What to make of America’s political circus

clear they are not part of what is happening now. Some familiar examples are former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, while retired from politics, remains an influential voice; former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson; former California representative Adam Kinzinger; the people behind the Lincoln Project (look them up on YouTube); and former South Carolina governor and at one time Trump’s UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who is conducting an admirable but most likely futile campaign against Trump for the Republican party nomination for president.

The Republican party as it is now is a cult in service of Donald Trump, and if it is successful in elevating him to the presidency, that will not only be very bad news for the United States but for every other place in the world whose wellbeing depends, in part, on having good relations with the US. As it concerns the Philippines, the consequences of that will mean, at a minimum, US support for a China takeover of all the maritime territory it claims in the South China Sea, the evaporation of trade with the US, and an end to the US welcoming Filipino workers — and God help any Filipinos who are in the US illegally. Or even legally, for that matter.

The only silver lining in this cloud is that Trump’s corruption and complete lack of business ability may render him and his cult financially unable to support his campaign. The two civil judgments against him in New York, as well as his multitude of criminal cases — he is facing 91 felony charges in all, in different courts — have very nearly bankrupted his campaign already. Due to paying millions upon millions in legal fees — about 73 cents of every dollar taken in by his two political action committees (PACs) — his campaign war chest of about $100 million at the end of last year has been reduced to about $25 million, with more money now going out than is coming in from contributions from his idiocratic base. The RNC will not be much help, either; over the weekend, it was reported it only has about $8 million in resources and is struggling with fund-raising. Current estimates are both the PACs and the RNC will be literally bankrupt by the end of June unless something drastically changes, which at this point seems unlikely.

However, any other country in the world with an interest in not being overrun by the nearest dictatorship, having one of its largest export markets vanish, or having its citizens persecuted by a host government and hunted by white supremacists should probably be keeping an eye on the situation, and considering some contingency plans. As long as this monster continues to occupy three-dimensional space, everyone will continue to be at risk.