Trump: Irresponsibility and Narcissism

Incited by Donald Trump’s call to block the presidential transition at any cost, hundreds of his followers yesterday broke into the United States Capitol and forced Congress to recess during their certification of Joe Biden’s election. As had been anticipated in calls by Trump fanatics on social media, the protests completely exceeded what is protected as free speech and by the constitutional right of association, and crossed into sedition and violence. Not only did the insurrectionists shamelessly display racist symbols and emblems that celebrate American slavery, but several of the attackers went to the Capitol armed.

An officer at the Capitol opened fire on one of the people who joined the assault on the legislative branch’s home. According to Washington police, the woman, who was a Trump supporter, died later from gunshot wounds. In an egomaniacal outburst that would be difficult to understand if it were anyone else, then-president Trump characterized these tragic events in a tweet as “the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away … ”

We must reflect on the the way these events developed. First of all, it should be noted that the U.S. electoral system has never set the democratic example that its devotees claim, a democracy which the U.S. has attempted to impose on the rest of the world with imperial arrogance for more than a century. On the contrary, in a way that is increasingly difficult to hide, the self-proclaimed “world’s largest democracy” carries with it a series of flaws that call into question whether it is the “government of the people.” Sufficient to say that one of the flaws is the continued existence of the Electoral College — a remnant of the oligarchy established when slavery was still legal in this country, and which was expressly designed to restrain the popular will when it challenged the establishment — or the handful of mega-capitalists who almost effortlessly came to power by the opportunity to make unlimited and anonymous donations to candidates for all elected offices.

In this way, the real estate magnate’s tenure in the White House should be read as a symptom of those ills. But these flaws have also expedited the deterioration to such an extent today that the superpower has given itself over to destroying its own institutions. Even if yesterday’s riot does not irreparably damage the presidential transition process, it creates serious short and long-term problems. On the one hand, leaders of the Republican Party face a dilemma: whether to reject the assault on democracy or prolong their disgraceful loyalty to the president. The choice on the other hand is to widen the gap between the institutions and the people, as well as among the people.

Finally, it is impossible to ignore the role of that guns play among large groups of U.S. citizens. This exacerbates tension and makes it infinitely more difficult to resolve conflicts through dialogue, empathy and the mechanisms for reconciliation of interests, signs of every authentic democracy.

Hopefully the political classes in Washington will set aside partisan pettiness and unite to put an end to the narcissistic irresponsibility that Trump has taken much too far. Otherwise, the United States is headed for a political landscape strewn with potholes, a place where we cannot rule out future violence.