Tag: Donald Trump

So, What Is Her Crime?

By Amit Sengupta

Is America under Donald Trump rapidly turning into a Police State dictatorship? Well, all the signs are out there, like an ill, apocalyptic omen, which was waiting to happen.

So what was the crime of Ozturk, 30, a talented Tufts University student? She wrote an opinion piece for the students’ magazine, co-authored with three other students, arguing that that the university should “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and “divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel”. This has been the demand of thousands of students, peacefully protesting in America and Europe, since the beginning of the Genocide in Gaza.

So? What is her crime?

Indeed, it has been made out to be crime under the ‘new democracy’ hatched by Trump and his white supremacist, racist, Far-Right team, along with his billionaire buddy, who has a proven fascist past in South Africa, while his recent Nazi salute, celebrating the Trump victory, is the latest testimony.

Rümeysa was detained with no evidence or explanation, by masked men and women, allegedly cops without uniforms, badges or identity cards, in a Boston-area suburb, in front of her shocked neighbourhood, while the footage of this sinister act went viral. A Fulbright PhD scholar, with a legitimate visa, she is being threatened to be packed off to Turkey. Indeed, even her initial whereabouts were not known, not even to her lawyers and relatives.

If this is not like an underworld gang operation with no accountability, what is?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has predictably accused her of supporting Hamas, with no evidence. So, just like being ‘red-under-the-bed’ was the phobia manufactured in the Cold War against dissidents and intellectuals, Hamas is the key word in the Trump-era. Even while top US officials negotiate with Hamas leaders in the comfort zone of Qatar, as Isreal continues to bomb camps, schools and hospitals in Gaza – despite the ceasefire.

There are no charges against Öztürk, her lawyers say. “This is a first step in getting Rümeysa released and back home to Boston so she can continue her studies. But we never should have gotten here in the first place: Rümeysa’s experience is shocking, cruel, and unconstitutional,” Mahsa Khanbabai, one of her attorneys, said. “Criticizing US foreign policy and human rights violations is neither illegal nor grounds for detention… The government must immediately release Rümeysa to continue her studies and rejoin her community.”

With the threat of deportation, in shackles and chains, looming large on campus activists, especially those who are not white, Indian scholar Ranjani Srinivisan, 37, doing her PhD in Columbia University, had a harrowing time — for no rhyme or reason! She had to flee for her life to Canada because her student visa was revoked unceremoniously for being a “terrorist sympathiser”. This was totally out-of-the-blue. She was not even political, it seems!

Talking to the New York Times, a former Fulbright scholar, she said the atmosphere was “dangerous’. “I’m fearful that even the most low-level political speech or just doing what we all do — like shout into the abyss that is social media — can turn into this dystopian nightmare where somebody is calling you a terrorist sympathizer and making you, literally, fear for your life and your safety,” she said.

The case of Mahmoud Khalil is well-known. Again, apparently unknown men entered his home, handcuffed him, and pushed him in a vehicle. His wife pleaded, where are you taking him, why, he has done no crime — but no one was listening. His crime? He was a student activist in Columbia University campaigning against the genocide in Gaza, and seeking an immediate ceasefire. So, he too, becomes a Hamas terrorist.

Said the powerful group, Jewish for Peace, who have orgainised massive protest marches under the banner, ‘March for Palestine’: “Ozturk’s abduction is another signal of the urgency of this moment: we must show the power and strength of our movement to defend student activists, to show the world that we aren’t afraid, and to continue to stand on the right side of history, in opposition to the US and Israeli-funded genocide. We will mobilize in HUGE NUMBERS on April 5 for a national march in Washington. This is not ‘just another demonstration’. This is a decisive moment in our movement for Palestine and in defense of civil liberties.” 

Meanwhile, in a horrifying seven-second clip from Germany, a frail young girl was brutally picked up by an armed cop, and thrown on the ground, even as other women, old and young, came to defend her; they too were not spared, while all these men were big, burly male cops, openly attacking women.

Germany, one believes, claims to be a Western Democracy. So why is the government there so obsessively in love with the Israeli war machine — is it the guilt of the Holocaust, enacted like a nightmare now, unleashed on women protesters seeking justice in Palestine?

Meanwhile, words are being eliminated, banned, removed from public places in the US. So much like the Big Brother project in George Orwell’s 1984. If you remove language, can the mind think? Indeed, if you remove certain words, or burn books, as by the Nazis, does the bitter realism of the present and the past, cease to exist?

As this columnist wrote in the last column here (Donald’ Trumpet Plays Songs of Death), “Counterpunch says that the New York Times ran an article about words that are discouraged at Federal Agencies under the new Trumpist administration. A total of 172 words appeared printed in red: Native American. Women. Black. Immigrants. Disability. Gender. Advocacy. Mental health. And, of course, any phrases or expressions having to do with diversity, equity, and inclusion: diverse backgrounds, diverse communities, diverse groups, diversified, diversify, diversifying, enhancing diversity, increasing diversity, inclusiveness, inclusive leadership… These words are all to be purged from websites, grant proposals, class curricula, without delay.”

Trump has signed another executive order now targeting the prestigious Smithsonian Institution, and the 20 museums and research centres which it runs. As many as 35 million people come to these knowledge centers annually in Washington DC, Virginia and New York City. The order seeks to “eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” — including, yes, from the National Zoo in Washington.

