of the leader contaminates the organisation or society itself.

Moreover, in particular, it is time for us here and elsewhere to question whether the artificial first-past-the-post system should be so decisive way and above the natural base of the democratic popular votes. After patiently waiting in line to vote for many hours, in rain or shine, often hungry and thirsty, citizens deserve decent government, not political theatre and tragedy.