{"id":108422,"date":"2020-11-07T17:36:24","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T00:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108422"},"modified":"2020-11-07T17:36:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T00:36:24","slug":"post-trump-america-with-biden-not-to-mention-kamala-harris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/11\/07\/post-trump-america-with-biden-not-to-mention-kamala-harris\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Trump America with Biden \u2013 not to mention Kamala Harris"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Say what you like\nagainst Donald Trump, the man was a phenomenon. Whether the legacy he leaves\nbehind is good or bad is a judgement that will be determined finally by those\nwho will feel the impact of his regime in the years to come. Win or lose, (he\nis losing at the time of writing) he will be remembered as the leader who\narticulated and released the underlying undercurrents that had been dormant in\nthe political landscape, awaiting a leader to take up the challenge. Trump is\nthe leader that represented the subterranean forces which the pundit class had\nnever expected to rise to levels raised by Trump. Though Trump seems to be\ndoomed at the polls (midday \u2013 Friday) Trumpism he generated has the force to\nhaunt US politics in the foreseeable future. One of his ambitions has been to\nmake his  mark in history. He would achieve that place as the most \nunorthodox, controversial and unpredictable president ever who bucked the\nsystem and won. In short, he has changed the style, the substance and the contours\nof American politics with  the arrogance of an outsider spitting into the\ninside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His aggressive\nconfrontations have traumatised America and raised the political heat to a\nboiling point. In Michigan FBI has arrested six pro-Republican men who were\nplotting, with 200 men, to provoke a civil war leading to a societal\ncollapse\u201d. They were planning to abduct the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and try her\nfor treason. As usual Donald Trump has been silent, refusing to condemn\nundemocratic violence which has the  consent of the President. His call to\nthe white supremacists to stand by\u201d is ringing in their ears. The\npost-election period is threatening to be nasty and brutal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wounded Trump is not\nlikely to lie low. Trump admitted at a recent press conference that he is a bad\nloser. Even before the votes have been counted he has been preparing  the\nground to find excuses for his loss. Predictably, he has been blaming his\nopponents. But even Republican lawyers have condemned his tactics of trying to\nundermine the democratic  process. They said that his  allegations\nof voter fraud and false declarations of victory are premature, baseless and\nreckless.\u201d Against all odds he is  going ahead with legal challenges\nbelieving that the Democrats had stolen victory from  him. His capacity to\nbelieve in his own lies is an incurable disease which is sapping all his\nenergies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refusing to concede to\nthe rising tide against him he is hoping that he could stop the  counting\nof votes coming in late and reverse the fate awaiting him. But the unrelenting\ndevelopments are eroding his power by the minute. At  the moment he\nis  tilting  at windmills, twittering fire at selected targets which\nare not  going to work the way it did  when he was in office. The\ndanger is that he still has time to wreak havoc till January. He will be\nconcentrating more on trying to save his back than  the nation facing\nCoronaviurs-19 and the economy struggling alongside Coronavirus-19 to recover.\nBut he seems to have run out of steam in mid-election. His  election was\nrerun of the campaign against Hilary. He tried to revive the lock-her-up slogan\nagainst Biden but it did not click the way it did with Hilary. Against \nHilary he was the rebel promising to clean up the swamp in the White House and\nWashington. This time  around he was seen as the swamp. He threw mud at\nBiden  but it  did not stick the way it did  against Hilary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, he\nmanaged  to garner over 70 million votes despite the massive onslaught\nfrom the mainstream media. In the  main, his base has not abandoned \nhim. Despite the race riots, despite the minorities crying I can\u2019t breathe!\u2019\nechoing the  words  of George Floyd who was choking under the \npressure of a Police knee, despite receiving the  benefits of Obama care,\nand despite the deadly blows from Coronavirus-19 Trump received a substantial\nbloc of votes, particularly in Florida, to run a close race, running neck-and\nneck with Biden. The fact that  he managed to be in the  race against\nthe massive mainstream media onslaught is a testimony to his bouncing energy\nand his instincts to read the mood of the electorate better than \nthe  pundit class.