Typically, like the Orwellian ‘Reverse Double-Speak’, the order is called: ‘Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History’. It also alleges, hilariously indeed, that the American Women’s History Museum, plans to “recognize men as women”. Pray, how, and why, for God’s sake?

Earlier, another prestigious institution, John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, was censored. Trump declared himself as its chairman. Actors and filmmakers condemned this absurd move. Now you can see how the Moral and Culture Police operates in what they claim to be an advanced capitalist democracy. Inspired by the Moral Police of Iran, is it?

Meanwhile, Columbia University’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, has quit. Trump has targeted it by cancelling $400 million in federal funding; it has been claimed that the university did not do enough to combat ‘anti-semitism’ etc, while peaceful protests and mass encampments in the open rocked the campus, against the killings in Gaza.

Perhaps, taking a cue, Indian film censors have refused to allow the release of a much-acclaimed film, Santosh.  Written and directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, the film is set in north India and probes the murder of a young Dalit girl. It is also an apparent commentary on the police system.

The film has been praised across international platforms, including at Cannes. It was the UK’s official entry for the Oscars’ international feature category, was nominated for a Bafta for best debut feature, and has found fantastic film reviews in the mainline British Press. Shahana Goswami, playing the lead, has won the best actress award at the Asian film awards show.

Surely, the ‘acche din’ which so gloriously began in the ill-fated land of India in the summer of 2014, seems to be now spreading in the West. So who can now dare to say that India is not the Vishwaguru?

Donald’s Trumpet Plays Songs of Death

By Amit Sengupta

War is Peace.
– 1984, George Orwell

Trump’s trumpet, always cacophonic, unpleasant and jarring, is now turning bloody red. Unpredictably so.

An extreme Right-wing, racist, white supremacist, real-estate capitalist fanatic, he inflicted no war on the world, unlike almost all the presidents of the United States, backed by the arms industry, and their insatiable blood lust, including Barack Obama. Surprisingly, and ironically, he was bestowed the Noble Prize for Peace much too early in  his tenure — and one which he never really deserved. As was proved later.

Now Trump is celebrating the dead in far-away Yemen, a tiny and defiant country, unlike the American stooges spread all over in the Middle East. Women and children, scores of them are dead, and injured. Predictably, they always end up killing innocent, unarmed, defenseless citizens, as Benjamin Netanyahu has done  yet again in Gaza, killing 400 people in one go, yet again claiming that it was Hamas he was targeting with “full force”.

Indeed, as BBC and other media reports have categorically stated, Israel has said multiple times that the Americans were duly informed about the latest bloodbath, following obviously the typical Trumpist declaration that “all hell will break lose”. “We have made incredible achievements up until today,” said a proud Netanyahu. “Together we are changing the face of the Middle East.”

Indeed, they are. A face soaked with human blood.

Since a long time now, it has been transparent like hell that Netanyahu, on a weak wicket inside Israel, and disliked by a huge chunk of people who are not orthodox, blood-thirsty, retrograde fanatics, that he never really wanted a deal on the release of the Israeli hostages in custody of the Hamas. He dilly-dallied, did U-turns, turned his back, promised but retracted, played footsie, but he never really cared a damn for his own people. He knew, that as long as they are trapped somewhere in those dingy and dark tunnels in the ravaged landscape which the Israelis could not enter despite one year of relentless bombing, he can continue to satisfy his blood lust and kill thousands of Palestinians. This was his ‘Mission Ethnic Cleansing’ — so as to finally capture and conquer the mythical holy land — which never really belonged to them, not before the two world wars, and never ever after 1945.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel have condemned the bombing by air: “The Israeli government chose to give up the hostages.” Israel has violated the ceasefire which was  patronised by the US, post-Trump. Around 59  hostages still remain out there, waiting for freedom. Now, their fate seems to have been sealed.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Kalil, a pro-Palestine activist from the prestigious Columbia University in the US has been detained only because he was campaigning against the genocide in Gaza. In a viral video, he was handcuffed and taken away, even while his wife, an American citizen, ran after the officers, pleading again and again that at least tell me, where are you taking him, really, you don’t have to do it this way. His detention, apparently with no legal validity, is a clear indication, that the witch-hunt in the new Trump era has finally begun, perhaps this time more brutal and nasty than the witch-hunt during the Cold War against dissenters, peaceful rebels, Leftists, artists, filmmakers and writers.

Something, which is a staple of most dictators, almost of them buddies of Trump — from Vladimir Putin to Victor Orban. A reminder of the relentless narrative ongoing in India since the summer of 2014.

ALSO READ: Trump And The New World Order

Playright Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, written in 1953, uses the historical similarity of the ‘Salem witch-hunts’ in 1692, in the backdrop of alleged witchcraft, to make a sharp comment on the Cold War witch-hunts in the US. Trump, with Elon Musk of the Nazi salute fame, and a dubious past record of inherited fascist ideology in South Africa, is now leading the witch-hunts upfront. Writes Miller in the thin book: “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!”

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, writes counterpunch in a recent article (Operation Newspeak, March 18, 2025), is a warning about political repression, historical revisionism, mass surveillance, propaganda, censorship, and the State’s total control over truth. In the novel, which is set in an imagined future where war is perpetual, the dictator, Big Brother, and his government, ruled by the Party, dominate the superstate, Oceania…

“Newspeak is the Party’s official language, designed to prevent dissent, obstruct critical thinking, suppress rebellion, and control the perception of reality, which is achieved by eliminating words and manipulating language. “We’re destroying words—scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We’re cutting the language down to the bone,” says Syme, a character who works in the Ministry of Truth and oversees the compilation of the latest edition of the Newspeak dictionary… “Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller.”

