Looking at the list of heads of states who have congratulated Joe Biden on his win, and at the list of those who have refused to do so or kept silent, it’s pretty clear that Biden has emerged as the new leader of the free world (which role Trump turned down contemptuously and petulantly). Sure, there are autocrats on the former list, like MBS, but most of the calls came from the right places – the UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia and so on.
As if cheering on Trump – “Go ahead, file them lawsuits, crush the old Republic to bits and pieces!” – Putin has declined to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect until “official results” are out, whatever the term means in the bunker dweller’s mental world. (Yes, Putin is literally living in a concrete bunker these days, scared of Covid-19 and sundry other infections: he health is so brittle.) So has Xi. Both dictators would rejoice in the destruction of the greatest democracy has ever seen.
The Republican party so far has taken the side of Putin, Xi and Trump against America. The best of them remind me of the fearless but insane – and insanely destructive – American Communists who stole nuclear secrets and spied on the US for the Soviet Union and Stalin’s gang. The worst are… just like the worst are everywhere, not worth talking about.
Aren’t there enough grownups left in America to the right of the Democratic Party?