Antonio Navalón
One of the books that talks about that exciting part of the history of the United States that was the New Deal, promoted under the leadership of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is called “No Ordinary Time” written by Doris Kearns Goodwin, translated into Spanish as “Tiempos Extraordinarios” (Extraordinary Times). It is indisputable that we are living in extraordinary times. Joe Biden’s State of the Union address was clearly intended to show, above all, how much vitality an 81-year-old man can have, how much conceptual clarity, and how much courage he has to deliver a political speech in extraordinary times, except for the immigration issue, in which most of the world’s rulers are trapped, since it is a phenomenon that has surprised everyone since the last decades, but especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and after the Arab Springs and the Arab emancipation phenomena. Biden’s statement that you can’t love your country only when you win is harrowing and repeatable for almost every country worldwide. But more important is the confusion that his words generated – I don’t know if it was deliberate or due to inability – to face once and for all the unresolved phenomenon of the migratory crisis.
Thomas Jefferson was a classic. He loved all the conditions that made possible the supremacy of the people’s voice over the will of the rulers from Pericles to Julius Caesar. His distrust, but at the same time his conviction of having to give a voice to the people, led to the design in the United States of an instrument so far out of date and with so many complexities as the Electoral College of the United States of America.
Contrary to the Mexican electoral system, in the United States, a candidate can win the popular vote and still lose the presidential election due to the recount of votes in the Electoral College, as happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016. It all starts with reminiscences and questioning about why Tuesdays are the days when people vote in the primaries in the United States and the need to analyze what society was like when the regulations that continue to operate to this day were put in place. Americans have always been involved in State crises that, in one way or another, they have managed to overcome. It would suffice to recall the time when Franklin Delano Roosevelt had to confront his country’s Supreme Court or the constant disputes with judges, the then ” Chief Justice” Charles Evans Hughes, in his attempt to undermine the great series of financial reforms – interventionist for some – that sought to counteract the effects caused by the Great Depression in the United States.
Before the 1929 crisis, it had never been foreseen that financial speculation and the lack of control over money management in a country as wild from the point of view of capitalism as the United States could be considered a matter of national security. The lack of updating and adaptation of the legal instruments of the time led to the inevitable confrontation between the New Deal and judges such as Evans Hughes. However, one character – or rather, his constitutional and jurisprudential legacy – was critical to the program promoted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, considered one of the most renowned justices in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court and appointed to the Court during the term of Theodore Roosevelt, was one of the justices who most promoted strengthening efforts to regulate the U.S. economy. His legal interpretation and jurisprudence significantly influenced the development of legal thought in the United States, contributing to the judicial consensus that supported the creation of new legal regulations derived from New Deal policies.
To this day, it was also not foreseen – not even in the section or application of the article that was made after the outbreak of the Civil War – to have to witness a campaign presided over by a character as atrabiliary and with a behavior as out of the rules as Donald Trump. There were no precedents and, more importantly, there were no instruments that would make, for example, the continued exercise of the use of lies from the Executive Branch of the nation would cost him the office or at least a criminal responsibility on what “misleading advertising” means to a fundamental charge perpetrated against the American society.
To date, the world has not seen a more than viable candidate to occupy the presidency of one of the leading powers – if not the most – of the planet, as is happening in the United States with the figure of Donald Trump and the multiple criminal and civil proceedings against him and that are still pending resolution. In other words, despite the attempted insurrection on January 6, 2021, despite his speech, despite the inaction and everything that happened that day in the assault on the Capitol, it was essential to want, understand, and use the power of powers to stop him so that he could not be on the ballot on November 5.
Unanimously, a few days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court consolidated and confirmed that that very particular, problematic, and undoubtedly one-of-a-kind character named Donald Trump – despite everything – would be able to appear on the presidential ballot. This is a very dangerous jurisprudence on what government means according to the law and the application of the Rule of Law over the people’s will. The American people know it. The young know it. The old and those who don’t want to work know it, too. And yet, Donald Trump may again be President of the United States, especially after seeing the number of votes garnered in last week’s Republican Super Tuesday. Although the delegates involved in this Republican primary vote do not represent all the swing states, it is a big step toward Trump’s presidential nomination.
Make no mistake, today, there is a president named Donald Trump. A character who, with Americans, migrants, and Mexicans, abides by the most radical and objective pragmatism to his benefit. To begin with, Trump has to find a way to recover and collect more than four hundred and fifty million dollars, which he has to pay to make up for the last fine imposed against him. Besides that, despite everything he says and despite this air of belle epoque and global tragedy that is being assigned to the world, I do not see him in the position to destroy NATO and produce what would be – if he does – war in Europe with paramount supremacy by his friend Putin over the others. I do not believe that the Americans have become so helpless that it is possible to precipitate their State to disaster without the control mechanisms working, which, in this case, may be the key to the briefcase of nuclear weapons in the hands of the president-elect. Of course, I see all this as unlikely since to achieve it, he would have to convince the entire U.S. military high command to unleash what would undoubtedly be a nuclear holocaust.
As things stand, there is no need to think twice about it. Joe Biden has a long way to go, as always happens when power is wielded with good intentions but not accompanied by faith, conviction, and leadership. Mainly because, even if he manages to win, he gives the impression that he is losing. There are eight months left; anything can happen in 8 months, but what is currently necessary to study is the reaction of the American people. And the American people, despite the lies, the excesses, and the frauds, like Trump more than someone who, despite having many more years of political experience and being even four years older, still does not convince the Americans. In turbulent times, people are generally inclined to elect captains who stand out not so much for their experience but for being able to do whatever it takes to keep the ship afloat.
Migrations are here to stay. Europe today – by demographic growth – belongs more to the sworn enemies of Christian civilization than to the followers or practitioners of the religion that forged the foundations of European history, which was undoubtedly Christianity for the most part. One of the uncomfortable realities for Americans is that they could not subsist on their own without the labor and contribution of migrants to their development. Migration and discrimination of any kind that is intrinsically associated with this phenomenon have become some of the most disruptive and polarizing factors in the life of societies. We had and lived through post-communism, but until a few days ago, I discovered that one of the parts of the puzzle of today’s reality that almost all of us have yet to accept and digest is that we are in the midst of the post-Christianity era.
The United States does not have a migration project. Neither does Europe. Countries cannot be built with indigenous forces; perhaps that is why Biden’s speech was confusing, especially about the core issue of this year’s election, which is migration. But migration – make no mistake – is an essential and indispensable factor in developing some countries, especially the United States. This situation can produce more polarization, surely also votes on the way to November 5, and confusion that can end up precipitating – depending on the electoral result – the outbreak of civil war.
The table is set. It has been decades since primaries were so well-defined and less competitive. Trump and Biden. Biden and Trump. The second round begins. Of the states in question, only Vermont was the one that gave a slight sigh of hope to Nikki Haley, who, one day, after knowing the results, decided to abandon the race altogether. On the other hand, for the Democrats, there was only one surprise called American Samoa. November 5 is just around the corner. Will Biden get the job done, or will Trump manage to “make America great again”? We will see, but the scales seem to be clearly tipped to one side for the moment.
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