Is This How Greatness Ends?
Some of the American mystique has gone, even if the raw power remains. That is what makes the scenes in Washington not simply pathetic, but important too.
What a tawdry coup attempt. What a fitting end to a presidency.
This was not shocking in the same way as attempted and successful coups elsewhere—Egypt in 2013, Thailand in 2014, Turkey in 2016—which were serious, planned, meticulous. This, it seemed from afar at least, was an orgy of anger whipped up by a deluded and bitter man. It was closer to one of those videos you sometimes get sent of a fight breaking out in the chamber of some obscure parliament, the subplot always being: Look at this crazy place.
We in the rest of the world are used to watching blockbuster films and box sets depicting the awesome power of the American empire, its leaders and
