Ecstasy and agony of power

The news about US President Donald Trump’s political downfall, loss of business, character and social media connections is all around the world. A fatal collapse. And some of us looking on may well ask, what can we learn from all that?

There were many Trump-driven skirmishes before, while he was on an ecstatic high. The present Capitol Hill crisis was triggered by Trump’s repeated denial of last November 3's election results. It remains an agonising experience for a society already plagued with over 394,000 deaths and almost 24 million cases of covid19.

As Congresswoman Maxine Walters (D-CA) said, Trump “displayed unfitness of office and buffoonery from the start.” Always distorting the truth with false statistics and excuses, she and others added. And with his craving for everyday media appearances, many people seemed to enjoy his chest-thumping, narcissism and bragging, even admired him. Is there a lesson here for us?

Today, twice impeached but not yet dismissed (the Senate is yet to vote), Trump and the Capitol Hill invasion (five dead, many injured) raise several issues, two being (1) Did he really “cause” the mob invasion and (2) Should he be impeached and blocked from ever holding public office?

To the first issue, yes, he did incense his restless “Make America Great Again" supporters. His code words, propaganda and shared grievances had enough psychological impact to push an already emotional crowd into the frenzy. His repeated “we will not surrender, we will not concede” declarations to the flag-waving crowd energised their runaway aggression. He did not tell them to break down doors.

For all this, during Wednesday’s House of Representatives debate, Trump was called some of the worst names ever said in the US Congress.

“Trump is the most dangerous man in the country today, the most dangerous man to occupy the office of president,” thundered Democrat Joaquin Castor.

“We must get rid of this white-supremacist president,” advised another Democrat, Cori Bush. The final vote in the House was 232 vs 197 (five did not vote) – a very divided country. Ten Republicans voted with the Democrats.

The general charge was “incitement to insurrection against the government,” which falls within the broad constitutional premise of “treason, bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanours.”

Even when in business, Trump was driven to power, dominance and connivance. Another senator, (D-NY) Kirsten Gillbrand, earlier described President Donald Trump as “kicking up like the spoilt child he has always been.” But he did succeed in capitalist business and skilfully exploited the discretions democracy allowed. After all, it must be noted that he got over 74 million votes to Joe Biden’s 81 million, while the electoral college count was 306 for Biden and 232 for Trump.

During the presidential campaign he did point to some “successes” such as lowering unemployment, cutting immigration, bringing home business, etc. To many scholars, however, he provides an outstanding example of the corrosive effects of extensive power on its possessor – the personality aberrations, delusions, loss of guilt for wrongdoing, feeling all-knowing and all-powerful, contempt for those who disagree, longing for approval and love, etc.

It’s the story of ecstasy and agony that ends in tragedy as it did with Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin., as Dr David Owen pointed out in his 2008 book In Sickness and in Politics. Owen indicated that such personality aberrations also occur outside of political office, even in the military.

The Republican leadership has already said “no Senate trial” before Joe Biden’s installation on January 20.

So can a president be tried for impeachment after leaving office? That is the big question which will be troubling many minds from now.

So far, Trump has been embarrassed, publicly punished and abandoned by many. Last Wednesday, he called for “no violence, no vandalism.”

Are there lessons for reforming our aged constitution particularly in checks, balances and representation?

Entering the presidency and facing a country desperately needing a boost in morale and unity, Joe Biden may do well to seize the opportunity and encourage his party to call off the whole impeachment mission.

Certainly Donald Trump will go down in history. Joe Biden now has a chance to go down in history too, but for a different reason.