COUP D'ETAT IN AMERICA

Donald Trump has successfully convinced 106 Republican members of Congress to support his bizarrely quixotic attempt to overturn the results of the recent US general election. This band of Trumpists are attempting to go back to the Supreme Court in an effort to nullify the election. There is no precedence for this in US history. Their chances of success are small, but the disturbing aspect in all of this is that they are trying to do this at all. American democracy used to be the envy of the world. Past elections were often hotly contested and the results have been disputed in some cases. But, after the disputes had been solved, the great tradition has always been the "peaceful transfer of power." Americans made a public display of this at the Inauguration: the outgoing President was always present to watch over the event and then was seen to gracefully leave the scene to the new incoming administration. Americans had always used this as proof that their democracy worked, and held it as an example to the less democratic corners of the world that this was how democracy was done. It was an impressive and important ceremony. Now, Trump seems bent of destroying this. He must not succeed. As imperfect as the American republican system is, it DOES work. And it works largely because it is SEEN to work. Optics count so much in politics. When the world sees outgoing and incoming Presidents on the same stage, participating in the same ceremony, with one leaving willingly and the other entering with the blessing of the assembled branches of government, they fully understand that a new administration is in charge. But Trump has thrown cold water on the whole proceeding. Other regimes around the world are now free to question the legitimacy of the Biden administration. Yes, the various states have certified his win. But without the ceremony of the "peaceful transfer of power", there will always be the nagging shred of doubt. This will be a nasty burr in the saddle for Biden as he attempts to restore order to the American chaos. It will be difficult for him to overcome this. Thus, Trump will accomplish another major disruption to the American way of life. And that is entirely what he sought to do when he launched his bid to become President back in 2015. He has no interest in actually governing or solving problems. His goal was the furtherance of the Trump brand. And, in defeat, he will continue to do this. To what end ? Nobody actually knows. Least of all, Trump himself. There is a strange personal benefit to him to simply be a headline, a public figure ( whether a significant or comic figure ) to massage his massive and sensitive ego. That's what this is all about. American democracy has survived so many significant things. It is sad that the single thing to completely undermine it, and perhaps destroy it, is a pathetic man's ego.