Images of large crowds of people, sometimes marching peacefully, sometimes ransacking shops, are the last thing one would expect to see coming out of America. Yet the situation since a police officer killed a black citizen by applying unnecessary force has simply spiraled out of control and refuses to die down, even with the National Guard called into more than forty cities. And President Trump only seems to make things worse every time he comes up with a solution, which is whey even police chiefs from different states are calling on him to stay silent, though not in such polite terms, if he has got nothing good to say about the matter. The president’s latest outburst, that he would call in the military if the looting didn’t stop, has only served to spread the violence even further.
At the heart of the matter is the refusal of authorities in Minneapolis to charge all the officers at the scene with murder. As a speaker at a public gathering put it, these protests would go away if justice is seen to be served. Yet the thought that the government would rather call in the military, which would risk many more deaths no doubt, than hold the police officers accountable is not being digested by the people quite like the authorities expected. Now the president is reduced to desperate symbolism, like standing in front of a church and holding a bible, because it would embarrass him to step down from his high pedestal. But the American people, especially the black community, seems to have had enough as well, so the confrontation seems set to worsen for all intents and purposes.
Surprisingly, all this has not sent financial markets into a tailspin just yet. But that shouldn’t hide the fact that a fall is just around the corner if the situation does not normalise very soon. So far the rest of the world has been watching with horror as the US government appears to only add further fuel to the fire. Once again, then, the Trump administration has embarrassed itself by such disregard for the duties and responsibilities that come with being the leader of the free world. It seems we are really living in times when the sole superpower begins the long process of disintegration and falling all over itself.
So far the rest of the world has been watching with horror as the US government appears to only add further fuel to the fire. Once again, then, the Trump administration has embarrassed itself by such disregard for the duties and responsibilities that come with being the leader of the free world.