Published in 1949, the book expresses a similar narrative as in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, released in February 1936.  The tragic story is that of an industrial worker trapped in the relentless, mechanical motions of a ruthless machine age in an oppressive factory always under surveillance, and who finds solace and hope with a homeless young woman.

Counterpunch says that the New York Times ran an article about words that are discouraged at Federal Agencies under the new Trumpist administration. A total of 172 words appeared printed in red: Native American. Women. Black. Immigrants. Disability. Gender. Advocacy. Mental health. And, of course, any phrases or expressions having to do with diversity, equity, and inclusion: diverse backgrounds, diverse communities, diverse groups, diversified, diversify, diversifying, enhancing diversity, increasing diversity, inclusiveness, inclusive leadership… These words are all to be purged from websites, grant proposals, class curricula, without delay.

Undoubtedly, Trump’s Make America Great Again in in full play in fast forward. An America which perhaps wants the slave trade back, where all Afro-Americans must be shackled and turned into slaves, sold like cattle in open markets, and their women turned into sex slaves. An America where gender justice is abolished, so is women’s rights, the rights of immigrants, now shackled and chained and forcibly deported, students, dissenters, artists, writers and filmmakers, and those of the LGBTQ communities.

A 1984 dystopia stalks America, originally a land of immigrants, while the first white settlers conquered native land by enacting a million genocides of the indigenous communities who lived in their homeland since centuries. A Make America Great Again born in the quagmire of massacres and blood lust, constantly resurrecting its vicious past, here, there and everywhere, now in Yemen and Gaza.

And, yet, we need to hold on, dig in, write graffiti on the walls and inside our soul, notes of dissent, make meaningful films against all odds, like No Other Land, refuse to succumb or compromise, and peacefully continue an infinite struggle, with a thirst which can never be quenched — like the brave people of Palestine.

As Toni Morrison wrote: “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

Trump And The New World Order

By Jasdev Singh Rai

Around the world, countries, small and large, are recalibrating their approach to international relations and perhaps most importantly to the United States of America. The Zelensky-Trump meeting which descended into confrontation and Zelensky was almost marched out of the White House has entertained but also got politicians and diplomats wondering what next. Europeans are berating somewhat loudly that the ‘rule-based’ world order is dead or dying and that the Trans-Atlantic treaty is breaking apart. They are scuttling around in a huddle to see what remains of the order and how it can be saved.

The real question might be was there really a ‘rule-based order’ or a hegemony that Trump sees as past its date. When power shifts, it can get violent as the Europeans seem to prefer or as Trump seems to want, it can be transitioned without wars.

Much is being said about Trump’s personality and style of rule or rather lack of ‘rules’. What seems to be happening is that Trump may be as much navigating a new order of international relations and global politics as everyone else. Being President of the most powerful country, he is aware that he is helping to set the mode of direction. Trump appears to have realised that staying on the so called ‘rule based’ order is a route to economic decline, unnecessary financial burden to feed a fantasy and further loss of power on the world stage.

The emerging world order in fact started nearly two decades or so ago. The Occident may just not have grasped it, smug in the belief that its dominance in international institutions can continue to ensure hegemony. It is Europe that is still catching up and lashing about.

So, what exactly was the ‘rule-based’ world order? It was a world order instituted by the victors of World War II. It was mostly Britain, France and United States. Russia got a bit of say and China the least. Countries like India were still under colonialism.

International institutions were developed on the lines of Occident’s liberal democracy. Financial institutions, such as World Bank and IMF were set up to help development around the world in favour of the Occident.

ALSO READ: Trump, Tariffs And The Turmoil

The world was redrawn with new borders especially in the colonised world. In Europe too, the defeated were forced to accept new boundaries. Much of the colonised world was divided into administrative units without much regard to ethnic, cultural or sometimes even linguistic and natural habitats of communities. The Occident told the world, ‘this is it now’, we made you the boundaries and you stay as it is. The idea was based on Westphalian system and was neocolonialism manged remotely.

Sovereignty became the new idiom of international order. Organisations such as the United Nations were set on a path to promote liberal democracy and individual rights and sustain the boundaries unless the Occident said otherwise. The gurus or rather gods of this post-war order were Europeans, essentially the British and the French, with the USA pushed to the front to spend most of the money and the forces. The Occident benefited by predictable markets and investment opportunities. The USA was flattered and told it is Pax Americana. The USA benefitted the most financially.

Human Beings have been playing God from time immemorial to create the perfect order and peace. This is another experiment titled ‘rule-based’ order, whatever that means. There were and remain many flaws. Many decolonised countries are not natural borders, either geographically or culturally. They have largely been the result of the administrative convenience of the colonial power and generally configured around the largest or majority tribe.

Post-colonial order hasn’t been peaceful. Each country has tried to forge a ‘nation’ along the European idea of the ideal nation state. Countries seek identity based on language, ideology, culture etc. Perhaps the two most tragic examples are India and Pakistan that are still desperate to have an ‘identity’. Their internal unity is guaranteed by the use of the armed forces against their own people and continuation of colonial repressive laws.