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His unbounded energy\nseems to flow from an inexhaustible inner source. He was like a multi-barrel\ngun firing non-stop. His below-the-belt red tie sits prominently on his\nprotruding belly as a symbol of his below-the-belt  politics. At 72 he is\nbuoyed by self-belief of greatness in everything he does and in himself, in\nparticular. He stands out as an unabashed egomaniac who is driven by the\narrogant belief that he can do whatever he likes and get away with it. He has\nsurvived two divorces, one impeachment, 26 accusations  of sex misconduct,\nand estimated hundreds of  law suits on tax evasion charges. Many more\ncases of tax frauds are awaiting him in the Federal and State courts after he\nleaves the White House. And yet he hopes to carry on like Johnny Walker in\nwhiskey bottle labels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this is at the \npersonal level. The political man, despite all his missteps, misspeaks and\nmonstrous mendacities has turned out to be the most fascinating political\nperformer on  the American stage. He, of course, belongs only to \nthis  age at  this point of time. Other periods did not create the\nculture needed for a Trump to triumph. It is a  populist cult that\ncombines McCarthyism with Hooverism. This duo rose and survived  in \nthe fear-driven ethos of the Cold War. In an atmosphere of fear, it is easy to\nsell lies. Both McCarthyism and Trumpism thrives on lies. The fear of a red\nunder the bed enabled McCarthy to manipulate and ride the fears of the day to\nhis political advantage. . But they remained as a marginal cult, with\nconsiderable power no doubt. Tramp also has the Mc Carthyist tendency of lying\nthrough  his teeth to create fear and thrive on fears of real and\nimaginary foes. He also has the Hooverish iron-fist to rule the roost with\nvindictive terror. Above all, he had crafted a new style of politics that has\nthrown tried and tested conventions and formulas into the winds. He has got\naway with never ending lies which has reduced fact-checkers to exhausted\nstatisticians keeping useless records. His idiosyncratic style is in a class by itself. The pundit\nclass overloaded with Cassandras are left puzzled by each unpredictable turn of\nevents. The latest is stunning. When he got the first whiff of losing to Biden\nhe ordered that the polling booths should stop counting. And he added even\nbefore the count had finished: \u2018We were getting ready to win this election.\nFrankly, we <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He steams\nand explodes like a volcano bubbling with hot lava from time to time to divert\nattention away from the problematic issues confronting him. He dances on the\nstage. He chants with the mob. He performs on the stage like an African leader\nrailing and  swinging to the rhythms of his tribe. He fires them up with\nhate politics. The symbiotic relationship is electrifying. It has been his\neffective  counter-attack against the traditional forces, including\nsome  in  the Republican Party, who had rejected from  day one.\nHe is plugged into his base \u2013 one of the most dynamic sources of hidden\nAmerican power — as no other President in history\u201d had done before, to use\none of his favourite phrases. He is wont to compare himself with some \nfigure in history to make him look like a unique figure destined to tower \nover the American giants that dominated history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His power\nto polarise is magnetic. His them-vs.-us-politics\u201d is designed to keep his\nelectorate loose and tight \u2013 loose enough to cover a broad church of diverse\nethnics and tight  enough for his white base to follow him unswervingly as\ntheir leader. He acts as if America owes everything to him for its greatness.\nHe rocks and he mocks as he markets the cheapest politics that  has\nno  relevance to the greatness of America either in the past or the present.\nOn one occasion he claimed to be even greater than Abraham Lincoln, the revered\nholy father of American political culture. He parades as the enabler and the\nenforcer of all that is great in America without acknowledging that America has\nin reality dwindled in  stature after he took over. He came promising to\nmake America great but  it is being dwarfed every day by China. Great\nleaders come up and thrive only in a culture  that is conducive for the\nrise of greatness. The post-World War II culture  that threw up the Roosevelts\nand the Kennedys seemed to have exhausted  its power to produce greatness.\nAfter them came  the loud-mouthed wheeler-dealers trying  to make a\nfast buck either on their way to the  White House or out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from his idiosyncratic style\nof governance  Donald Trump has  shown no  brilliance in \narticulating or defining a noteworthy political philosophy. He is at his best\nwhen he twitters vituperative \u2013 and sometimes  misspelt \u2013 remarks that\ntend to irritate more than enlighten the polity. He loved to strut the\ninternational stage as if he was going to be the next messiah arriving to\nfulfil the mission  of being  the world\u2019s next saviour. His meeting\nwith  Kim Jon Un was the biggest theatrical flop which  was full\nof  sound and  fury  signifying  nothing. His penchant for cohabiting with the dictators abandoning\nhis traditional allies and global institutions did not take America anywhere\nexcept into the hell-holes of N. Korea and the Middle East. His\nmisguided dabbling  in foreign affairs has not added one  smidgin of\nrespect or stature to  America\u2019s standing  in the international\nstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence, he represented the whitelash\u201d of American\nracism. The white supremacists too were happy to embrace him as their messiah.\nAmerica has embraced Trump as the  man who had come to fulfil the needs of\ntheir time. And he too is playing up to that expectations with his rhetoric,\ntheatrics, swagger and lies. In appearance he resembles more like Mussolini\nthan Hitler \u2013 the man  who made the trains on time. Trump was equally\ncommitted to build walls and keep the people apart rather than open the doors\nto communal harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halting and reversing Trumpism is the main task before\nBiden.  He has to begin by discarding the mumbo-jumbo of medieval science\nand bring back America  to the 21st<\/sup> century. He will have to\ntell the God-loving policy-makers in  the Senate that Jesus did no \ncharge a cent for giving  sight to the blind and  healing the sick.