Trumped Up

One major assumption which people make in general and in many cases the assumption turns out to be quite faulty and erroneous is that just because a person or a set of persons are in a position of authority and power, that person or those persons should automatically have flawless and sound cognition and judgment. As a matter of fact, the opposite can be true and it is often true, in the sense that authority and power are the two sure things which can cloud and tamper with proper cognition and judgment. Authority and power also reveal the true nature of a person. As Abraham Lincoln said, if you want to know the true character of a person, give him power.

Thus, in addition to serving as an extension of petty politics, indicting Donald Trump at this point in time when it could have happened at any other point in time is also a sign of desperation which stems from faulty and clouded cognition and judgment, in the sense that it is assumed on the part of those who are making such a move that no one can see the desperation behind such a move. Those who have proceeded with this move know full well that Trump cannot be beaten in an election as things stand politically and socially in the United States. As a result, if Trump cannot be beaten in an election and if people in power do not have the courage or the guts to let the people decide the course of the country’s political and social process given the prevailing political and social conditions in the country, then desperation dictates that Trump be knocked out in this manner, even though the possibility is that Trump will be president before any tangible results come from such a faulty and shady legal process. 

Moreover, we as Americans might overlook the fact that this is not the first time that a politically charged legal case has come about in a society. What makes this case different is that such a case has taken root in a country like the United States, a country which many people have thought of both inside and outside of the United States as a chosen country or an “exceptional” country where a Third World political prosecution and “Banana Republic” type uprooting of a political opponent could never happen. All of this indicates the eroding civility, norms, and principles which once kept the basic system together. The basic civility, norms, and principles which once kept the system together are now eroding, and once the basic civility, norms, and principles erode, one is left with a Third World “Banana Republic” type situation where political opponents try to jail one another based on flimsy and trumped-up legal cases like the situation we find ourselves in today in the United States. In short, the system is falling apart, and the system’s “best response” to falling apart is this, namely, a descent into further political and social chaos and dysfunction. 

Hence, there is a dual consideration and dual effect that we must take into account here which in turn overarches and supersedes all other considerations and effects at the moment, namely, that on one hand, the type of things we feared about other countries are now happening in a country like the United States where everyone thought was immune and safe from such things but is now no longer immune and safe as a result of the erosion of the basic civility, norms, and principles of the system. And on the other hand, Americans can no longer call themselves chosen or “exceptional” amidst the whole of international society given all of the aforementioned points. There is virtually no difference now between the United States and Uganda or Pakistan or Myanmar or any other country where political opponents try to jail one another for politically motivated reasons. To put it simply, Tony Blinken can now close shop, zip his mouth, and assess the state of democracy and the state of basic democratic civility, norms, and principles here in the United States as opposed to bad mouthing and criticizing the political and social conditions of America’s peer powers or those of any other country for that matter.