The American Circus

United States Democrats are aware that they have launched a difficult battle against a belligerent president, and have decided to twist the truth.

The Anglo-Saxon world, cornerstone and engine of the liberal international order, looks more like a two-ring circus today with its ringleaders, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, two disorganized minds, acting like clowns who cannot behave as adults. The man in the White House has caused the international order to become unhinged, detaching it from its classical axes. The international reliability of Trump’s America, wrapped up in itself, has evaporated.

Meanwhile, we have Xi Jinping in China and Vladimir Putin in Russia, autocrats not subject to the rules of democracy, advancing shrewdly between the cracks of international order. Putin summons African leaders to the Black Sea to boost Russian influence on the continent, emulating the Silk Road utilized by Beijing, after taking advantage of the void created by Trump in the Middle East. And wedged into the resulting sandwich, the EU boxes below its weight, unable to assert its place in the new geopolitical scene.

The U.S. president declares himself a victim of the biggest witch hunt in history. Johnson, in better humor, declares he feels like the comic strip character Charlie Brown, with the British parliament constantly grabbing the Brexit ball away as he runs up to kick it forward. The two white pumpkin-haired twins, both with anarchic personalities, base their leadership on nationalist instincts, governing by emotional spasm.

This week, the House of Representatives formalized the process of impeachment with public hearings. With the facts as we know them, impeachment could triumph in the House, but the process will not succeed in reaching a final judgment of conviction, thanks to the firewall that protects the president in the Senate. At the moment, the lines of partisan polarization are intact, and no Republicans have deserted. The core of electoral support for the most reckless president in modern U.S. history has not been undermined, despite “Ukrainegate” and the abuse of presidential power that has been brought to light, or the 13,000 lies and false stories the man in the White House has told since the beginning of his term. His electoral base has withstood the scandal with 85% of Republicans, a percentage that drops to 42% if you consider the population as a whole.

The Democrats are aware they have thrown themselves into a difficult battle against a combative president, and have decided to twist the truth. The overall legitimacy of the process now begun cannot depend exclusively on the Democratic vote, it would be excessively partisan and would require an across-the-aisle approach that still does not exist. How will the American circus end? A conviction, or the dishonorable resignation of the president to avoid it, Trump’s defeat in the November 2020 election, or his plausible reelection and the continuation of the circus for another four years. With Brexit playing the same role in the case of the man who imitates Trump, an uncertain ending is also promising. My generation was happy under the canvas of the great American circus in the 1950s. Of course, that was another time.