But it is the larger world stage where hegemony was instituted with force. Almost all ancient mythologies around gods are based on the narrative that rules are for mere mortals but when they don’t suit the gods, they rise above them and do what they want. This has been evident since the ‘rule based’ world order started. Coups have taken place where a country tries to escape the orbit. ‘Revolutions’ have been instigated. And the ‘gods’ have broken the very principle of sovereignty a few times by finding excuses to invade countries that they claimed were usurping the ‘rule-based’ order.

The USA largely paid for this with increasing debt, increasing body count and a faltering respect around the world. Much of the world saw US as the bully. While it was triumphant in the beginning, it met challenges in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and a few places in South America. The USA-led Occident saw the counter narrative of Soviet Communism out, but it couldn’t quite engage confrontationally with a non-adversarial China.

China, like India, has been very smart. Much smarter than India. It has avoided any direct confrontations with small and big countries. It has pushed the boundaries of sovereignties and controversially claimed sea and Islands. It is now confronting the Occident’s ‘rule-based order’ of sovereign countries by actively pursuing a policy of trying to swallow Taiwan. China has invested widely and helped many countries around the world to raise their GDP, industry and education though direct loans and investments rather than installing pro-China regimes through coups. While the West was busy fighting bloody wars, China has increased its support around the world, its economy has become second to USA and it hasn’t really lost men in wars except in some skirmishes with India. Under China’s quiet rise a number of other countries have started to move away from the so called Occidental world order. A new currency system is beginning to compete with the dollar, led by BRICS.

It seems Trump and his advisors have understood the world has changed. Trump also realises that the old way of maintaining hegemony through imposing a so called ‘rule-based’ order isn’t getting anywhere. There have been three wars in the last twenty years. The USA has come out worse in them. There was Iraq, there was Afghanistan and now there is Ukraine.

Trump is realigning the USA to the emerging real world balance of power. There are new giants now. Boundaries are going to be redrawn as they do every few decades or centuries. Europe is clinging on to a period of hegemony that is whittling away under their feet. Ukraine is part of the waning history of the Occidental order.

Trump’s message to Europe is clear. The world is changing and will exact ever increasing financial layout and human sacrifice for those trying to sustain the Occidental hegemonic order. Trump’s America isn’t interested in maintaining something that will eventually give way. He is saying to Europe, if you want to continue with your dream, you pay for it and you send your armies, we are no longer going to be used for your indulgences.

It is that simple. There is nothing more mysterious or unpredictable to him. It only appears unpredictable because America under him is no longer following the post-war script written and crafted by Europeans. Europeans have been left standing with their ‘rule-based’ hegemony in tatters. Ukraine that put itself as the last frontier was in a way the last stand of Pax Occidentadalis. Sensing change the USA has dumped the ‘rule-based’ order, distanced itself and is seeking new lands to expand into. Whether the transition is peaceful or violent depends on Europe – in disarray currently – and its willingness to let go of its ideological hegemony.

Trump Picks Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes To Head Intelligence Panel

By LokMarg

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes as Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

Trump emphasised Nunes’ experience as the former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and his pivotal role in exposing the Russian interference in the 2016 US elections as key qualifications for the role.

Sharing a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “I am pleased to announce that I will appoint Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes as Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which consists of distinguished citizens from outside of the Federal Government.”

“While continuing his leadership of Trump Media & Technology Group, Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the US Intelligence Community’s activities. Congratulations Devin,” the post added.

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113652759052067639

Born on October 1, 1973 in Tulare, California, his family is of Portuguese descent, having emigrated from the Azores to California. Nunes graduated from Tulare Union High School and was the second Member of Congress to attend Tulare Union, following Olympic gold medalist Bob Mathias, who served in the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1975.

After associate’s work at College of the Sequoias, Nunes graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and a master’s degree in agriculture.

Nunes was first elected to public office as one of California’s youngest community college trustees in state history at the age of 23. As a member of the College of the Sequoias Board from 1996 to 2002, he was an advocate for distance learning and the expansion of programs available to high school students.

In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as California State Director for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development section. He left this post to run for California’s 21st congressional district and now serves in the 22nd district as a result of redistricting in 2010.

Notably, the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), with its component Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB), is an independent element within the Executive Office of the President.

The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board assists the President by providing the President with an independent source of advice on the effectiveness with which the Intelligence Community is meeting the nation’s intelligence needs, and the vigor and insight with which the community plans for the future. The Board has access to all information needed to perform its functions and has direct access to the President.

Donald Trump won a second term as President of the United States after securing 312 electoral votes in the 2024 presidential election, defeating Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who garnered 226 votes. Following his victory, President-elect Donald Trump has moved swiftly with finalising his foreign policy and national security team ahead of his formal inauguration in January 2025. (ANI)

Donald Trump Invites China’s Xi Jinping to Attend His Inauguration

By LokMarg

President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his Janurary 20 inauguration, CBS News reported citing sources.

As per the reports, Trump invited Xi in early November, shortly after the election but it was not clear whether Chinese President has accepted the invitation. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

The president-elect’s team is gearing up to host several world leaders at the Capitol in January.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has a warm relationship with Trump and visited him at Mar-a-Lago this week, is “still considering” whether to attend, as per CBS News.

“World leaders are lining up to meet with President Trump because they know he will soon return to power and restore peace through American strength around the globe,” Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.

Recently, Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on goods imported from China, adding that the US government has set a deadline of January 19, the eve of Trump’s inauguration, for TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app or face a ban in the US.

