December is supposed to be a month of rejoicing and family togetherness. This was especially true in America which was used to retrograde in a collective stupor, fed with resuscitated Christmas carols and syrupy "ambiance". In 2015, the strident is louder than the melodious.
Despite John Updike's saying that "America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy", the remedy doesn't work here and now. In this vast echo chamber frustration and dysfunction have overtaken the chromatic scale, while unwelcome omens prevail. The great men who founded the republic were extraordinary in their common ambition and in their intellectual creativity. Seldom have so few created a Res publica which may still be the most ambitious project ever conceived. But today it is hard to believe that the likes of Jefferson and Hamilton existed elsewhere but on a Broadway stage.
The US presidentials do not project a flattering image, on either side. The Democrats sleepwalk for the time being, since the stage for Mrs. Clinton's coronation has been set. The Republicans forgot that they were indeed the Grand Old Party and have become a chorus line of grey angry men and one woman, equally vinegary.
Only Donald Trump emerges out of this uninspiring lot. He is a ruthless, an "entertaining" manipulator, devoid of vision and gifted with a visceral ability to play on the most unappealing instincts of the frustrated, the uninformed and the bullies. Trump is actually a dangerous man. His words are like checks which bounce. His egocentric paranoia is free on bail and his bluster on international affairs would lead him to be DOA upon election night.
For now he rallies masses like no one else and his bombast reduces his opponents to the status of sleeper cells. His inroads indicate that his "utterances" resound. The Republican establishment now lives on Pepto Bismol. If he were the "chosen one", Mrs. Clinton would certainly tower over Trump's undignified insults. He should, nevertheless, not be
underestimated. He goes for the plexus and it might be difficult for anyone to keep cool when the elephant breaks loose. It was to be expected that he relates to Putin, although he doesn't share the Russian president's mastery of history and strategy...inter alia.
Trump's interacting with the crowds shows clearly the authoritarian and paternalism-like technique of this uncommon practitioner. His act is his message. Both are equally unappealing.
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