The Democratic-led witch hunt targeting former United States president Donald Trump climaxes today. Both Trump's and Kamala Harris’ campaigns were shaped by disinformation, threats of election interference, and violence. Harris evolved from the Democratic party’s largest liability to be nominated without one vote, while Trump survived lawsuits and assassination attempts. The election race was a daily farce that clearly illustrated the collapse of Pax Americana.

By Arthur Blok & Marco Mattiussi (cartoon by Joon W)
The collapse of great empires is an interesting concept that former Yale University historian Paul Kennedy (79) described in his 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. He called it an imperial overstretch, a situation in which an empire extends beyond its military-economic capabilities, gets involved in growing unrest at multiple locations in the empire, and often collapses as a result.

It happened to the Roman Empire, the First Chinese Empire, the British Empire, and the Soviet Union, and it is currently clearly the case for the American Empire.

It is inevitable to compare the state of the world in 2020 (the end of the Trump administration) versus 2024: we are living in a situation where the risk of slipping into World War 3 has been voiced several times, first on the never-ending war between Russia and Ukraine (or, better said, Russia and NATO).

More recently, the confrontation in the Middle East between Israel and Iran - and its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah - with a series of retaliations that are escalating in a never-ending tit-for-tat where nobody can predict the outcome has raised the ghost of WW3 again.

Would all this have been possible under Trump's strict command?

We can’t say for sure, but what is certain is that Biden’s weakness has undoubtedly not helped to keep things in order. What is America's role as a global policeman still worth in 2024? Who is still taking them seriously after four years of Biden and Harris?

After one year in office, it was clear that Joe Biden was not in control. Many see him as the worst president in US history, beating Jimmy Carter and Andrew Johnson, which is an accomplishment in itself. We will surely miss his stumbling, babbling, and numerous embarrassments of his country on the international stage.

Harris uncertain path
Harris became the Democratic nominee in late August without a single vote in the primaries, which raised several concerns, even in her own party. At that moment, Biden was already silently escorted from the scene. The electorate had to wait until September 10 before Harris agreed to debate Trump publicly.

Again, this is something we have never seen before.

In the controversial ABC presidential debate, Harris received sample questions, and she was interviewed by a sorority sister, Linsey Davis, with the assurance that her answers would not be checked. As if this was not enough, soon after the debate, it became evident that Harris was wearing Nova H1 audio earrings, designed to appear as stylish accessories while functioning as wireless earphones. ABC lost over 50 million U$ in ad revenue weeks after the debacle.

During the debate, Harris gave no answers to fundamental questions, some vague economic plans that did not address things that mattered, and the recurring mantra “Once I will be in power.” She seemed to forget that she had actually been in power for the last four years as Vice President.

Why didn’t she address those issues already?

Even her choice for the vice President candidate has been ultimately backfiring on her campaign, as Tim Walz is considered to be even more leftist than her. Not to mention his bizarre way of being on stage, with those little jumps and excessive smiles. Quoting his brother Jeff: “Not the type of character you want making decisions about your future.”

Border Czar
While being Vice President, President Biden designated Harris as “Border Czar” to address the ‘‘root causes’’ of illegal immigration. Friend and foe agree that this was a massive failure. Under her watch, there have been at least 10 to 15 million illegal border crossings, the most ever recorded in U.S. history. Harris has taken no decisive steps to close our southern border and has put millions of American lives in danger.

Since 2017, Harris has been slamming the Southern Border Wall that Trump initiated, which was never completed. Ironically, in her campaign ads, she showcases that same unfinished wall as a solution to unprecedented immigration.

Like Biden, Harris became famous for her word salads, which often went viral on social media. One of the most persistent ones is her saying, “I can imagine that we can see what can be unburdened by what has been?”  It's not just a word salad but, in fact, a so-called Marxist incantation. Comparable to a spell, where one can see the possibility of a world unburdened from its history.

Exactly what Mao Zedong did when he launched the campaign to smash The Four Olds ('old ideas', 'old culture', 'old customs', and 'old habits') during the Red August of 1966, shortly after the onset of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards' campaign to destroy the Four Olds began amid the massacres being carried out in Beijing. Or like the Bolsheviks, who took over Russia to create a new Russia.

That is not a pleasant foresight.

Woke & being Black
The only thing Harris is clear about is her position on being woke. Then-Sen. Harris said in 2017 during Recode's annual Code Conference, alongside philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, during the conference.

"We have to stay woke. Like everybody needs to be woke. And you can talk about if you're the wokest or woker, but stay more woke than less woke" Harris said before speaking out against the Trump administration's drug policies and immigration policies: poetic irony in a nutshell.

Another awkward episode is Harris’ switch from being of Indian descent to being black. There was a lot of online debate about a picture of Harris in her biography with her black grandmother, who allegedly died before she was born. This was never properly investigated, but many eyebrows were raised when Harris suddenly changed her accent during political rallies to sound ‘blacker’.

Considering all this, Trump’s once-unlikely electoral comeback would make sense. No matter what image the mainstream media presents to the viewer about either candidate, voters are deeply dissatisfied with the direction of the country under Biden and Harris. The latter surely did not do enough to break with those policies.

The economy, inflation, immigration, and the poor state of the world remain dominant issues. Various polls indicate that voters say Trump handled them better during his presidency, despite ending his single term as one of the least-popular presidents of the past 50 years following his defeat and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. About half of voters now say they approve of the job Trump did as president in retrospect.

No matter who gets elected today, America faces some tough and challenging times ahead in the coming presidential term. That applies not just to the home front but also to the rest of the world.