According to CBS News, TikTok is currently fighting the ban in court, having lost a bid to block the ban last week is appealing the case to the Supreme Court.

Notably, in a historic political comeback, Trump won a second term as President of the United States after securing 295 electoral votes in the 2024 presidential election, defeating Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, who garnered 226 votes.

Trump’s return to the White House marks only the second time in US history that a president has served two non-consecutive terms. The first such instance was Grover Cleveland, who served as president in 1884 and 1892. Trump had earlier served as US President from 2016 to 2020. (ANI)

A Guide to the US Elections

A Foreigner’s (Bizarre) Guide to the US Elections

By Sanjoy Narayan

To a foreign observer with little or no skin in the game, the events that are unfolding during the countdown to the US presidential elections can seem absurd, surreal, or apocalyptic, depending on an individual’s sensitivities and perception. Those responses mainly have to do with the dramatis personae in the upcoming fray. Rarely has a political event of such significance–for the US as well as the world–have had politicians of the kind of calibre demonstrated by Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance (the Republican nominees for President and Vice-President) and Kamala Harris and Tim Walz (the Democratic nominees).

Let’s take Trump first, mainly because he is a more known entity than the others and he was the 45th President of the US who served from 2017 to 2021. A real estate agent and reality TV celebrity, Trump’s tenure was marked by controversy and his presidency was sharply polarising.

Yet, he achieved much. He cut taxes for corporations and individuals; he reformed the US criminal justice system, including prisons and sentencing laws; he brokered normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab states; and he presided over low unemployment rates, low inflation, and pre-pandemic stock market gains.

These were sullied by the negatives, though. Trump faced criticism for downplaying the pandemic’s severity and mixed messaging on public health measures; his measures to counter immigration, such as the travel ban and family separation policy at the southern border, significantly reduced both legal and illegal immigration but critics said it was unnecessarily harsh and damaged America’s image as a welcoming nation.

On other issues such as climate change, Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement and rolled back environmental regulations. The US’ foreign relationships with traditional allies and international organisations such as NATO got strained as Trump’s policies were more domestic-focused.

Trump was also the first president to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives, and he was criticised for his role in the events leading up to the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, the day Congress was set to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Trump, who was the President then, had been claiming, without evidence, that the election was “stolen” due to widespread fraud, and he held a rally near the White House where he encouraged supporters to march to the Capitol.

As Trump campaigns for the presidency, he faces several court cases, including charges of making hush money payments to an adult film actress; for retaining classified documents at his residence; for interfering in the 2020 elections; and for inciting the Capitol riots.

If that sort of a track record and baggage of legal problems makes Trump look like a particularly bad actor in the dramatis personae in the presidential election fray, let’s take a look at Harris.

Surprisingly, Trump, actually, might look better in comparison to his main rival, Vice-President Harris, the presidential candidate for the Democrats

Harris, who is expected to be confirmed as candidate at her party’s national convention in Chicago (August 19-22), is a late entrant to the race. She was endorsed by incumbent President Joe Biden on July 21 after he withdrew from the race. Biden, 81, was showing distinct signs of cognitive disabilities, most likely related to his advanced age, and his late-stage withdrawal from the contest was prompted by his party’s leaders. The spectacle of his pathetic performance at a televised debate with Trump was the final blow to his ambition of winning a second term.

Harris has a few things going for her. She will be 60 in October and, therefore, is much younger than Trump, who is 78 and, although visibly less infirm than Biden, he shows definite signs that betray age-related debilities. Being a woman of mixed ethnicity (she is of half-Indian and half-Jamaican ancestry), Harris enjoys a cachet of support from some voter groups, particularly Black women.

A lawyer who has been a former California attorney general, and a senator from that state, Harris, who was picked by Biden as his running mate in 2020, also has liberal credentials and is known for her progressive political stances. She is pro-abortion, and an upholder of women’s rights and gender equality; also, she is a big votary of civil rights and equality for all.

However, Harris is an unproven entity. A US Vice-President’s role is of little consequence. Of course, the VP is first in line of succession to the presidency and in the Senate, the upper house of Congress, has the power to cast a tie-breaking vote. Yet, while the President might delegate some responsibilities to his VP, in effect, the role is more symbolic than of consequence.

In public meetings since she was endorsed by Biden, Harris’ speeches and statements seem to be more form than substance. In contrast to Trump who, at rallies, bangs on about how America is doomed on a path to destruction and only he can save the country, Harris is bubbly and effusive with an infectious laughter and a folksy, “I’m one of you” spirit.

American mainstream media is notoriously biased and anti-Trump. In fact, in a practice that might seem quite strange in other countries, leading newspapers and magazines openly endorse a candidate before the elections. For example, since it was founded in 1851, the New York Times has endorsed a candidate for President of the US in every election held during its history. In 2012, it endorsed Barack Obama who won, in 2016, it endorsed Hillary Clinton who lost; in 2020, it endorsed Joe Biden who won; and in 2024, once Harris is officially nominated, it will likely endorse her.

It is not surprising, therefore, that America’s media are exulting over Harris. When Biden showed signs of debility (even before the disastrous debate), few in the media called him out for that. Now, even when Harris backtracks on the views she held in the past, it rarely raises an eyebrow. A green energy champion, Harris has for long been against fracking to extract oil and gas. Recently, however, after Trump pledged that as President he was all for oil drilling to boost the economy, she backtracked on her stance and said she wouldn’t ban fracking. When Trump announced at his rallies that he would abolish tax on tips, a major source of income in the low-salary service industry, Harris soon picked up the cue and began saying the same thing. The media didn’t blink an eye.

