AMERICA NEEDS A BREAK.

The corrupted sphere in US politics has led to violence. This was to be expected. The vitriol is such that many rules of civil behavior are flooded or are becoming obsolete. The president, together with the NRA and the religious right, set the demons of discord free. He does not seem to realize that he is less the master of the game than the tool of a more ominous under- cover interest group which intends to remake America's DNA. He has neither the intellect nor the craft of a social engineer to try his hand at genetically altering the workings of the United States.

Actually, the US since January 20th has entered an era of permanent coup. All the accepted norms are in the balance. All branches of government, the press, the fabric of society are under siege. If the goal were one of perfecting and amending existing shortcomings a review might be a bonus. Unfortunately, the purpose is far more ambitious and pernicious. The cabinet around the president is made up of individuals who are mandated to "deconstruct" the target they are supposed to implement. Hence on all fronts--justice, health, environment, foreign policy, aid, education, distribution of wealth, freedom of information, to name a few--a war of attrition is being waged. The purpose is to bring about the surrender of the pays legal to an ill defined pays reel, a vague ideological mix of a (mostly) white, (murky) religious, (openly) conservative nebula. The idea of a Trump administration was not particularly popular in the fly-over American bible belt and defunct coalmines, but the idea came in handy after the probability of a Clinton win had given the "alt right" the fright of a lifetime. Nobody out of the United States can ever come close to imagining to what extent President Obama or Secretary Clinton were hated by this 35% of the population. Trump had little to show for deserving the support of the Evangelicals & Co.  His pathological ego (remember the Corleone cabinet meeting last Monday?) overshadows any form of self-critique or speculative curiosity.  This is what makes him the perfect tool for the Bannon/Miller/Fox News all-embracing (umfassende) shadow cabinet. Their influence is nevertheless not set in stone, given the mercurial temperament of the "principles agnostic" Don. A lot is being said about the role played by the president's daughter and son-in-law, but their input looks too non-strategic to be taken that seriously. Others are waiting to be thrown under the bus if their added value falls below zero.

There is plenty of smart comment and critique around in the US but there is no voice with enough weight against this unprecedented assault by an occupying force against its own. This is a philosophical emergency which requires a prosecutor with moral and visionary authority, a healer who is able to mobilize memory for the future's cause. Too many still see the Trump months as some film noir waiting for Eastwood or Bogart to step in. What is needed is a voice like that of Michel Houellebecq instead, who laid bare Europe's (France) dirty little minds and who should have an intellectual heir here. Prayers and invocations do not work.  Besides, America is already overfed with Christian poor taste in all forms, mostly in the open (politics) or under subversive cover (the moronic happy couples who dance on the beach, or sit in separate bathtubs for the sake of Cialis).  It is time to get serious and to return to the spirit of the workings of the Constitution, democracy, pluralism, non-discrimination and the separation of religion and state. This country deserves a break! The world needs its clearing house, the United States, back on track.