If the following words sound familiar, the reason is that l have posted them before. However, it may be best to reread them to understand my thoughts.

Again, I had better pause lest you fail to grasp where I am heading. In Australia, we have a saying, “Only in America.” It’s a phrase we use when something outrageously good or bad happens, as though such excesses can occur only in America.

It might be violent racism, another Columbine, kids being slaughtered – any preventable, tragic loss of life that repeats time and again for which no remedy is forthcoming. All of this is beyond the average Australian’s capacity to understand.

In terms of guns, we would say in our somewhat impulsive wisdom that it is time that those with the capacity to change laws that might prevent the mass murder of children and refuse to do so were made to account. After all, they are as guilty or mad, whatever the case, as the perpetrator himself.

The same is true about people responsible for prosecuting those who have allegedly committed the gravest crimes against the state.

We look upon Americans with a great deal of curiosity. We are the recipients (not necessarily the beneficiaries) of its culture. Its capitalistic financial system. Its warmongering, sport and entertainment.

President Obama once said he would like to have our universal health system, our compulsory voting and our gun laws. But that aside, we are very much like America and generally, what comes to pass in the US will do so in Australia – even its bullshit. Well, to a point.

The United States’ current political crisis couldn’t happen here. Our Constitution (Section 44) doesn’t allow people with criminal records or those on trial to stand for parliament.

Donald Trump, in my view, and I’m not sure how this reads into their constitution, should be ordered to undergo a mental examination to ascertain his fitness to govern the country. If necessary, the supreme court could order him and Biden to submit to a complete physical and psychiatric evaluation if they were not prepared to do so voluntarily.

President Biden appears to be medically fit. His mental faculties seem reasonable from down under, with some doubts about his ageing body.

On the other hand, former President Trump might adequately pass a fitness test. But his cognitive capacity is that of a ten-year-old, and on that finding alone would be disqualified from running.

He is so far ahead of any other Republican in the race to be the next POTUS that he will surely get the GOP nomination. Of course, with the latest indictments from the State of Georgia, he will be battling an election while fighting multiple accusations. How will the different jurisdictions handle all the charges, and in what time frame is a maze too complicated to walk into? And remember, Trump has also been impeached twice.

That there does not appear to be anything to impede him from running makes the American democratic system seem like people of little intelligence put it together. That he could become President and lead the country from a plush cell in a jail of his choosing is more laughable.

In an article for Time, Olivia B Waxman makes some salient points. She asks the question. What happens if Trump wins re-election and is convicted of a felony while in the White House? There is no clear answer.

Without an answer to this question, the USA has a significant constitutional crisis on its hands that might run for years. It would be even more critical than Watergate. A new Attorney General could derail Trump’s Federal cases by simply not turning up, but the Justice Department cannot cease State prosecutions.

If he were to win, he could govern from his cell – a new wing of the White House. He could have international leaders visit him in solitary confinement. It wouldn’t work, of course, and a case for impeachment (a third time) would arise for not adequately doing his job. That might remove the SOAB. In fact, it may be the only way.

There is a slim hope that the Republican Party won’t nominate him as their presidential candidate. You can read the full but complicated explanation here. However, if a new candidate were to emerge in stage three of the election system, Trump might find himself in a lot of trouble, especially in a two-horse race.

That said, a game-changing event has arisen with the indictment from the state of Georgia. If convicted, Trump wouldn’t be able to pardon himself. He and his co-conspirators have been indicted under what is known as Rico law (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) in Georgia, which requires only showing an “interrelated pattern of activity” of a criminal enterprise.

Only in America: How most Australians see the character of Donald Trump

In October 2020, I wrote the following:

From down under, we see a sick deluded man of no redeeming features, full of racial hatred, ignorance, bile and misogyny. A deluded, pathetic liar unsuitable for the highest office in the land, if not the world. He sees complex problems and impregnates them with populism and implausible black-and-white solutions.

He is a person of limited intellect and understanding, only capable of seeing the world through the prism of his wealth. The far edges of knowledge have passed him by. Matters requiring deep philosophical consideration seem beyond him.

His opinions on subjects of internal and international importance are so shallow that one would think he spent the entirety of his youth in the wading pool at the local swimming pool, or six years in grade 6, and never academically advanced.

He is a crash-through politician with a ubiquitous mouth. Trump remains an incoherent mess who bounces back after each disaster thinking he has been impressive while those around him are laughing their heads off. Entertaining in a uniquely American way, he might be to the hillbillies, but leadership requires worldly character.

Since he lost the presidency, Trump has been nothing more than a thorn in the side of American law and its democratic principles.

Is America to have a dumbhead of first world order as President for a second time? After displaying all these character flaws for many years, that there are still enough Americans of his ilk content to elect the grotesque nightmare that he is, says much about the sanity of its people and the structure of its governance. Only in America, indeed. 

President Biden’s achievements are noteworthy. He has a record number of citizens in work. A 1.9tn pandemic relief bill in March. He also got the US to re-join the Paris Climate Conference. Inflation is on a downward trend. He has taken action to lower the cost of health care.

In my view, electing Trump in preference to Biden would be tantamount to electing Dracula President of the Blood Bank. 

With these latest revelations, hope has arisen that the great charlatan has finally met his match and American democracy can sleep well again. Depending on how the cards fall, Trump may even be prevented from running for the prestigious office of President of the United States.