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US is a failed state, controlled by oligarchic elite

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 13, 2020. (AFP photo)

By Charles Dunaway

Trump's sister says he's a phony. He's cruel. He's a liar. He's a brat and a cheat. He's a reckless leader with no principles and he doesn't read. None of these accusations is new and all of them ring true as well, but it doesn't seem to matter to his legion of followers, and Trump's innate ability to capture the spotlight and turn it on himself makes him irresistible to a media always looking for higher ratings.

As his niece Mary Trump points out in her recent book, Donald Trump knows nothing about foreign policy, domestic policies, economics, or any other subject, other than real estate, and himself. He's unqualified to be president and is easily manipulated by those who flatter him or those he envies. That for me is the most dangerous quality of this US president.

People who insinuate themselves by flattery into his inner circles can then easily persuade him to carry out incredibly destructive policies. The chief example is Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, with his draconian sanctions on Iran, bungling attempts to overthrow the government of Venezuela and now Belarus and the abject fealty to the Zionist occupiers of Palestine.

 Trump's bungling has resulted in almost 200,000 deaths in the United States due to COVID-19, the United States economy is in shambles with record unemployment, millions of Americans are facing eviction from their homes because the government bailed out the banks and the corporations and left working people on their own.

In any functioning democracy, Trump would be unable to win re-election, but the United States is not a democracy. The only opposition party has nominated a 78-year-old career politician with a nearly 50-year record of support for US imperialism and the neoliberal economic order, that’s impoverished working people while enriching oligarchs.

While many cities are experiencing protests against police brutality, the Democrats nominated former prosecutor for Vice President, one known for her defense of police accused of wrongdoing. We can expect Trump to stop at nothing to ensure his reelection. Already he's casting doubt on the validity of the election, and we can expect every dirty trick in the book to be used against his opponent.

Regardless of the outcome, nothing will be done to address the gross inequality in wealth and income and nothing will be done to curb US interventionism overseas.

The US is a failed state, one controlled by oligarchic elite who are intent on further enriching themselves. The people of this country have no real voice in government and no ability to stop the madness. It's up to the rest of the world to reject US hegemony and band together to resist the empire.

Charles Dunaway is an American political commentator in Oregon. He recorded this article for Press TV website.


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