Opinion | Only in America

Philip Yeung 2023.08.27 10:30:01

By Philip Yeung, university teacher

PKY480@gmail.com

This is the moment we have all been waiting for, the scowling mugshot of inmate P01135809, otherwise known as former US President Trump, is now seen around the world. But no sooner was the mugshot taken than it appeared on mugs and T-shirts. Trump has turned shame into a weapon and commodity. A pathological liar, he even lied about his weight, claiming it is 215 lbs. when booked at the Fulton County jail. BetOnline is offering odds on whether Trump is over or under 278 lbs. One betting writer is willing to bet his house on Trump being near 300 lbs. Trump can't be trusted to tell his own weight, how can he be trusted in weightier matters? Never a dull day in ridiculous America.

Trump promises to Make America Great Again. But his singular achievement to date is in turning all his lawyers into indicted criminals. Notable among them is Rudy Giuliani, once America's mayor, now America's fool, with hair dye running down his cheeks. Trump is bad news for lawyers, just as he is bad news for America and an unstable world. He is notorious for not paying his legal bills. He sucks them in as legal counsel and spits them out as illegal co-conspirators. No lawyer comes out unscathed. Just ask Michael Cohen, previously jailed for handling hush money for his presidential-hopeful client. The only smart lawyers are the ones who quit, including Trump's former attorney general Bill Bar.

What is this Trump phenomenon? Except for Chris Christie, none of his primary rivals have the spine to take him to task. They all chime in that his prosecution is politically motivated. That is sending a powerful signal to Republican supporters to keep alive the narrative that the justice system is rigged against Trump. They all play to Trump's evangelical base, fearful of jeopardizing their own political careers. These are opportunistic players who aspire to become America's next president and the world's future leader.

Trump dominates America's air waves. The more they see him on the screen, the louder they cheer and buy into his fiction that he is the target of a "witch hunt". Lousy as leader, Trump plays the victim to perfection. The rest of the world who sees through his scam recoils in shock and horror.

America now faces the prospect of having a presidential candidate campaigning from jail, and a future president who is a convicted criminal, theoretically in a position to pardon himself. Gone is America as a moral society. Forget being moral leader of the world. It is as if Trump is God's curse on America for all the wars it waged and the innocent millions killed.

Trump has upended the entire electoral game. The last time he lost he incited a deadly riot that threatened the life and limb of members, leaders of Congress and even of the Vice President. If the weird and wacky Trump were to lose again in 2024, the Capital riots might be child's play by comparison. All bets would be off. Sarah Palin even suggests taking the country back by a second civil war if Trump's prosecution persists. In a constitutional government, a single man indicted with 91 counts across 4 jurisdictions can wreak total chaos, and suspend its constitution if he wins. Mad-dog Trump is on the loose. His bite, it seems, is far worse than his bark. So much for democracy. So much for Christian morality or political conscience.

It is sad that the only major power keeping the peace and minding its own business is painted as the bipartisan scapegoat for America's mounting troubles. Actually, without America, all is quiet on the Eastern front. China is in self-defense mode. It's neither a threat nor an aggressor-in-waiting. China is not America's enemy. America is its own worst enemy. Meanwhile, people around the world are out with their popcorn as they watch the mayhem unfold and America's system implode. Truth no longer matters, and character even less. Only power and profit matter. Only in America.

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Opinion | Only in America

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