Do you know what New Gingrich said was the most important lesson that the USA had learnt during the 20th century?
He said it was “That we need to identify and neutralize our enemies”.
And I said that if you go out into the world with the attitude that you need to find enemies, you will find that there is no shortage.
Incidentally, if you go out in the world trying to find friends, you will likewise find a plentiful supply.
It’s like in the old story. Two families moved into neighbouring houses from different towns. The first one met one of their new neighbours from across the street, and asked how people in this town were. The old-timer asked how people had been in their old town. They replied that they had been kind and generous people, and got the opinion that “You will probably find that they are much the same here.”
The second one met the same person only minutes later, and asked the same question. The got the same question in return, and replied that in their old neighbourhood, they had found the townspeople to be unkind people, given to slander and unwilling to do others any favours. The verdict? “You will probably find that they are much the same here.”
USA has now gone out into the world assuming everyone to be their enemy.
USA found that they were. Had they instead gone out into the world assuming that everyone was potentially their friend, they would have been.
That shouldn’t be your prime concern.
A bigger concern
Trump will be gone one day, that much is clear. But the devastation left in his wake will still be there and the system and precendens he created will too. Trump is currently ignoring a court ruling and rather than appeal, calling for the impeachment of the judge who issued it instead. He may get it too, although the judge will be acquitted in the Senate.
His career is probably over though. And he may need to move and change his identity to be safe from all the MAGATs that will be coming after him, starting with Elon musk doxxing him and his family members with his SS.
The much, much bigger problem is this sends a message to all judges: do not rule against Trump. It’s not worth it, no one will stand for you if you do and Trump will just ignore the ruling. Some judges may still do it, but many won’t, because the risks are too great.
US Constitution prescribes impeachment as medicine for people like Trump, but good luck getting that trough. MAGATs in Senate voted against Trumps’ removal even after his own followers stormed the capitol and wanted to hang them for daring to do their constitutional duty and confirm the victory of one Joe Biden.
Once Trump leaves you’ll have to deal with a country that used its constitution as toilet paper. It used to be a living, breathing document, but now it’s a rotting corpse. No future president will be bound by the Constitution, because Trump was allowed to ignore it without consequences. At a minimum you’ll need a constitutional convention and rewrite the whole thing to give it meaning again.
After that you may begin to work towards your international reputation. It will take a while.
Unfortunately, what Trump has done is to expose the inherent weakness in the American system of government.
We’ve seen that, in a surprisingly common set of circumstances, the USA can become a dictatorship overnight.
It’s just a wonder that it hasn’t happened before!
Can you imagine the public outcry and derision when, once Trump is gone, a new trade deal with the USA is announced?
Here in Britain, and many countries that were former staunch allies, the headlines would all be pointing out how utterly useless they are, given that they can be ignored or ripped up at the whim of just one man!
Even if, as seems increasingly unlikely, the USA is still a NATO member at that point, the massive amount of arms sales that America has benefitted from for decades will never be seen again – why would anyone trust a country that has withdrawn support from an ally that they swore to protect? even gifting their enemy with an intelligence benefit by withholding vital satellite coverage and information gathered elsewhere!
The rest of the world has now seen the grubby underbelly of the American political system, and I very much doubt that they, as a country, will ever be trusted again.
How very very sad.
