The crazy American week

Audio 03:13

By: Bruno Daroux

The political events that have jostled in the United States, with the chaotic caucus of Iowa for the democratic party, the speech on the state of the Union of Donald Trump and finally his acquittal in the American Senate within the framework of his dismissal trial. All this in 48 hours! This brings us to the following question: what lessons can we learn from this crazy American week?

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The first lesson concerns Donald Trump: obviously it was a very good week for him. The acquittal that the senators of his camp granted him the deliverance of the infamy of a dismissal.

The essential is saved: he can complete his mandate and especially intensify his electoral campaign for his re-election hoped in nine months. And, for those who doubted it, the tone of this campaign will be offensive, even aggressive against its opponents. The occupant of the White House gave two illustrations this week, first during his speech on the State of the Union, supposed to be unifying and which was to his glory and to the disadvantage of his predecessors, in particular, as often Barack Obama. Then when he spoke the day after his acquittal. Congratulating his followers, he criticized those within his own camp who had not supported him, including his old enemy Mitt Romney. Above all, he pounded, with rarely seen aggressiveness, his opponents, calling them vicious and corrupt people, who seek only to harm him.

The second, harsher lesson applies to the Democratic Party, which has started its race for the Primary in the worst possible way.

A computer bug will have delayed the announcement of almost final results, which put in mind, in a pocket handkerchief, the young mayor Pete Buttigieg , 38, and the old senator Bernie Sanders, who represents the leftmost wing of the left. In front of Senator Elisabeth Warren and especially in fourth position, the one who appeared as the favorite, the former vice-president of Barack Obama, Joe Biden. And again, this Iowa nightmare is not over, since the Party is considering a manual recount, to finally announce which of Buttigieg or Sanders really came out on top.

Between this bug and this illegible result for the moment - one thing is certain: the party says that it will do everything to beat Donald Trump in November, but it clearly still lacks a coherent and especially common strategy, and a leader embody. For now, the real opponent of Donald Trump is called Nancy Pelosi, the head of the Democrats in the House of Representatives. His relations with the president reached an unprecedented level of tension this week.

But this week's streak was terrible for the Democrats: between the Iowa caucus fiasco and the acquittal of Donald Trump, they failed to weaken the opponent and offered a poor image of their internal electoral process.

Finally, the last lesson to be learned from this strange week is undoubtedly the blow to the functioning of American democracy.

An impeachment process that always turns into a political trial, the current president who behaves more as a band leader than as a head of state, a republican party transformed willingly or by force into an almost sectarian organization under the orders of the tenant of the White House, a torn democratic party that will no doubt find it difficult to find the personality capable of defeating Donald Trump, a political cleavage between these two groups of great violence, without forgetting the harsh criticisms against the caucus process which has just show its obsolete and ineffective side. Yes, American democracy, at the start of the election year, is not at its best.

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