Opinion | America's Hobson's choice
By Philip Yeung, university teacher
PKY480@gmail.com
America is staring at a horrendous Hobson's choice. In November, it must pick either a convicted felon or a cognitively impaired doddering 81-year-old as leader. In the presidential debate, it was painful to watch Biden's struggling incoherence. Alarmed by Biden's obvious mental decline, some Democrats are openly calling for him to drop out of the race. Biden and Trump are running neck and neck in the polls. At this point it is a toss-up. But Biden has another worry. Senator Robert Kennedy Jr. has thrown his hat into the ring, and will siphon off about 9% of the votes that should be going to Biden. Trump doesn't have this headache. No one understands American politics anymore. Multiple convictions in a court of law are now worn like a badge of honor by the most shameless, self-seeking man the other side of sanity. Biden has accused Trump of having "the morality of an alley cat". That may be so. But somehow, Trump has parlayed his felonies into a fundraising magic wand, the more convictions he racks up the more money rolls in. Trump is a whizz at cashing in on his criminality and amorality. He is out-raising poor, clean-living old Joe. The entrenched moral code no longer apply. Hijacked by a cult leader, the Republican Party is hurtling itself towards the edge of the cliff.
Trump has declared that "I will absolutely accept the result of the election---if I win." For him, there is only one outcome; he owns the victory lap. He has promised to pardon the jailed January Six insurrectionists, calling them patriots, and has further pledged to punish his enemies. This election is about settling scores. Forget the nonsense about Making America Great Again. Should Trump come out a loser, a far bigger insurrection looms. The world shudders at the thought of another Trump win or Trump loss---either way, America is teetering on the brink of violent chaos. What about the famous checks and balances built into the US political system? Alas, both the US Congress and the Supreme Court seem to be living in Trump's pocket. Congress has circled its wagons around Trump, and Trump appointees in the Supreme Court are shielding the man who put them there. Single-handedly, Trump has dismantled the US system's checks and balances. He has engineered its systemic failure.
This is an awful time for world stability—six of the G-7 leaders are staring at imminent political demise. Russia has been sucked into a never-ending war. America is acting as an accomplice to Israeli war crimes. Japan and South Korea are adrift, led by clueless players. The only occupant of the world's moral high ground is China. It must be feeling quite lonely up there—minding its own business, playing by the rules, playing peace-maker to an ungrateful America. Yet, on both sides of the aisle, US politicians are reflexively using China as the punching bag. They are numbing themselves to evil-doing and evil-doers, so long as they profit from their complicity. Morality is dead in America. Truth is a casualty. Please don't pretend otherwise.
What happens in November should worry the world. Putin says that Russia and China are the only stabilizing forces in the world order. He is only half right. China is. Russia, as an invader, flatters itself. The upcoming US election has been called the most consequential in its history. But it is a choice between senility and insanity. America's forefathers must be turning over in their graves, as the country self-destructs before the world. If this does not spell or signal the beginning of the end of US supremacy, what does?
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
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