This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/opinion/trump-netanyahu.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
The Trump Musical: ‘Anything Goes’ The Trump Musical: ‘Anything Goes’
(about 2 hours later)
Goodness knows I’m loath to write anything these days that would feed Donald Trump’s ego. But this time it’s unavoidable. There is a new global political era emerging that, while not entirely attributable to Trump, his party and his administration, they’ve surely played a huge role in fostering. A variety of analysts have now given this era the same name: “Anything goes.” And for good reason.Goodness knows I’m loath to write anything these days that would feed Donald Trump’s ego. But this time it’s unavoidable. There is a new global political era emerging that, while not entirely attributable to Trump, his party and his administration, they’ve surely played a huge role in fostering. A variety of analysts have now given this era the same name: “Anything goes.” And for good reason.
Look around the world and not only do you see a democratic recession — the number of democracies abandoning their democratic bona fides with sham elections is steadily mounting — but you see something much more grotesque: Leaders are grabbing power for life, murdering or jailing even the mildest of critics and shamelessly building coalitions with openly racist and bigoted parties.Look around the world and not only do you see a democratic recession — the number of democracies abandoning their democratic bona fides with sham elections is steadily mounting — but you see something much more grotesque: Leaders are grabbing power for life, murdering or jailing even the mildest of critics and shamelessly building coalitions with openly racist and bigoted parties.
Most important, they’re doing it with utter impunity — confident that either no one is watching or no one will meaningfully call them out.Most important, they’re doing it with utter impunity — confident that either no one is watching or no one will meaningfully call them out.
This is what happens when people think America isn’t looking, doesn’t care or worse, has a president, himself having uttered over 9,000 lies and misleading statements, who has zero moral authority to call out others. When it comes to being a global watchdog that tries to enforce some basic norms of decency, America under Trump is out to lunch — and a lot of people have figured that out, and so anything goes.This is what happens when people think America isn’t looking, doesn’t care or worse, has a president, himself having uttered over 9,000 lies and misleading statements, who has zero moral authority to call out others. When it comes to being a global watchdog that tries to enforce some basic norms of decency, America under Trump is out to lunch — and a lot of people have figured that out, and so anything goes.
“It’s not just that liberal democracy is retreating under pressure from demagogic politicians exploiting the stresses of globalization, rising inequality, economic insecurity, job displacement, immigration, and so on,” argues Larry Diamond, author of a prescient new book, “Ill Winds: Saving Democracy From Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency.” “It’s that authoritarian forces everywhere perceive that there is no longer any price to pay for ruling as nastily as they want.”“It’s not just that liberal democracy is retreating under pressure from demagogic politicians exploiting the stresses of globalization, rising inequality, economic insecurity, job displacement, immigration, and so on,” argues Larry Diamond, author of a prescient new book, “Ill Winds: Saving Democracy From Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency.” “It’s that authoritarian forces everywhere perceive that there is no longer any price to pay for ruling as nastily as they want.”
So, today, “every type of regime is getting worse,” Diamond adds. “Liberal democracies are becoming more intolerant. Illiberal democracies are electing authoritarian personalities like President Duterte in the Philippines, who are purging judges and locking up journalists who dare to criticize them. Authoritarian regimes that once coexisted with pockets of opposition no longer see the need to bother. In Cambodia, the party of the long-ruling dictator, Hun Sen, now controls every seat in Parliament. And China is now constructing the first truly Orwellian surveillance state.”So, today, “every type of regime is getting worse,” Diamond adds. “Liberal democracies are becoming more intolerant. Illiberal democracies are electing authoritarian personalities like President Duterte in the Philippines, who are purging judges and locking up journalists who dare to criticize them. Authoritarian regimes that once coexisted with pockets of opposition no longer see the need to bother. In Cambodia, the party of the long-ruling dictator, Hun Sen, now controls every seat in Parliament. And China is now constructing the first truly Orwellian surveillance state.”
It all makes some of the lyrics of Cole Porter’s classic song seem so ahead of their time:It all makes some of the lyrics of Cole Porter’s classic song seem so ahead of their time:
The world has gone mad today/ And good’s bad today/ And black’s white today/ And day’s night today/ And that gent today/ You gave a cent today/ Once had several chateaux …/ Anything goes.The world has gone mad today/ And good’s bad today/ And black’s white today/ And day’s night today/ And that gent today/ You gave a cent today/ Once had several chateaux …/ Anything goes.
Just think of those shocks you’ve got/ And those knocks you’ve got/ And those blues you’ve got/ From that news you’ve got/ And those pains you’ve got/ (If any brains you’ve got) …/ ’Cause Franklin knows/ Anything goes.Just think of those shocks you’ve got/ And those knocks you’ve got/ And those blues you’ve got/ From that news you’ve got/ And those pains you’ve got/ (If any brains you’ve got) …/ ’Cause Franklin knows/ Anything goes.
When America, the world’s most influential democracy, has a leader without shame, who is backed by a party without spine willing to prostitute itself to Trump no matter how low he goes — and both are protected by a virtually state-run network without integrity, called Fox — it becomes a hunting license for leaders everywhere to go after their own domestic opponents and cross any human rights redline to stay in power.When America, the world’s most influential democracy, has a leader without shame, who is backed by a party without spine willing to prostitute itself to Trump no matter how low he goes — and both are protected by a virtually state-run network without integrity, called Fox — it becomes a hunting license for leaders everywhere to go after their own domestic opponents and cross any human rights redline to stay in power.
