The birth of American nationhood in 1776 gave the world a multi-dimensional transformative force that has made life more livable, and the future more predictable. In the process of engineering its unique democratic experiment, it has spread its tentacles across the globe, for good or for bad, depending on where you stand. There is scarcely any corner of the world where the ‘American wonder’ testimony is not shared. From airplanes to electricity, to television, to the internet, to social media America has ruled the world and received a bourgeoning amount of prosperity for its ingenuity and democratic credentials.
The uniqueness of anything America, including its exceptional quality of leadership, the pioneering role of its scientific community, the eradication of
Interestingly, in the checkered journey of America, there have been deeply embarrassing and highly depressing occasions when it could easily pass as an ordinary third-world country, the so-called banana republic, especially one whose banana fruit was harvested prematurely.
The America We Know
Before long, bizarre and explosive developments in theAmerican political landscape combined with the seeming rabid ignorance of the American electorate to shift the debate about American exceptionalism to the front burner of public discourse.What is not debated, unfortunately, is the fact that if America has lost its political and economic exceptionalism, it’s the making of America itself, fueled by its unprovoked restiveness and the unbridled quest to dictate to the world, even when its actions are contradictory at best, and hypocritical at worst.
Perhaps nothing has exposed the underbelly of America’s houseof hollow than the 2016 presidential elections. But that, again, paled into insignificant side-show when compared with the “house of horror’ of 2024 elections. The drama of the 2024 elections started by presenting Americans with the arduous task of deciding who will be the Commander-in-Chief between a fall-prone, gaffe machine octogenarian, and a reality TV clown, deranged chaos agent whose meaningless slogan to ‘make America great again’ only found meaning in his admiration for, and capitulation to ‘strong men’ like Kim Jung un and Vladimir Putin.
It sent shock waves to discerning minds that the best America could present as presidential candidates are an exhausted man who would have been 81 years old at the inauguration on January 20 (making him the oldest president), a twice-impeached, four-times criminally indicted conman who has successfully dragged the once revered Supreme Court into the hyper-politicized and integrity-challenged arena of presidential election. His demand for absolute presidential immunity over his scheme to undo the clear loss of the 2020 presidential election is reverberating in capital cities across the globe, to the cheering of our enemies, and the chagrin of our friends.
America the Bad
As the current presidential cycle picks up steam, President Biden’s ‘decision’ not to seek reelection after his disastrous performance at the first debate threw up Kamala Harris, a much younger, no-nonsense senate questioner, who restored the hope of Democrats, and instantly turned the tables on Republicans who have made Biden’s age a political talking-point. Now, they have to defend the candidacy of 78-year-old Doland Trump, who is currently the oldest presidential nominee of a majo
Mr. Trump, maybe, for lack of his trademark ‘birther conspiracy theory,’ has resorted to insults and innuendos by calling her ‘laughing Kamala,’ and insisting that she is crazy. And to him, laughter is a disqualifying characteristic,
In the run-up to the election, the nasty rhetoric and noisy vulgar, even by Trump’s standard, are chorused by the MAGA crowd, which has demonstrated that nothing said or done by their ‘king’ is disqualifying enough to abandon his sinking ship. Even the promise to be a dictator for one day, and use the military inside America, against protesting American citizens have not penetrated their thick skulls.
No Holds Barred
Paradoxically, American evangelicalism is not spared by the wrecking ball wielded by the former president. The once revered movement has made a public mockery of itself by its sheepishcrowning of the ‘Christian Trump’ who could not mention even one verse of the bible to support ‘what his faith means to him.’ The conscious efforts at a ‘Trump coronation’ that turned the bible-wielding, tongue-
The unrestrained display of crass ignorance and double-
Mr. Trump’s fixation on immigration is questionable. For a man who has been married to two immigrants, and whose grandfather was an immigrant, you would expect that he has some rudimentary understanding of immigration, but that is not the case. To him, every immigration to the US, whether illegal or not, is bad for the American economy and crime statistics. He has promised, again, to deport all illegal immigrants. And the pertinent question to ask is: how many people did he deport in his first term of chaos and confusion? Or was he busy buildingthe big, tall wall that Mexico paid for, and forgot to conduct mass deportation?
The Soul of Uncle Sam is on the Line
The vice president, Kamala Harris is not a particularly excellent presidential candidate by any stretch, she has been sketchy on some important economic issues, evasive on some traditional Democratic strongholds, and lacked specifics of her own policy proposals, She will inherit some of the political baggage of Biden’s administration since she is part of the era. But a simple juxtaposition of the two candidates will reveal a compelling contrast that looks like darkness and light. Mr. Trump is hoping to dispense distributive justice with his long and growing list of ‘enemies within’ who should be nailed and jailed, while Mrs. Harris is expecting to invite and unite diverse shades of Americans, including those who disagree with her. The former president is bent on being a dictator and apprentice fascist, while the vice president has promised to respect and entrench the rule of law.
Mr. Trump has degraded and disgraced the time-tested American electoral system and vowed to contest it, again, if he loses. His opponent has undertaken to honor and respect the wishes of Americans as expressed. However, Mr. Trump’s supporters have touted the fact that he was good for the economy because they had more money in their pockets, and that inflation was low.Accordingly, economists
Are we there Yet?
As America enters the next phase of its national life, the roadpromises to be bumpy and blistering. If Trump wins the 2024 presidency, his erratic, disruptive anti-establishment stance, will combine with the foolery of the MAGA foot soldiers to make the country weaker and poorer. If Mrs. Harris wins, Congressional GOP and Trump stooges will make the country ungovernable.
Taking due cognizance of the central significance of the 2024 presidential election, the twists and turns as seconds turn to minutes, and the huge consequences of its eventual outcome, whoever takes the oath of office as America’s 47th president on January 20, 2025, would have the unenviable responsibility to define 2024 as America’s annus horribilis or its annus mirabilis.
Dr. Charles Ihejirika is an Adjunct Professor of Law at BarclayCollege of Law, USA. He could be reached at cihejirika@