Recently, when a well-known media personality, Alex Wagner, who hosts her own show on the MSNBC network, appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a popular late night talk fixture, and was asked about Harris’ main strength, she said it was the “joy” that Harris embraced. Others in the media have counted among Harris’ strengths her loud and infectious laughter and her ability to dance well! Few have pointed out that her speeches are largely absent of any references to economic or foreign policy. 

Her past stance on subjects such as immigration (she supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and opposes aggressive deportation policies), gun control (she wants tougher laws), and taxation (she wants progressive taxation) are totally at odds with what Trump promises–he wants to deport illegal aliens; favours existing gun laws; and promises to cut taxes.

In fact, Harris and her running mate Walz, a former football coach, appear, at least to an outsiders such as a foreigner, as homebodies more suited to smalltime local politics, as in a city’s mayoral contest, rather than in a race for the presidency of the world’s most powerful nation whose head of state is a position that affects not only the US but the entire globe.

That is why to many the race for America’s presidency could seem bizarrely surreal. There is Trump who is acutely divisive and stands for an America that wants to look inwards, deport millions of immigrants, and pursue a policy that pays little heed to issues such as climate change. On the other side, there is Harris whose lack of experience and down-home jokiness is almost akin to naivete.

There are less than 80 days remaining before the elections and the process is not a simple one. There are two components to the US Presidential elections. First, there is the popular vote.

This is the total number of votes cast by individual citizens across the country. Second, there is the electoral college. Each of the USA’s 50 states has a number of electors based on its population. In most states, the candidate who wins the popular vote in that state receives all of its electoral votes. 

To win the presidency, a candidate needs to secure a majority of electoral votes (at least 270 out of 538), not necessarily the national popular vote. This means it’s possible to win the presidency while losing the national popular vote. In 2020, Biden won the election with 306 electoral votes and 51.3% of the national popular vote, compared to Trump’s 232 electoral votes and 46.9% of the popular vote. But, in 2016 Trump won with 304 of the 538 electoral votes, although the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, won the popular vote by a margin of 2.1%.

In the latest polls, Harris is leading Trump by a couple of percentage points–this is significant because when Biden was still in the race, he trailed Trump in the polls. Yet, as everywhere in the world, the US elections can be dashedly difficult things to predict. No one knows what will eventually happen in November. One thing, though: For those looking at the race from outside, it’s like an American sitcom on Netflix, probably with a much darker touch of comedy.

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Donald Trump Grows Stronger

Donald Trump Grows Stronger As Biden Withdraws & Democrats Look Lost

By Sanjoy Narayan

Soon after former President Donald Trump delivered his speech accepting the Republican Party’s nomination for the US Presidential elections to be held this November, incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden decided to react to it with a set of facetious posts on the social media site, X. “I’m stuck at home with COVID, so I had the distinct misfortune of watching Donald Trump’s speech to the RNC (Republican National Convention),” Biden, who had just tested positive for the virus, posted. He then followed it up with a few more posts trying to counter what Trump had said in his 92-minute acceptance speech at his party’s convention last week.

Not many hours after that, Biden, 81, withdrew from the race, after pressures from his party members mounted in the wake of his visible cognitive decline, which came into sharp public focus during his disastrous performance in a debate against Trump in late June. On Sunday, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate. The Democrats have barely four months in which to overhaul their campaign with a brand new candidate. 

In the meantime, Trump, who survived an assasssination attempt barely a week ago, and was formally nominated by his party at its jubilant national convention last week, seems stronger than ever in the contest–something that the Democrats, with or without Biden as their candidate, seem to be still in denial about.

One of the biggest blunders in politics anywhere in the world is when you don’t take your opponent seriously. If you make that mistake it can often be suicidal. 

Let’s rewind back in political history to a terrain that could be more familiar to our readers. Before the 2014 elections when the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and, more specifically Narendra Modi, was perceptible, many in the ruling Congress-led government, took it lightly. Rahul Gandhi, who was then Vice-President of the Congress Party, famously flippantly said: “The Opposition has good marketing skills. There is ‘chamak, naach, gaana’. They are selling combs to bald men. Now there is a new group of people who are trying to give them haircuts.” 

He wasn’t alone in dismissing Modi and the BJP. Even as record crowds thronged Modi’s rallies with millions turning up to hear his powerful speeches, the ruling regime of the time as well as many in the media were in denial. Leading editors spewed editorials that were coloured by their own political inclinations and beliefs. In fact, in that era, swathes of the mainstream media, which is today labeled as being a lapdog of the current regime, were comfortably ensconced in the lap of another regime–one that was in power then. And most of them dismissed the idea of Modi and the BJP being able to win.

Remarkably, people have forgotten that because as the cliche goes: public memory is notoriously short. As it happened, Modi led the BJP to a massive victory in 2014 and his party and its allies have been in power ever since, winning a second term in 2019 and a third this year. In the end, the bald men did buy combs and opt for haircuts. Gandhi’s party, incidentally, was decimated in 2014, managing to win just 44 of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats, a rather drastic haircut.

