More fool me!
asserted
More → fool → me
Here I was thinking nothing that America’s Trump administration could do or say, no matter how politically and morally bankrupt, no matter how venal or violent, was capable of shocking me any longer.
uncertain
administration → think → me
Then I woke to today’s news that one of the Trump cabinet’s bigger boofheads – the uber Christian nationalist, crusader-fantasist and “secretary of war” Pete Hegseth had announced that America would have a public firing squad execution of murderer Nidal Hasan.
asserted
America → wake → Hasan
Reckless global militarisation including a threat at the UN to annihilate Iran, a litany of sexual misconduct allegations against the commander in chief, claims of blatant presidential corruption … they have all ceased to surprise and shock us, so inured has the world become to Donald Trump’s monstrous narcissism and maladministration.
But now we have execution TV.
uncertain
we → include → TV
Tune in to the livestream on Thursday 3 December to watch a military firing squad shoot the life out of Hasan, the former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at a US army base in 2009.
asserted
who → tune → 2009
Yes, the world’s supposedly greatest (or formerly greatest) democracy has arrived at an horrific new moral nadir.
asserted
democracy → arrive → nadir
The fact that America remains Australia and the west’s most relied-upon and trusted ally despite the global wrecking ball the second Trump administration has proved to be, was already cause for deep concern.
asserted
administration → remain → concern
But being so closely allied to a country that now wants to turn the execution of a human being – no matter what their crimes – into a live entertainment event, promises to redefine depravity.
asserted
crimes → ally → depravity
Given that American states continue to execute so many convicted criminals, where might the United States ultimately draw the line?
uncertain
States → give → line
No doubt the ilk of Hegseth in American society – and elsewhere – will count down the days until they can tune in to the live coverage of Hasan’s execution in droves.
asserted
they → count → droves
Might the audience cry out for more – for livestream cameras in the death chambers across the land of the free?
uncertain
audience → cry → free
How would this populist administration respond?
asserted
administration → respond → ?
If you think it’s a fanciful question, consider how far American governance and presidential values have slid in the moral murk in the past two years alone.
asserted
governance → think → years
Meanwhile, it’s hard to contemplate a more audacious appeal to American society’s darker angels than this looming entertainment event.
asserted
it → ’ → event
We have arrived.
asserted
We → arrive → ?
It would be heartening today to hear political leaders the world over condemn Hegseth and Trump’s planned introduction of Ghoul TV.
asserted
leaders → hear → TV
But let’s please start in Australia, where federal governments have for a long time opposed capital punishment – let alone turning it into a public spectacle.
asserted
governments → let → spectacle
Will the prime minister and his senior ministers stand up and condemn without qualification this depraved plan for America to livestream an execution?
asserted
America → stand → execution
What about the leaders of other political parties here, some of whom have, after all, supported capital punishment?
asserted
some → support → punishment
We’re waiting.
asserted
We → wait → ?
Meanwhile, how much further into the moral quagmire must America wallow before Australia rethinks its craven military dependence on Washington – not least via the reckless shackling of our strategic reliance to the US via the $368bn (and counting) Aukus submarine deal?
asserted
Australia → wallow → deal
Announcing America’s decision to turn killing into a form of entertainment, Hegseth said: “It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks, and so he’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
asserted
people → announce → things
America’s defense department later confirmed the execution would be livestreamed.
asserted
execution → confirm → ?
This represents a significant lurch in the US from civilisation towards savagery.
asserted
This → represent → savagery
You can’t choose your family.
asserted
You → choose → family
But you can choose your friends and allies.
asserted
you → choose → friends
And you can also tell them firmly when they’ve careened off the ethical rails.
asserted
they → tell → rails
Actions speak louder than words.
asserted
Actions → speak → words
And this planned livestreamed execution says it all about what is happening in America today, opening the window ever wider on the Trump administration’s moral vacuity and its paucity of human decency.
asserted
what → plan → decency
The Aporia
