The divided state of America

I thought I had seen everything in politics but then came the year 2020. It started with the impeachment of President Trump. Then came the landmark peace deal between the Taliban and the United States, almost perfecting what had eluded other American presidents; ending the longest American war in history. The ink on the peace deal hadn’t dried yet and the world was hit by a pandemic. In a nutshell, we have the year 1918 (Spanish flu), 1998 (Clinton impeachment), 1989 (Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan), 1992 (Rodney King riots), and 1992 for another possible reason: that was the last time America had a one-term president.

George Floyd, a Black American, was murdered by asphyxiation when a white policeman pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9 minutes. The weight of the officer’s body blew the life out of Floyd whose name is forever etched in memory.

One can argue with an opinion but not with facts and numbers. And they show that a white police officer can get away with the murder of a black man in America. Any criminal defendant has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. If he cannot afford a lawyer, one would be provided to him. But for any criminal defendant who happens to be a white police officer, if he cannot provide a legal fiction needed to avoid being charged, one would be cooked up for him. That is the real Miranda Rights.

Many videos went viral showing several American streets engulfed in flames as if a drone strike hit them. America looked like Afghanistan and Syria. But while the flames and destruction did present a scene that resembled Afghanistan and Syria, the American justice system appears to be not much different either. When impunity for the superior race defines the justice system, it becomes hard to tell America from India.

While many of those protesting against police brutality are white, the one elephant in the room is that it is the very white folks that Trump is catering to because he knows that they like his racist rhetoric. George Floyd showed no signs of life after 8 minutes. President Trump is showing no signs of humanity after 8 days of protests calling for justice. He promised to “greet” the protestors with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons”.

Politics is always manipulative but with President Trump it is a whole other level. He revels in chaos and division. He thrives on schadenfreude. There is a similar fact from his past. Three of his business executives died in a helicopter crash. As soon as he heard about the news, instead of being shocked or aggrieved, he got to work to use it to his benefit. He announced that he was about to board that helicopter but at the last minute decided not to. That was later found to be a total lie but it bought him much sympathy at the time. It made headlines with his name in it, which is what his number one desire seems to be. He knows how to cash in on a tragedy.

Furthermore, other presidents always used the foreign threat to bolster their chances of re-election. The terrorists, the communists, and so forth. They tried to rally the people around the flag and convince them to come together to vote for the incumbent for the sake of national security. Since Trump is not waging wars or invading countries, he is not bringing the American people together for his re-election. He is rather dividing them along racial and religious lines. His game is to convince his voter base and those on the fences to vote for him. Americans before were told to vote so that the foreign enemy is dealt with. Today, they are told to vote so that the domestic enemy is dealt with. The division is over safety from the American government, not from some foreign terrorist group.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2020.

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