Digging a hole to China

A recurring question posed by children is, “If I start digging a hole in the garden, where does it go?” The usual grownup answer is, “You’ll end up in China”.

Since the outcome of the 2020 US Elections it became clear Trump has been digging himself into a hole, sinking deeper each time so much that one has to wonder if he’s trying to get to China. What started as the normal reaction of a supra narcissistic man -the surprise of defeat, the denial that this a done thing- in the past days has gone from farce, to pantomime, to reckless behavior one that puts the American people and the world in immediate danger.

There are so many ramifications to this incredible behavior that one is at pains to know which one to tackle first.We, people in Third World countries (or emerging economies which I think is the PC definition nowadays) are amazed at seeing the gringos behave like, well, like us.

If there is a universally admired chapter of the American democratic process it is the peacefultransition of power a healthy diet most of the serious thinking folks down south would die to have on a steady basis. So there it goes out the window, while Putin rubs his hands thinking how he can now deride the whole democratic system to his people and keep them down at the farm.“See: Amerikanis cheaters and liars! Russkis only people true to the Motherland, Nazdoroivie!”

Another aspect to contemplate is the military vulnerability that comes when you feel nobody is running the most powerful nation on earth; it opens to the planning of all sorts of mischief by the baddies we all know and some we don’t.

The Biden transition which is taking place as I write has to fill 4 thousand jobs and the FBI has to vet the candidates, something that cannot be done until the other side concedes, so on January 20 the new Administration will have a slow start instead of the fast track sprint the country needs.

Even more tragic, more people will die of the pandemic unnecessarily as a result of this filibustering.

Last but not least is the inflammatory diatribe coming out of the White House addressed to the millions of Trump supporters telling them not to accept the new President! To hear them shouting in the streets they won’t. Why? Because Trump says so. There is no fraud. There is no conspiracy -you cannot seriously believe this election was rigged by a satanic sect that delves into pedophilia as a side dish.

Well these people do.

All the lawsuits, except a minor one, have been thrown out of court by Republican judges.

Custer’s Last Stand was Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, looking uncannily more and more like Dracula, spewing all sorts of craziness and literally melting in front of the cameras.

This is a disgrace.

America will come out seriously wounded and undermined but the Brat in the White House doesn’t give a rat’s ass; he only cares about not being labeled a loser. That and golfing.

Nostalgia is a totally useless exercise but in my lifetime there was a moment in America where imperfect men gave their most perfect effort for their country.

Politics was not only an art it was a means to an end, not an end in itself. It was about making people lives better and giving a hand to hoist those left behind. Politics was often the result of great bravery and courage or of long hours poring over history to build a framework for future policies of improvement and wellbeing; public service was a well-defined discipline, sought and recognized.

“JFK” the final biography of Kennedy (Frank Longevall, Viking 2020) shows an imperfect man going to extraordinary lengths to learn on how best to serve his country, not himself.

Kennedy writes: “As soon as any man says of the affairs of state ‘What does it matter to me?’ the state is lost”.

He recognized that if America was meant to play the main role in the world and in space, it had to lead by example and he confidently went for it inspiring a whole generation, mine.

He ended up leaving the most enduring legacy of any American President in the XX century.

While taking in the lessons of this beautifully crafted book I watch in horror the train wreck that has become the Trump Administration barreling through a gaping hole, dragging democracy, republican values and all that made America really great in its wake, tunneling all the way to China.

They have forgotten that at Earth’s center they are bound to collide with a core of molten lava that could very well propel the whole kit and caboodle into oblivion.