Seven days of events have passed since my last entry. The conflict in the middle east carries on towards even greater infamy. Netanyahu’s offensive has progressed to open insults directed at other world leaders, the united nations and any institution that dares to criticise the Israeli government. Any criticism from any quarter is now to be regarded as anti-semitism. This is an outrageous claim and fits in with his scurrying to Donald Trump to bolster his arrogance, not unlike the ego maniacs of the 1930’s messieurs Mussolini and Hitler. You may think this is a rash comparison, but how else is one to think of it.
Trump’s administration is uprooting the constitution every moment he is in office. His attacks on well established institutions of higher learning under the guise of eradicating anti-semitism is an outrage. He seeks total control of enrolments, hirings of staff and areas of study. He seeks to stifle any free speech and thought that does not conform to his methods of operation. His will is what matters. He applies this to any institution or profession that might cause him difficulty; hence, his bullying of legal firms and the judiciary. Any criticism or adverse ruling of his so called executive orders is seen as criminal treason. The fact of his own open corruption highlights his hypocrisy. The adulation with which the Republican Party greets this venality and open racketeering is sickening.
His claim, together with his acolytes, that there is no place for hatred in the United States is astounding, given his endless insults, hate tweets and speech over the last eight years of vilifying his detractors and immigrants, enlisting the aid of the likes of Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Kristi Noem. These three alone have spewed hatred with malicious epithets directed at immigrants and any person voicing contrary opinion.
The comparisons to the establishment of dictatorships in Italy and Germany of the 1930’s grows more and more appropriate. The repetition of adulation of the leader by subordinates and the relish with which they exercise their power is akin to the Stanley Milgram’s experiment at Yale in the 1960’s. The blind arrogance with which they follow their leader belies there supposed education and reminds us of the worst excesses of the French Revolution.
The bizarre nature of the current tit for tat headline grabbing, between the Gaza horror show and the atrocities in the Ukraine, dumbfounds the mind. What are we to do? There is an ongoing civil war in Sudan and various insurgencies and internal conflicts in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Haiti are also facing significant challenges. Violence seems to pervade the world.
The two major conflicts have the United States President at the forefront. He put himself there with his claims, on the one hand that they would never have happened if he had been President, as he should have been at the time, and on the other hand that he would resolve the conflict within 24 hrs and a phone call. Well, he is in the mix and the situations have got worse. He does a mineral deal with Ukraine which is hardly likely to take effect so long as Mr Putin remains intransigent. Indeed, Mr Putin will continue to pull Mr Trump around by the nose until, by some miracle the light dawns and Trump finally says enough is enough and goes into his bully act. An unlikely scenario as Trump is devoted to Putin and is more likely to just walk away from the problem. He has already threatened to do so. As to Gaza, he is apparently committed to organise food aid distribution as per Mr Netanyahu’s request. Whether that will actually happen is another matter, although Mr Trump’s real estate ambitions of Costa Gaza are always on his mind.
There is of course the problem of violence at home for Mr Trump which he might seek to resolve. Over 1.6 million assault victims taken to ER hospitals last year in the United States, and nearly 25 Thousand homicides. During Trump’s first Presidency “between 2016 and 2020, the number of homicides in the United States saw a general trend of slight increases, with a notable spike in 2020.. While the data for 2016, 2017, and 2018 showed a relatively stable number of homicides, 2020 saw a significant surge, with the average U.S. city experiencing a nearly 30% increase in its homicide rate, the fastest ever recorded.” It started to reduce under President Biden. In any event, racial hatred and other prejudices abound in the United States. Note another alleged fact:
“In 2018, it was estimated that U.S. civilians owned 393 million firearms, with the U.S. having the highest number of guns per capita in the world. This translates to 120.5 firearms for every 100 residents. As of 2023, 32% of Americans owned at least one firearm, and a larger percentage (44%) reported living in a gun household, according to a 2020 Gallup survey”
There are about 2.2 million military personnel in the Ukrainian army. The average Ukrainian soldier could have 128 weapons each if the US citizens gave up their guns. What kind of world do we live in? Should not Mr Trump clean up his own mess rather than screw up the rest of the planet?
393 million firearms in private hands. A shocking number. I do not understand why any government should have anything to do with a country that is vested in violence to that degree. How the right to bear arms has not been repealed or expunged from the constitution of the United Staes is beyond comprehension. How can the world even expect progress towards peace from the leadership of the most lethal society in existence? I think that is a fair question. Mr Trump clearly cares not one jot for his own citizens, for whom he claims America First, let alone any other “foreign” citizen, whom he constantly refers to as insane rapists and murderers. We should have nothing more to do with this man. The European countries must take a stand, indeed take the lead. We will get nowhere with this broken collection of so called United States who seem to lack the ability to remove this pariah and his minions from office and truly make America great again.
Bravo!
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