Yet, if we go back to all the public statements that leaders in the Congress and its allied parties made about Modi and the BJP back in the days before the 2014 elections, one voice stands out. In mid-2013, nearly a year before the elections would obliterate his party, Jairam Ramesh, a party veteran and then a Union minister, told a newspaper: “He (Modi) will certainly impose a challenge on us. He represents not just a managerial challenge, but also an ideological challenge.” Like the child who blurted out the truth in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes, back in the day, Ramesh was a lone voice. And, unfortunately, one that not many may not have heeded.

Democrats & the Media: In Denial Mode

Last week America’s Republican Party held its national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to formally announce Donald Trump as the party’s official nominee for the presidential election. However, if you were a fly on the wall without being politically aligned to either the Democrats or the Republicans in America’s dual party system, the four-day extravaganza could seem like a victory celebration. It was like Trump had already become President and this was a display of pageantry, pomp, and celebratory jubilation. 

Second, compared to previous national conventions, it was extraordinarily well-organised. The selection and sequencing of speakers was well-calibrated; the right quotient of celebrity was ensured; and, in the grand finale, Trump delivered a speech that (by his standards) was toned down and largely rant-free. Among those who spoke and endorsed his nomination were many Republicans who had earlier opposed him, criticised him, and even strongly denounced him. Now, they all appeared to be owing their allegiance to him. 

Third, coming days after he survived an assassination attempt when a sniper shot at him and he miraculously escaped with an injury to the ear, people attending the convention, which brought 50,000 visitors to Milwaukee, universally exuded emotional sympathy and public displays of affection for Trump, a political leader who is considered to have deeply divided America.

Trump’s speech, which he is believed to have re-written after the assassination attempt, had all the usual touch points: his overarching slogan, Make America Great Again (MAGA); his resolve to stop illegal immigration and to send back illegals; his promise to cut taxes, generate jobs by kickstarting domestic manufacturing, accelerate oil drilling, rejuvenate the auto industry, and control inflation. 

He said he would ensure that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East would end and promised that he stood for uniting the country and that his government would be for all Americans and not partisan.

Pretty standard election rhetoric? Yes, absolutely. But the reaction to the Republican convention in America’s mainstream media was marked by cynicism and strong critique. America’s leading newspapers, television news channels, and other outlets don’t make bones about their antipathy toward Trump. In fact, they have for long undermined his rise and the challenge he poses to the Biden-led Democrats.

Before he decided to withdraw his candidacy, Biden himself was under siege from his own party. His performance at a recent public debate with Trump showed him to be an aging man, forgetful, incoherent, and, often, completely lost. It is astonishing that at the helm of the world’s most powerful country with unparalleled influence and clout over much of the globe and armed with formidable nuclear weaponry is an 81-year-old man whose cognitive abilities are clearly failing him. 

The US President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Such power in the hands of a man who is mentally failing is not only a travesty for Americans but for the entire world. By stepping aside and endorsing Harris, he has done the right thing but it is probably quite late in the day. The Democrats will have to re-double their efforts and strategies for the election, which is barely four months away. 

Now consider Trump. After narrowly escaping getting killed by a sniper’s bullet, Trump, who at 78 is only three years younger than Biden, stood up, fist-pumped, and mouthed the word, “Fight!” (an image that has by now become enduring around the world). The next morning he appeared in public with a bandaged ear and no worse for the wear. 

At his acceptance speech last week, he might have miss-stated facts (news channels and publications have been double-quick in pointing those out), bragged overly about his own achievements, and promised a too-good-to-be-true picture of the future. How many successful politicians (think of any country in the world, including India) don’t do that? 

If, however, you compare Trump’s performance with Biden’s–during speeches, meetings, and debates–is there any doubt who could inspire more confidence among voters?

America’s Great Divide

American politics is unique in many ways, chief among them is its dual-party system where politics is almost entirely dominated by either the Republicans or Democrats, and third parties rarely win seats in Congress, state legislatures, or even at the local level. 

In recent years, especially since the rise of the right, and the emergence of Trumpism, which is a blend of nationalism, anti-immigration, and withdrawal from America’s role in the world, the dual-party system has led to sharp divisiveness in politics, in society, and between people.

One manifestation of this is the emergence of echo chambers: each side is siloed in a way that it blocks out everything from the other side. Sometimes this means one side is blinded to what is happening on the other side.

Trump’s first term as President (2017-2021) was marked by chaos and controversy. He rolled back previous achievements, unleashed ill-founded policies, and upended US foreign policy. His approval rating when he demitted office was a paltry 34%. Next, in 2020, Trump lost an election to Biden. 

However, there are things that have changed since then. His current campaign is quite different. For one, Biden’s late exit can give Trump a clear advantage. But there are other factors. In the run-up to this year’s election, Trump has achieved more: first, he has been unanimously accepted as the leader of the Republican Party (unlike in the past, there are few dissenters); his strategists have garnered the support of minorities such as Blacks and Hispanics in larger numbers; and he has chosen a running mate, J.D. Vance, who at 39 is young and could well be the successor of his MAGA ideology.

These are some of the factors that add considerable strength to Trump’s prospects in the coming elections. 

The campaign of the Democrats, on the other hand, is in a state of disarray. A dithering candidate who stubbornly refused to move aside may have finally withdrawn but in many ways, it is back to the starting block for the party. If it was ironic to see the President of the USA take to social media to post feeble repartees in response to a speech made by his increasingly formidable challenger, it was pathetic to see him stubbornly hold on to a bid to contest for another term when it was clear that he was obviously mentally deteriorating. And now, after he has quit the race at such a late stage, he has compounded the problem that his party and the new candidate face.

