My friends will have to excuse me for not being sufficiently riled up about the second coming of Trump. To me, he’s a phase in America’s inevitable decline, on the way to the end of the US Empire.

I wasn’t surprised or shocked by the outcome of the US elections. My friends who were, thought that I should express more outrage at the prospect of a second Trump presidency. After all, they said, Trump is a convicted criminal and racist who supports mass deportations, federal abortion bans and the weaponisation of the Justice Department. My lack of sufficient anger suggested a serious moral failing.

Don’t get me wrong, I explained, I think Trump is a repugnant bigot and con man who played on peoples’ fears and worst instincts but I can’t summon the outrage because I think he........

© Pearls and Irritations