Although it is still not sure if Donald Trump will go down in history as champion of bombastic, but empty threats, or as somebody who did what he threatened with, thus starting a dangerous local war with potentially global consequences, one thing is absolutely sure: Donald Trump, the eccentric billionare with a turbulent business career, a showman, proved with his entry into the White House, but as well as with the campaign waged by the so called liberals (in the best way of almost forgotten McChartism) to evict him from there, that the model of western democracy, especially its American version, is irreparable corrupted. If we look at the facts as they are, there can be no doubt about this.
Trump was elected as president of America, a country that was for decades, with good reason, viewed as the light-bearer of democracy. He was elected in accordance with the rules of the American democratic system, rules that are – basically – applied from the very beginning of the existence of the United States. Here we stumble upon the first “but”. Only to enter the race for the nomination for the presidential candidate, one must have money, very much money. In democracy, meaning the rule of the people, the people are robbed of the possibility to elect the best and forced to elect among the rich the one, who seems to be most capable. Or, and this is the second “but” (which was obviously the case in the last elections), people are left to choose and to decide who is the lesser evil. This is why, choosing between Trump, who at that time presented a fresh and for America even radically changed foreign policy program and the former First lady and Secretary of State, an undisputed political hawk with no other foreign policy program that the continuation of toppling regimes in foreign countries and installing those who suited the US best and – not to forget – the continuation of the reborn Cold war, people opted for Trump, as lesser evil. Of course, when we use the term “people” we have in mind those who decided to use their voting right, which is usually about 50% of those registered as potential voters. And here is the third “but”. The President is elected by the minority of the Americans and imposed upon the majority.
This is how American democracy functions, at least in the last couple of decades. But, being strongly influenced by everything coming from America, similar trends are more and more present in Europe too. In other words, system we call democracy and we praise as “something that is not perfect, but there is nothing better than it” (as the legendary British prime minister form the times of WW 2, Winston Churchill once said), is giving all chances and opening all doors not to those who are capable, but to those who are rich. This very system often forces the voters to choose only between the greater and lesser evil. And in many countries (France was, at least until today, an exception) the voters are to such a degree fed up with politics, with politicians and with the scandals accompanying them, that they in significant numbers simply abstain from their right to vote, leaving it to the minority to impose its choice to the majority. And this should be the rule of the people?
But let us deal with facts, as they are. Trump was elected in the same way as all his predecessors. He was not unique (meaning the first) even because of the fact that his opponent won more popular votes, but he won the elections due to the electoral votes. To put it as simply as possible: he won in a democratic way and his victory was legitimate. And here begins the second chapter of the saga about the corrupted democracy. Despite the fact that he was democratically elected, despite the fact the legality of his election could not have been disputed, followers of the candidate who lost (and in whom the disoriented left leaning European liberals all of a sudden see a leftist - what she never was!) started with help of the mainstream media, either friendly to them or controlled by them (free media, is it?) an unprecedented campaign against Trump. His “main sin”, needless to say is, according to them, that he won due to the Russian meddling in the election process – which is a gigantic compliment to the Russian propaganda and secret services, but at the same time an even greater offence to the American voters. Parallel to this Trump’s mental health, his ability to perform the duties of the President and - more recently - his threat to start a nuclear war are being discussed. The champion of the anti-Trump campaign, the global TV network, CNN, already discusses his state of mind (his accountability, to put it bluntly), the degree of his connection with Moscow (a second detant is obviously something very frightening for Trump’s political adversaries) and finally the mechanisms of impeachment. The special prosecutor investigating the alleged ties between Trump and the Kremlin, already conveyed the so called grand jury, a citizen’s assembly which will in the best tradition of senator Joe McCharty’s investigations of the anti-American activities, decide – based on the reports of the US intelligence agencies which have until today presented no hard evidence, no “smoking gun”, proving that Moscow really did meddle in the presidential elections – if Trump was elected American president due to the will and support of the American votes (meaning electors), or due to the influence from Moscow.
Judging by the present state of affairs, it is not hard to anticipate their decision.
In the meantime nobody is mentioning any more the financial irregularities (to say the least) in the activity of the Clinton Foundation, or the unprotected e-mails the former Secretary of State sent from an unprotected mobile phone, thus breaking the law (what she, despite the evidence, denied to have done). Nobody is mentioning her role in the ill-fated Arab Spring, especially in the toppling of the Lybian regime and the murder of colonel Ghadafi. On the contrary! The promotion of her hastily written book, entitled “What really happened” is announced, with the clear aim to close the coffin of Trump’s presidency.
And Trump, although being a “foreigner” on the political scene is far from being naïve. He fully understands that it is for him to be or not to be. And he acts like a wounded animal, chased into a corner. He forgets everything he promised during the election campaign (with the exception of the wall along the border with Mexico), he forgets his words that “America will no longer impose the American way of life” on anybody and his politics (if the stumbling from one day into the other can be called politics) resembles more and more those of George W. Bush and Barack Obama (read: Hillary Clinton). And he repeatedly and with ever greater enthusiasm threatens with the American military might, which brought him on the verge of open war with seemingly unpredictable, but in reality very “down to the Earth” regime of North Korea. Kim Yong Un seems to be an enigma to the world, but let us not forget that he was educated in the West. He knows perfectly well whom he is dealing with, while Trump entered the war games without knowing anything about Kim – if we forget the slogans about the harsh dictatorship and the last bastion of communism and what else the military-industrial complex is “feeding” him with in order to always have an enemy, even at the risk of a world war.
Today’s world is on the brink of a confrontation with unforeseeable consequences. But, it is not Donald Trump who is to be blamed for this in the first place. Much more – the system that opened for him the doors of the White House and is now trying- mainly through the activities of the deep state – to throw him out of there. Both things, needless to say: democratically. Because of that, is it not the last minute to start thinking about what is really the system we call democracy and what is this system giving us (or taking from us)? So, it is not Donald Trump we are dealing with, it is democracy, better to say system we view as democracy and which has with the original meaning of the world less and less in common. After all, was it not the 2nd President of the United States, John Adams, who said: “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” And did we remember, do we remember?
(Author, born 1943, is a Croatian journalist – TV and press, specialized in covering the international relations. He was foreign policy advisor to the second President of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Stjepan Mesić)
Ljubljana, August 18, 2017
