Politics - News Analysis

Trump Basks in the Adulation He Received in India — Ignores People Walking Out in Droves at Rally

As we sit back and contemplate how the ever-living hell we got here, it is truly important to realize that there cannot be a single dictatorship on earth that doesn’t want Trump to win 2020 in glorious fashion. Canada? Japan? Germany? Mexico? No, they want Trump gone as fast as possible, but those are democracies, countries run by laws, and thus can only suffer through a Trump presidency. Why do authoritarians love Trump? Because he can be bought, for the cheap, so “cheap.”

Is there another adult man over 30 in the world who wouldn’t be humiliated entering a stadium in front of 110,000 people to the Village People’s recording of Macho-Man? Doubt it, and it would have to be cringe-worthy for the host and most people there, which would normally matter. It doesn’t matter with Trump because all of it, all 110,000 and the singing and dancing, it’s all to impress an audience of “one,” Trump, and he loves it. The world knows it.

Every authoritarian nation on Earth now, the “BRIC” countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China – about half the world, if one’s counting people – now knows that they can vastly increase their bargaining power with the U.S. over and above democracies, by simply kissing Trump’s fat ass more than the last guy. Russia doesn’t even need to go that far, they own that same ass. They can flip Trump off and still get what they want. Brazil, India, China (and, of course, every other authoritarian regime, from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines,) knows it’s just so damned easy.

Play the right song, dude. Pay people to come out and stand on a corner and cheer, act as if a benevolent Emperor Palpatine just arrived to give your country the newest Death Star. You don’t even need to build an actual Death Star, too expensive, just act like he deserves one, that’s good enough. You don’t actually need seven million people to come out, you just need to say that seven million will come out, then affirm seven million after the fact, even if only 11 people showed up.

Indeed, people were walking out of the stadium during Trump’s speech, they weren’t there to hear or see him.

That’s fair, Trump isn’t visiting India to see what he can do for India or the United States. He is in India to see and hear about his greatness.

This all matters hugely, because the next time the United States has a “thing” with India, whether trade or friction, all Trump is going to remember is the praise, because he is all that matters. Trump believes his relationship with Prime Minister Modi is “the” thing between the United States and India. It is not that each man represents his nation, or even embodies his nation. It is that each man “is” their nation, or at least that’s how Trump sees it. If Trump’s happy with his flatter, India has an advantage.

So that’s why it’s easiest for the authoritarian nations. It is not about international relationships, it’s about personal relationships. They can buy Trump, they can predict Trump, they don’t need to worry about laws or the future of democracy. For authoritarians, the future is now, and the getting is good, because it’s just so damned predictable.

Trump can be had for a song, it doesn’t take a Death Star, or even a fair trade deal, just a shitload of ass-kissing. That’s all the United States has to show for its relationship with India right now. The only thing the authoritarian nations need to fear is whether the next guy can outdo the flattery of the last asshole. China did a nice job, India got one over on China, and we can expect Brazil to temporarily replace the statue of Jesus over Rio with one of Trump. Gotta outdo the last jerk.

****

Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

Comments

Comments are currently closed.