TRUMP II

Trump is already warming up his flock. He is supposed to be working on nicknames he will use to floor competing presidential candidates that dare to run against him. His appearances remind us how diabolically entertaining he can be. The reckless brio of showmanship hides the void--moral and intellectual--of the performer. It remains to be seen if his audience retains the lessons of the past or chooses again slapstick over gravitas.

He will stop at nothing. He will never be shy to make the most extravagant promises, to fabricate vicious lies to whip up his flock. He will tout his close friendship with his "pals": Xi, Vladimir, Kim & Co. He will promise peace in Ukraine in a fortnight and to make America great again in a matter of days. The faithful, the corrupt, the misguided and Fox News can't wait to get their hero back.

His hardcore supporters never left him. The bigoted rank and file of the Republican Party is his chorus but even some more sophisticated opportunistic players give him a less vulgar coating. Peter Thiel, Blake Masters, Elon Musk might consider bestowing upon him some of their high brown/Tech nouveau cachet. These "elite" Republicans claim the mantle of the French philosopher René Girard, father of Mimetic theory. One can bet Trump, who doesn't read, never heard of him but will be too happy to quote him.

The Democrats are stuck with a president who does the right thing but who fails to rouse enthusiasm. Biden has the intellectual honesty to admit that problems pile up and that  solutions are for the time being an uphill battle. He is too honest to pretend that world leaders are his friends or that bombast equals resolution. Trump's pas de deux attempt with the North Korean showed how shallow and perversely dangerous he is.

The problem is that the world has become basically blasé, bored with almost everything. The déja vu is replacing the jamais vu. The Ukranian tragedy did not dislodge the Oscars.  The polar bears, deprived of their habitat, will create a new migration drama; the Chinese cat will continue to play with the Taiwanese mouse, and one can go on. Biden is avoiding Armageddon. Trump, despite his reputed pen pals, will only hasten worse options while his Sturmtruppe in the USA can hardly wait to close the American mind once and for ever.

The EU has weak leaders and feels stuck in a sluggish mindset. Everywhere deregulated diplomatic realignments come out of the blue. So much can happen. It is not the right time to play Trump roulette. January 6 is for many just a rehearsal.

The need to provide Ukraine now with all the weapons that can make the difference does not suffer any delay. The continuation of the indiscriminate slaughter inflicted by Russia is such that the fine tuning of weapon delivery by the West is no longer acceptable. Under a Trump presidency it might even become more difficult, if not impossible, to give the needed support. Remember the Trump/Putin bromance in Helsinki? These two heartthrobs are made in hell...beware. One has staying-power, for now. The other is waiting in the wings.