My Brugge: L'Amerique Fracturee

Sunday, 8 November 2020

L'Amerique Fracturee

The above title was on the cover of Paris Match on November 7^th. I had been thinking of entitling this blog, Disharmony, which beautifully describes the state of America at the moment. That is until I spotted the cover of Paris Match this morning and thought, YES!! Only now do I see, "Quatre Ans De Folie a La Maison Blanche." Another Yes!

Rudy Giuliani whom I used to admire, hugely.
A long time ago.

Like millions of other Europeans, I have become obsessed with the American election and currently, with the incredibly drawn out Counting of the Votes. As one might expect, Trump is behaving badly; refusing to accept the increasing Biden leap ahead as the count continues. He wants to stop the counting where the ongoing figures favour Biden but continue the count where he is in the lead. He is crying Foul though the seemingly endless tally of postal votes currently being enacted mirrors exactly what he brought about. Strong advice to Republicans to vote in person on the day because postal votes were suspect, brought about early, commanding leads for Trump because millions of Democrats chose the postal vote route. As these are laboriously counted, so the tally for the Democrats mounts and the Trump leads leaks away inexorably. Trump and his family continue to inhabit an alternate universe shared still by some Republicans, though fewer and fewer. Only a desperate man could send in Giuliani as front man for defence while the older Trump sons seem frankly unhinged. The thought of the White House cash cow being removed is clearly threatening to family sanity.

Joe Biden, now President-Elect.

It looks increasingly like a Biden win but sadly, the expected moral revulsion of millions at Trump’s behaviour, has not translated into the Blue surge expected. So the Democrats need to do some soul-searching. The Senate looks likely to remain in Republican hands though not decided until January, which will make Biden’s presidency difficult because Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham will focus on destructive reaction to any Biden initiative particularly over tax reform. The one outstanding feature of the Trump campaign and current entr’acte period of waiting, is the stunning fact that despite all the ghastliness of the Trump presidency, in spite of the almost surreal depths of his ignorance and vindictive incompetence, he polled five million more votes this time than in 2016! And his followers seem genuinely besotted. There appear to be distinct but sometimes overlapping groups of devotees: less-educated whites particularly men; nationalists, fascist and far right Republicans; inhabitants of the so-called ‘fly-over states’ with small rural communities, conservative, separate, and people in the Southern states plus evangelicals who thread through all these various categories. All respond to the dog-whistle racism in particular and appear to look back longingly to Earlier Times; Trump’s thinly-veiled Make America White Again points to a nostalgia for the golden past when the blacks knew their place and Life was predictable. And many of these people are Standing By for when Biden is finally acknowledged as President-Elect and a proportion of them, at least, will be out on the streets, guns and fists at the ready, awaiting the Chief’s disgruntled fact-free grouses and Proud Boy complaints.

Trump people on one side; Biden supporters, opposite.
Austin, Texas, after announcement of Biden's win.

WHAT a happy day on November 8^th. Biden and Harris now President and Vice-President Elect. No counter-offensive as dreaded, just millions of people across the U.S.in the streets celebrating. And here, I have received so many messages of joy and relief often accompanied with celebratory videos. In the meantime, Trump continues to throw his toys out of the pram while his lawyers insist it is not yet decided who will be President. It has been an amazing few days and we hold our breath while awaiting Biden taking the oath in January. It seems odd, not to say unwise, that the departing President has around two months before he actually goes, in which he can legislate. I guess we can only predict fireworks!