Doubling Down

Whether Boris Johnson is the impetus for the circumstances which surround him at the moment, or whether Boris Johnson is simply reacting to the circumstances which surround him is yet another question which comes to mind. For one, certain experts have noted that Rishi Sunak’s decision to resign has more to do with the fact that the United Kingdom’s finances are out of whack rather than having anything to do with Boris Johnson’s behavior. And with the avalanche of resignations which have been sent to Boris Johnson from people in his government over the last twenty-four hours or so, the ability for the UK government to function – which was already impeded because of Boris Johnson and the circumstances which surrounded him – is now impeded even further with the swath of resignations which have been handed to Boris Johnson.

Washington is perhaps biting its nails as it watches what is unfolding in London at the moment. After all, political instability was something which Washington and London felt they were immune from for decades, if not centuries. Political instability in the Third World is something which Washington and London would watch alongside a frozen dinner and a bottle of beer and in a relative state of comfort and insulation. Now, for Washington and London to experience and to see the political instability manifest under their own noses is perhaps startling to say the least.

Doubling down at the expense of the country is a trend which began with Joe Biden and Donald Trump after the 2020 election. Then, Ashraf Ghani continued the trend by doubling down at the expense of his country during the futile “Peace Process” between him and the Taliban. After that, Zelensky continued the trend by getting the feudal “great inheriting families” to bail him out of a Russian encirclement of Kiev, only to then double down at the expense of ordinary Ukrainians. Now, the trend of doubling down at the expense of everyone else has extended to Westminster, where Boris Johnson is turning the British government into a one-man show by staying put while the machinery of the government which enables it to function is dissolving before everyone’s eyes.

In a matter of time, there is reason to believe that the trend which began in Washington and was mentioned before will come full circle to Washington, either this year or in 2024. Election disputes – something which was totally uncommon and out of character in the United States – began in 2016, only to intensify in 2020. And there is no reason to believe that an election dispute in 2024 cannot happen. With the way things went in the two previous general elections, there is no reason to rule out an election dispute in the United States a third time around.

Despite falling off his bike recently, along with fracturing bones in his foot while running to celebrate with Kamala Harris after the election – in addition to countless Freudian slips and brain farts – Joe Biden has signaled that he wants to run yet again in 2024. And if Biden runs in 2024, the people who brought him out of his bedroom and out of fourth or fifth place in New Hampshire and Iowa and into the White House will not want the election to slip out of their hands like the last time around. If a repeat of the aforementioned scenario occurs, it will infuriate the opposing side, perhaps regardless of whether Trump runs or not, and as a result, an election dispute in 2024 that will head straight to a conservative-majority Supreme Court is perhaps already in the making. Reversing the trend of political instability in our societies must now become a bottom-up process, given that the reversal of such a trend does not seem to be occurring at the top.