\nHe will have to make the Americans understand that if their Constitution \nguarantees equality to all men, and if all men are entitled to life, liberty\nand happiness then  all Americans are entitled to the same kind of\ntreatment that Trump got when he was hospitalized for Coronavid-19. He will\nhave to go all out  to  deal with Corona virus with  courage and\nscientific evidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming nearer to home, the new President has become\nmore relevant to Sri Lanka more  than Trump. Trump\u2019s policies were\nconfined mainly to the overall strategic interests of America in the Indian\nOcean Rim. America tended to keep a distance without interfering too heavily in\nthe internal affairs. America\u2019s interests in Sri Lanka were focused on\nbalancing  its interest with China. But with  the coming of Biden a\nnew element has crept  in : his  Vice-President, Kamala Harris\nwith  direct Indian connections linked to Sri Lankan Tamils. Her presence\nin the White House has  added a new dimension and a deeper meaning \nto US-Sri Lanka relations. Her personal links to the Tamils, and India in \ngeneral, can play a significant role in  future relations with the\nWhite  House.  Naturally, this is likely to  generate new and\ndeeper interests in Sri Lankan affairs. The new Biden-Harris thrust into Sri\nLankan affairs is likely to come from the usual human rights and minority\nrights issues. The hired moralists in NGOs too would gladly join  the\nAmerican  bandwagon knowing that there is funding available in the NGO\nmarket to crank up American  interests disguised as human and minority\nrights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her presence in the Oval Office can make all the\ndifference to Sri Lanka. The well-oiled Tamil lobby in USA now has a\ngolden  opportunity which the Tamils never had before: a direct line \nto the White  House. It is gift made in heaven for  the Tamils. Her\nrole cannot be underestimated as the 78-yer-old President may not be able to\nbear the weight of the increasing  burdens of office.  This means\nthat she is likely to take on a greater share of foreign policy. One can even\nexpect an early visit from Kamala Harris to Sri Lanka with guided tours in the\nNorth to convince her that the Sinhala state\u201d has been nasty to the Tamils.\nBesides, in the most unlikely event of something happening to the \nPresident Biden (absit omen!) she is the next in line to step into his shoes.\nSo, the real and the potential power of Kamala Harris has to be weighed in\nevery step of the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Tamil diaspora  is quick to grab \nany opportunity that comes their way they would have made moves early in the\nelections  campaign to infiltrate her domain. In the previous election\nthey ran a campaign openly declaring Tamils for Hilary\u201d hoping to get into the\nWhite House through her.  They were also heavy contributors to Democratic\nParty fund. The Tamil diaspora consists of seasoned campaigners who know when\nand  where to sow their seeds to reap the  harvest later. Knowing\nthat they have a sympathetic ear in the White House now they would move with\nall their resources to exploit Kamal Harris to pull out their political \nchestnuts from the fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, Delhi too will have easy access to the \nWhite House through her to craft common programs that would serve the foreign\npolicy objectives of both parties, particularly with the new Quad playing a\ncentral role in managing the Indo-Pacific region. In other words, the international\npressure on Sri Lanka is bound to increase, with both India and America \noperating jointly to twist Sri Lanka\u2019s arm. The Indo-American combination is\nlikely to come down like a ton of bricks on Sri Lanka. The likely outcome \nof  this will be to  throw Sri Lanka into the arms of China in a big\nway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no other pathway for Sri Lanka to prevent any\nlikely moves to interfere  in  its  sovereignty and internal\naffairs. Any attempt to meddle in  the internal affairs will open up the\nPandora\u2019s box all over again.  Of course, both America and India are aware\nthat the IPKF misadventure in Sri Lanka was America\u2019s Vietnam, all over again.\nAny direct intervention is most  likely open the door for China  to\nstep in. The Tamils, on their part, will move heaven  and earth to get\nAmerica involved on their behalf. In  addition to the American Congressmen\nand the Senators in their lobby they now  have a Vice-President too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan diplomacy will have to rethink its\nresponses to the emerging situation. The Tamils too are likely to seize the\nopportunity and go out all to increase pressure. Some provocateurs might even\ninstigate internal violence to destabilise the nation, hoping to benefit \nby it. This, it must be emphasized, represents only a likely scenario  not \nan inevitability. The fear is that  personal relationship can develop and\npave the  path into harmful ends. While  the personal relationships\ntend  to come and go the ground situations created by personal\nrelationships can remain with devastating consequences. The Biden-Harris\nadministration has  a greater responsibility and duty to pursue foreign\npolicy on the tried and tested ground realities to stabilise a volatile region\nrather than pursue polices based on personal preferences that may spell disaster\nto all parties concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala Say what you like against Donald Trump, the man was a phenomenon. Whether the legacy he leaves behind is good or bad is a judgement that will be determined finally by those who will feel the impact of his regime in the years to come. Win or lose, (he is losing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}