From my Writing Room

Copyright © 2021 by Uwe Bahr

Up until this hour I am puzzled as to why there were and are people assuming that Donald Trump of all people would be the cleaning service against corruption and patronage. A socialite and gambler who lied, played the corona virus down initially, made ludicrous statements almost on a daily basis, and contradicted his own words the very next day. A president of the United States of America who incited an antisocial mob to invade a symbol of American democracy.

A self-check for Trump-voters should be a cakewalk, provided there are still some honest people: How had they reacted if Barack Obama had done all of this? What would they have said?

How is it possible that people are so mendacious, without any self-respect? Trump’s base, interspersed with believers – shameless hypocrites who not even shy away from praying to a God. How pathetic.

Trump himself not only stems from a dubious past, which was known long before he even became president, but he also recruited people with corrupt, corporatist background for his administration, including his own family. For sure, there are plenty of people in Washington receiving their money from the same sources as Trump, be it Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi. But a charlatan like Trump, who acted like an autocratic despot, fuming abnormal, ludicrous conspiration theories, is certainly the last person sound people would entrust their country. And yet, they have voted for him twice, giving him even more votes in the past election than in 2016.

Now, America can count the cost. Elected screwballs like Marjory Taylor Green with QAnon fantasies are sitting in Congress, and the Republican Party cannot get rid of the spirits they themselves have cited by allowing Trump to become their frontrunner. The Grand Old Party is facing a potential weakening of her political importance through a conceivable split-up of her radical member section. The consequent pinnacling polarization could pose an uncontrollable peril for the future with immeasurable consequences for the United States.

What have those people turned into who were capable of voting for Donald Trump? Did they ever read a history book in their life? Do they even have a clue what is really going on in this world?

Not for the first time in history: Sordid, partisan fanaticism coupled with fallacious patriotism, all blended with unsubstantiated and often parroted opinions, have led to a widespread, clueless and ideologically infiltrated thinking – especially on the political right of the electorate.

It is an American catastrophe.