By David Brooks on October 2, 2023
Sally the sea lion escaping Central Park Zoo during flooding in NYC
The former president, coup plotter, rapist and Republican presidential front-runner is busy vying for the White House as he defends himself in at least four trials and a total of 91 criminal and civil charges in the coming months. At the same time, a Democratic senator who feels he is an international judge by condemning governments that repudiate Washington’s imperial model as “corrupt” and “undemocratic” is now accused – for the second time – of political corruption. And just a few days after the last of the world’s leaders left New York to participate in the annual debate at the UN General Assembly where almost all of them pretended to express their great concern about climate change, the city was flooded to see the criminal act of having done nothing but talk nice for years, which should be a crime against humanity.
Democracy in the country that insists on being the “democratic leader of the world” has degraded to such an extent that one of the leading candidates to, in this case, return to the White House to, he says, rescue the country from the clutches of the “radical left” and save “democracy” faces court proceedings in which he is accused of, in essence, shattering the democratic constitutional order with a coup attempt, jeopardizing the national security of the country, putting together a conspiracy to commit electoral fraud in his favor, and separately committing a major corporate fraud.
Some have argued, including the defendant himself, that these cases against Trump are politically motivated to derail his presidential candidacy; others have pointed out that millions of his supporters will perceive the prosecutions as “illegitimate” and that – also something the defendant has promoted – they prove that the justice system is perverted. Still others warn that they could lead to further political violence by Trump fans; the former president himself showed up at a gun store last week, where he appeared to buy a Glock pistol (his team later insisted that the ex-president never acquired such a weapon), playing on the message that everyone, including him, should arm themselves to protect themselves from those who disagree.
But it is obvious that not putting the former president on trial with the overwhelming evidence supporting the charges against him would be even more damaging to democracy, since it would imply that for political reasons and because of his power he is being allowed to commit serious crimes, thus nullifying the principle that, before the law, all are equal. Moreover, it would give the green light to other powerful people that they can violate the law and remain unpunished.
Meanwhile, the indictment of corruption by federal prosecutors against powerful Democratic Senator Robert Menendez proves what everyone knows: corruption is bipartisan, and as long as elections are won largely by Don Money, this will not change.
But no one has a monopoly on political hypocrisy. How many of the leaders who paraded before the UN podium where they acknowledged the global scientific consensus that fossil fuel production and use had to be curbed as soon as possible returned to their capitals to do just the opposite?
During the great almost biblical storm in New York late last week, Sally, a sea lioness, managed to get out of her enclosure at the Central Park Zoo to wander around, but returned shortly thereafter, apparently after concluding that there is no escape from the effects of so much crime, decay and political impunity. We need to find a way to free the Sally’s and put the delinquent politicians and all those responsible for announced existential crises in their place in a big zoo.
Otherwise, we will all just be waiting for Noah and his Ark.
Source: La Jornada, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English