Democracy Dump (by) Trump

Planet-threatening DDT is sprayed worldwide by one unhinged individual following his base authoritarian ‘instincts’. That last word comes from the US King himself recently while explaining what comes next in his destructive, destabilising tariffs circus. 

I’m still worrying about the poor penguins on Heard & McDonald Islands who’ve been slapped with their own tariff to ponder. Can’t wait to hear what kind of deal they’re gonna make with The Administration. Suddenly we’re all into deal-making. Even Ursula von der Leyen, normally sobre EU leader, is using that language.

Actually I’ve been holding off writing about this shocking ongoing debacle as each day brings new revelations of gross lying, misinformation and incompetence by the Big Schlanger and his crew of sycophants. A conga line (to quote our Malcolm) which includes America’s richest men currying favour. It’s looking a lot like the court of Louis XIV – his courtiers used to vie for the honour of emptying the royal chamberpot each morning.

As noted with BS’s arrival on the political scene, my toolbox of irony and sarcasm is probably redundant in the face of this mendacious fraudster.

What amazes me though is how easily he has been able to seamlessly emerge as a full-blown autocrat pulling all levers of government control. Who knew that so-called Executive Orders could be rolled out endlessly, bypassing two assemblies of elected officials, and relying on one bat-crazy unelected so-called Special Government Employee to do his dirty work.

Not to mention trying to stack the Supreme Court with compliant judges, and also then ignoring court decisions that don’t suit BS’s political aims and orders. 

Conflict of interest and rank corruption are shamelessly on display everywhere, from Presidential political fundraising to policies favouring associates, including tech bros and others. Encourage share trading speculation while the tariffs tap is turned on then off?  Awesome, ‘a beautiful thing’! Or mint your own bitcoins with profits flowing into family coffers.

How fragile American democracy looks when attacked by one determined, hubristic autocrat, who can apparently just ignore long-held legal frameworks, conventions and practice. The tactic of declaring anything a national security issue seems to be mainly working. 

The obvious comparison with Orwell’s Brave New World has never been more appropriate, particularly the distortions and manipulation of language to designate an up-ending of societal norms and control over individual lives.

That overreach even extends now to non-Americans travelling into the States, with the advent of ‘enhanced vetting’ by US immigration at entry points, where innocent travellers can be subjected to random searches of their electronic devices for any critical content which may offend the new autocracy. DDT on steroids!

As previously explained (or ‘I told you so’), all this confirms a basic structural problem with the American form of democracy, which puts way too much power into the hands of one individual. Sorry Americans, but this is not democracy best practice. Strangely though you don’t even have the countervailing equivalent of an Opposition Leader, as the Democrats are apparently headless without a House Speaker to fight back (Go Cory Booker!).

Maybe it’s time to re-cast your over-hyped constitution into a parliamentary system, where the paramount leader is at least subject to collegial control. I’ll spare you an explanation of the additional benefits of a national voting system, compulsory and preferential voting, and an independent electoral commission to stop gerrymandering. But you know where to find me if you need more details.