If the Emmys and the Golden Globes were to include politics as one of their categories, undoubtedly Donald Trump would win the awards he has often claimed were rigged against him. The activities in the Oval Office are now the centre of worldwide attention.
What happened today?
For more than a century the President of the United States is the most important politician in the world. Since the Spanish American War and then Woodrow Wilson’s involvement in the Great War the United States has come to be regarded as the Leader of the free world.
For better or for worse the country has been at the centre of every major event over that time.
The American market affects the world’s economy as we have seen in the Great Depression and the Great Financial Crash, and was also a major factor not only in the defeat of the dictatorships in the Second World War, but also in the reconstruction of the countries devastated by the conflict so that three former enemies Italy, Germany and Japan are now major allies. This role still continues to the present day.
So the activities of the Oval Office have made world news for decades and rarely does a week go by without some sort of reference to a major decision, or a meeting in the country’s Head Office. Now all this has changed.
Now the world checks the news to ask “And so what happened today?”
Facebook, Twitter and television
Every morning people around the world wake up wondering what tweets were released by the President, who is involved in the latest controversy and what affect these will have on their countries.
If it weren’t so serious it would be funny.
The Facebook pages of major newspapers of the entire world give the links to the articles of the latest developments and the comments have become places of battle between diehard Donald Trump defenders and those denouncing the latest revelation or perceived gaffe from the man in the Oval Office.
In not a few cases the comments on individual items can even go into the thousands.
The most fascinating thing about these debates is that a search of individual users shows that they come from all over the world. Sometimes comments on English language sites are made in other languages or in very rudimentary English.
Suddenly people around the world are making comments about “checks and balances”, “but look at what Obama (or Hillary) did”, or on aspects of American laws and political traditions that were unknown internationally until relatively easily.
Polarization
Every presidential tweet is greeted with joy from his fans and disdain by those who do not consider him worthy of the position. A polarized world has become even more polarized and not by an international incident, or differences of philosophy, or by Cold War 2.
The world has become polarized by the very man who is now considered the Leader of one side of the new Cold War. This is not a welcome development and should be cause of concern by American politicians on both sides to the political fence.
While following the latest decisions and incidents involving the businessman come politician, maybe by praising an order, or denouncing a gaffe, the world is losing sight of the fact that the decisions coming from the White House have a real impact.
Effects of orders
Any single order can see people deported, bombs dropped in another country, economic sanctions placed on an opponent, or even put a man once more on the Moon. The stakes at play are not the entertainment of the world’s population, but the quality of their lives and in some cases even whether people live or die.
President Donald Trump, the Senate and Congress have a great tradition to continue, but this cannot happen with petty squabbles and certainly not with the doubts that currently hang over the Oval Office.
These issues currently dominating the world’s newspapers must be resolved quickly because the White House is not a Reality Show and it must become once more a place which the world regards with confidence.
