San Salvador/“An entire civilization will die tonight, never to return. I don’t want it to happen, but it probably will.”
These words, written carefully on a social network by the man who presides over the most powerful nation in the world, are chilling, terrifying, unusual. It is impossible to read them and not feel an instant vertigo in our moral conscience. Never before has an American leader, in public or private – at least as far as is known – announced the barbaric intention of erasing an entire culture from the map. Not even Harry Truman, who almost 81 years ago made the terrible decision to drop atomic bombs on the towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ever expressed that he had the ulterior purpose of destroying Japanese civilization forever.
And no one, in their right mind, would pronounce or write such words, because even violence, in its worst moments, has limits; Even war, with all its savagery, has certain minimum rules. Mao, Stalin, Hitler… it is true, they were capable of justifying the worst atrocities, but historians recognize all of them with more or less identifiable levels of derangement, sociopathy, and acute insensitivity to human suffering.
What then should we say about Donald J. Trump, the 47th president of the United States of America, after having appropriated the intention, even if it was only rhetorical, of wiping out an entire people? Do we just let the outburst pass as if it were something any powerful individual would be allowed to say without consequences?
While astronaut Victor Glover gave a message about the unity of all inhabitants of Earth, the president used vulgar profanity to threaten Iran with destruction
At the beginning of a successful article published in the digital medium First fruitsfellow Ecuadorian writer and historian Gonzalo Ortiz points out the following: “I never thought I saw such a stark contrast. This Easter Sunday, while American astronaut Victor Glover gave an exquisite message about the unity of all the inhabitants of the earth, the president of his country used vulgar profanity to threaten Iran with destruction.”
The columnist refers, of course, not only to the sinister warning that we mentioned above, but also to the aggressive and profane ways that Trump used to demand that the Iranian regime stop obstructing free passage in Hormuz. Media around the world have done a real verbal juggle to reproduce, softening as much as possible, the words of the eccentric ruler. But any “correct” translation is hopelessly missing the truth.
“Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah”, we read with amazement on April 5 on Trump’s social network, whose Spanish version, to the letter, would be something like this: “Open the fucking strait, you crazy bastards, or you are going to live in hell – JUST SEE IT! Praise Allah.”
What is characteristic of the moment is that the vulgar soul, knowing itself to be vulgar, has the audacity (or boldness) to assert the right to vulgarity and imposes it everywhere.
Without nuances of any kind, the quote is atrociously revealing. It accounts, to begin with, the reactive nature of a man who is overcome by his base instincts with extreme ease and too often. In The rebellion of the massesas early as 1929, Ortega y Gasset stated: “What is characteristic of the moment is that the vulgar soul, knowing itself to be vulgar, has the audacity (or boldness) to affirm the right to vulgarity and imposes it everywhere.” Donald Trump would be, in that sense, a complete representative of our era, characterized by omnipresent, combative, dominant mediocrity, elevated to the infinite number of its supporters.
But there is something even more serious: the American president puts an end to his intended ultimatum – which later, true to his style, would not be so peremptory either – by praising God in his clearly Arabic expression. And this detail is not trivial.
Even if he knew the basics about the Middle East, it is highly unlikely that the White House occupant would not know that “Allah” is the way any Arabic speaker addresses his Creator, including Muslims and Christians. Nor would it escape your notice that the word de facto excludes the Hebrew-speaking faithful, who invoke God using “Elohim”, “Adonai” or “Shaddai”. But Trump would also know that the word “Allah,” for an English speaker, is not interchangeable with the generic “God,” since in the West it is assumed that “Allah” is the Muslim designation for God. The final phrase of his message, therefore, is ironic, mocking.
It is logical that many people in the United States today wonder if Donald Trump is in full use of his psychic and mental faculties.
However, why would the president have to resort to sarcasm on such a sensitive issue? With what righteous intention would a political leader who would not only be mocking Shiite believers, his supposed enemies, but also any Arab-speaking Muslim, including his supposed allies, use vitriol?
Adding all these elements – apocalyptic threats, unnecessary insults and stupid antics – it is logical that many people in the United States today wonder if Donald Trump is in full use of his psychic and mental faculties to continue exercising, with competence and suitability, the highest political office on the planet. And these legitimate doubts about its cognitive balance could gain strength in the coming months, because there is still too much time (until January 2029) that remains for an increasingly erratic and extravagant Administration.