As ironic as the derision in his X posts were after Trump’s speech at the Republican convention is the fact that the legacy he so selfishly wanted to embellish with a second term will now be forever blemished by what he did in the last stages of his presidency.

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Donald Trump

Trump Warns Of Bloodbath If Not Elected President

By LokMarg

Former US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned of a ‘bloodbath’ in the country if he does not get elected in the polls set to be held later this year, Politico reported.

Addressing a rally near Ohio’s Dayton, Trump said, “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it.” He said, “It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”

It was not clear what Trump exactly meant by his remarks, as the former US President was complaining about the automobile industry. Addressing the crowd, he said China will not be able to sell any vehicles imported to the US if he gets re-elected, Politico reported.

Trump often showcases a dark image of the nation to present his case against US President Joe Biden ahead of the presidential elections that are likely to be held in November. He frequently uses increasingly heightened rhetoric while speaking about the felony charges that he faces in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

During his campaign events, Trump frequently brings up the events of January 6, as he still denounces the 2020 elections that he lost. As he often does, the former US President opened the rally on Saturday with a recording of January 6 prisoners singing the national anthem, Politico reported.

Saluting the crowd, the former US President announced he would issue pardons for Trump supporting ‘hostages’ on the first day of his presidency. Referring to the people imprisoned in connection with the January 6 Capitol riots as hostages, Trump, in his opening remarks, said, “You see the spirit from the hostages. And that’s what they are — hostages.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, in his speeches, continued to bring up the events of January 6, saying the result of the November election matters for the fate of democracy. The attack continues to remain a political danger for Republicans and Trump’s campaign.

Meanwhile, former US Vice President Mike Pence announced that he would not endorse Trump in 2024, the report said. On January 6, Trump supporters at the Capitol called for Pence to be hanged after the former made him a target for his refusal to help in efforts to overturn the US Presidential election in 2020.

“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence told Fox News.

Pence explained his stance during an appearance on Fox News, expressing concern over the disparity between Trump’s current agenda and the conservative principles they upheld during their four years in office. This statement marked a significant departure from his previous alignment with his former running mate and the president he served alongside.

US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump secured the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, respectively, setting up a rematch with each other, according to CNN.

Trump clinched the Republican nomination for President on Wednesday morning, while Biden secured the Democratic nod. (ANI)

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Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Trump, Biden Hope For Decisive Victories As Americans Vote

By LokMarg

After millions of Americans voted on Super Tuesday, one of the most significant days in the US presidential primaries, the results are expected to solidify both Donald Trump and Joe Biden as their respective party’s nominees for the general election in November.

Super Tuesday, is notably when the largest number of states hold presidential primaries or caucuses. Registered voters in the states holding presidential nominating contests go to the polls and vote.

According to CBS, fifteen states are holding GOP contests on Super Tuesday. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia are holding primaries. Two states, Alaska and Utah, are holding caucuses.

Eleven of the 15 states are holding GOP primaries that are open to more than just registered Republicans. Moreover, Super Tuesday gets its name from the fact that there are more delegates up for grabs than on any other day in the primary campaign.

In 2016, Trump won eight of the states that held nominating contests on Super Tuesday 2024, according to Al Jazeera.

On the Republican front, former US President Donald Trump is set to triumph over his final opponent seeking the party’s presidential nomination–former UN envoy Nikki Haley.

Whereas, despite protest votes for his support of Israel during its military incursion in Gaza, President Joe Biden is also predicted to easily win among Democrats.

Meanwhile, even after her projected loss in the GOP primary in her home state, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said she will continue running for Republican presidential nominee, CNN reported.

Speaking in South Carolina’s Charleston, Haley said, “I’m a woman of my word,” referring to her earlier remarks about staying in the presidential race until Super Tuesday.

She said, “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.” (ANI)

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Donald Trump

US: Maine’s Top Election Official Disqualifies Trump From 2024 Ballot

By LokMarg

Maine’s top election official has removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, citing the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” CNN reported.

This decision follows a similar move by the Colorado Supreme Court earlier this month, making Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from running for office.

A bipartisan group of former state lawmakers initiated the challenge against Trump, leading to an administrative hearing earlier this month on his eligibility for office.

Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, issued the decision on Thursday, acknowledging the unprecedented nature of such an action against a presidential candidate.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “Democracy is sacred … I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

The decision by Bellows can be appealed in state court, and it is anticipated that Trump’s legal team will contest this outcome. The issue is expected to escalate to the US Supreme Court, where many legal experts believe it will ultimately be settled for the entire country, according to CNN.

Trump, who denies any wrongdoing in connection with the events of January 6, 2021, and dismisses the legal challenges as meritless, faces a growing wave of opposition from critics seeking to enforce the constitutional provision designed to protect against anti-democratic insurrectionists.

The Maine decision follows the momentum gained by Trump’s opponents after the Colorado ruling. While other states, such as Michigan and Minnesota, rejected similar efforts before Colorado, the consecutive decisions in Colorado and Maine mark a significant victory for those pushing for accountability, as reported by CNN.

Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment stipulates that American officials who “engage in” insurrection cannot hold future office. However, the provision lacks clarity on how the ban should be enforced, leaving room for legal interpretation and debate, CNN reported. (ANI)

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