AMERICA THE BIZARRE

In the days since the election, we have seen the outgoing President bluster about election fraud, recounts, judicial challenges and remaining in office. He has refused to concede to the President-elect. He has refused to begin the process for a smooth transition of power. He has gone on twitter rampages. And his followers and sycophants have done his bidding, lauching lawsuits that have failed, blustering on TV and social media about the impending armageddon when the new administration is sworn in, and trying to physically halt vote counting and intimidate any state politicians who claim their supervision of the election was done properly. None of this is particularly surprising, given the track record of the Trump administration or their supporters. In fact, it was expected. What is surprising, though is the completely silent reaction to all of this on the part of the rest of the country. Trump's constant bombast against the legitimacy of the election results is having at least a small effect on many Americans. It is now being reported that the number of people who are beginning to question the election results is going up. It seems to prove the old axiom that if you tell a lie and then repeat it often enough, it begins to take on the aura of truth, even though it is a falsehood. Why are Americans allowing this to happen ? Why have they not taken to the streets around the White House protesting loudly and vigorously and demanding that the orange madman at least concede ? If there is such a large corps of Americans who truly hate Trump and who voted against him, why are they silently sitting this out ? It would seem that, by doing so, they are increasingly implying consent to the President's tactics. The United States is a strange and unpredictable country. The rest of the world held its breath on election night, and then for the next few days as the vote totals were counted and the Electoral College tallies ticked agonizingly but surely in Biden's favour. America got it right, the world must've thought as Biden finally eked out a win. But he hasn't really won yet. His transition is being held up. He is not getting essential official briefings on security, the economy and, most importantly, on covid-19. The lawsuits, while failing, are still nipping at his heels. He's being hamstrung before his administration has gotten started. It's stillborn. And that has dire consequences. Americans are undoubtedly fatigued by all of this. Trump's administration has been draining. The election was divisive. The pandemic is cutting a wide swath through the population and, once again, overwhelming their chaotic health-care "system." The racial divide, which was a huge factor in the voting, is still a raw wound that will not heal. Or, perhaps, there is something more sinister at work here. Americans have always been fascinated by the raw underbelly of society. They revel in the bizarre, the ugly, the perverse, the violent. They are mesmerized by gangsters, thugs, and fighters. Even when they know it's wrong to root for these creatures, they do it anyway. They love the anti-hero, the gunslinger, the punk. And, in this case, even if they didn't vote for him, they find Trump and his band of troublemakers compelling and entertaining. They don't want the freak-show to stop. They don't want the carnival to end. There's a part of their psychological make-up that is getting an immense jolly out of this. And it will destroy their democracy more surely than if Trump had actually won the election. It's no longer "America the Beautiful" .... it's "America the Bizarre." And it will unfold in all its sordid glory as certainly as the sun will come up tomorrow.