GREAT EXPECTATIONS

The Mueller report might be finished next month. This will not be the end of the story by the way since several courts are currently in overdrive, following leads and inquests linked to Trump & Co.

Some are of the opinion that Mueller will come out with an unambiguous settlement regarding the president's collusion with Russia. Such an outcome, although desirable and warranted, appears to be doubtful. One can expect the special prosecutor to make an inventory of certified dubious and nefarious facts but he might not go into the proven veracity of coherent strategy or intent. There is a difference between murder and manslaughter after all. The facts will be pointing in the direction of collusion but the sum of the various misdemeanors, lies and murky deals will certainly wound Trump but spare him at the end. The attorney general might also decide what can be made public or not and gag orders might be considered to shield Trump & Co from the expected unsavory findings. 

The president is always a move ahead of his opponents. The Democrats are busy making fools of themselves, while the Republicans are just Trump's private kennel. They occasionally bark but never bite. He made everything subservient to his own needs. He goes to Vietnam for distraction,  not really for solving the Korean peninsula's problems, which require depth and historical reference. Being devoid of both, he will again prefer to meet face-to-face, without any vade mecum other than his "Art of the deal" (god forbid).  Remember Helsinki, Singapore?

In reality he is already running for his re-election, which is under the current conditions a done deal, unfortunately. In two years he has turned the American myth upside down and transformed the beacon of (imperfect but formidable) democracy into a nightmare which keeps the world on edge. Truth is no longer a gold standard currency. It has become an induced coma. The great economists of yesterday are being executed by a platoon of short-term profiteers. Wars will be fought not for a cause, not because of a lie but just for expediency. If Hamilton created enlightened capitalism; the Trump administration follows a crypto capitalism fantasy,  reviving the United Fruit banana strategy from former days, both internally and in external affairs.

One should hope for some form of justice or resigned closure, but all indications point in the direction of more unsettling storms. The turmoil is not just an American one. The Made-in- USA shock therapy is creating a global tsunami. Some observers who tend to look at America as a country in decline had better look in their own backyard, which is starting to shift under their feet as a result of the doings of this American version of George III.