TERRENCE HONORE
THE ONGOING saga in the United States regarding the Capitol Building riot on January 6, 2021, is of noteworthy consideration and relevance to us in TT. The episode directly threatens the preservation of democracy in that nation, the region and the world. The situation was heightened by the role of the former president, relating to the actions by people known and unknown.
The matter is under investigation, with a House of Representatives committee convening its seventh hearing on Tuesday. I have taken a glance or two at the proceedings, but what we need to carefully observe is how the US government, the mighty defender of democracy, is contending with a violation of its own trust.
Given all that has transpired, it is obvious that democracy is in distress. Is it fatal? It's hard to tell. But the prognosis does not look good for those in the middle of the melee. It's real bacchanal in the Washington capital, the centre of the democratic world.
It's indeed a testing time for that proven form of government and its threatened demise by the unwise.
There is a direct relationship between what is happening in the big US and little TT. We are both custodians of democracy, committed to the preservation of the freedoms we hold so dear; the rights to free press and expression enshrined in our constitution. But these must not be violated or trampled upon by perpetrators of civil disorder that put our people and our polity in jeopardy.
The well-known quote reminds us, 'If your neighbour's house is on fire, wet yours.' There is therefore a legitimate cause for concern, given the volatile political situation in the US.
But really, who would have thought that a sitting president would have been embroiled in such an episode? Such acts are usually left for the dictators in backward 'shi-----' countries as he, president Donald Trump, was quoted as saying in the media.
Consequentially, the attack on the US Capitol unfolded like a Hollywood movie script, with a leading star, supporting actors and hundreds of extras storming the set. The Capitol Building was full of drama and intrigue, for all the world to see, but the full story is yet to be told.
Shortly after the fiasco, many saw the inauguration of President Joe Biden on the American 'throne' as palliative care for a democracy in distress. But the question is still in the air: how well is the US democracy coping? We must be patient and prudent in our consideration that the concept and philosophy of democracy is being tested and may be falling apart as it seems.
In our deliberations, we must admit that we have been 'supporting' the US democracy in taste, in values and in dress, even as we strive to retain our own culture. We are branded forever. We are a nation born again to a Republican state, but our navel string is still tied to the foreign mother. The economic midwives still shape our lives.
The connection is deep. Over time, we have moved along, with many humming the melody to the familiar words of the US national anthem, 'Oh say can y