And we’re talking about some close allies. Last week, Israel’s attorney general recommended that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu be indicted on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in connection with three different corruption cases. This comes just after Netanyahu forged a political alliance with an openly racist, anti-Arab party.And we’re talking about some close allies. Last week, Israel’s attorney general recommended that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu be indicted on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in connection with three different corruption cases. This comes just after Netanyahu forged a political alliance with an openly racist, anti-Arab party.
Netanyahu’s new political ally, the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, traces its lineage to Rabbi Meir Kahane’s outlawed Kach Party, which advocated annexing the West Bank, expelling the Palestinians who lived there and resettling Israeli Arabs in Arab countries. Otzma’s leader, Michael Ben-Ari, with whom Bibi made his alliance, was denied a visa to the U.S. in 2012 on the grounds of being associated with a violent extremist group.Netanyahu’s new political ally, the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, traces its lineage to Rabbi Meir Kahane’s outlawed Kach Party, which advocated annexing the West Bank, expelling the Palestinians who lived there and resettling Israeli Arabs in Arab countries. Otzma’s leader, Michael Ben-Ari, with whom Bibi made his alliance, was denied a visa to the U.S. in 2012 on the grounds of being associated with a violent extremist group.
Among Otzma’s leaders, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported, “is former Kahane aide Baruch Marzel, a resident of Hebron who holds a party every year at the grave of Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 massacred 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs.”Among Otzma’s leaders, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported, “is former Kahane aide Baruch Marzel, a resident of Hebron who holds a party every year at the grave of Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 massacred 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs.”
These are the people Netanyahu wants to bring into his government. Why not? Bibi knows that no matter how low he sinks, Trump will always have his back.These are the people Netanyahu wants to bring into his government. Why not? Bibi knows that no matter how low he sinks, Trump will always have his back.
Yes, politics can be a dirty business, “but there are sacred areas in which you don’t play politics, where there has to be a boundary,” says Hebrew University philosopher Moshe Halbertal. And making an alliance “with a racist party is one of them. Because when you do that you actually inflate them and send a message about what kind of speech is permissible.”Yes, politics can be a dirty business, “but there are sacred areas in which you don’t play politics, where there has to be a boundary,” says Hebrew University philosopher Moshe Halbertal. And making an alliance “with a racist party is one of them. Because when you do that you actually inflate them and send a message about what kind of speech is permissible.”
You may think that “they are just a means to your ends,” adds Halbertal. “But in the end, they will control you, they will dominate your identity,” and, in Bibi’s case, “they will define who he is, who is Israel, who is Israel in the eyes of world Jewry and who is Israel in the eyes of the world.”You may think that “they are just a means to your ends,” adds Halbertal. “But in the end, they will control you, they will dominate your identity,” and, in Bibi’s case, “they will define who he is, who is Israel, who is Israel in the eyes of world Jewry and who is Israel in the eyes of the world.”
Our enemies and rivals are also worse than ever. Iran has been deeply complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Sunnis in Iraq and Syria, in the use of poison gas by Syria’s regime and in the crushing of Lebanese democracy through its proxy the Hezbollah militia.Our enemies and rivals are also worse than ever. Iran has been deeply complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Sunnis in Iraq and Syria, in the use of poison gas by Syria’s regime and in the crushing of Lebanese democracy through its proxy the Hezbollah militia.
But Iran gets away with it. The Iranians know that U.S. human rights activists are so focused on Saudi Arabia’s vile murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its bombings in Yemen that they’re ignoring Iran’s misbehavior. So anything goes.But Iran gets away with it. The Iranians know that U.S. human rights activists are so focused on Saudi Arabia’s vile murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its bombings in Yemen that they’re ignoring Iran’s misbehavior. So anything goes.
China’s government has felt free enough to admit that it’s been forcing religious minorities, particularly Chinese Muslims, into “re-education camps” to eliminate “extremism.” But news seeping out of these camps indicates they have “a lot more in common with concentration camps. Thousands of guards carrying spiked clubs, tear gas and stun guns surveil the government’s ‘students,’ who are held in buildings ringed with razor wire and infrared cameras,” said Vox, citing a recent report by Agence France-Presse.China’s government has felt free enough to admit that it’s been forcing religious minorities, particularly Chinese Muslims, into “re-education camps” to eliminate “extremism.” But news seeping out of these camps indicates they have “a lot more in common with concentration camps. Thousands of guards carrying spiked clubs, tear gas and stun guns surveil the government’s ‘students,’ who are held in buildings ringed with razor wire and infrared cameras,” said Vox, citing a recent report by Agence France-Presse.
Allies of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, are well on their way to amending the Egyptian Constitution to make him, in effect, president for life, or at least until 2034, and give even more power to the military. El-Sisi, who made this power grab after a visit from and praise by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has also arrested far more Egyptians for the mildest of criticism, and snuffed out far more press freedoms, than his predecessor Hosni Mubarak — without a peep out of America.Allies of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, are well on their way to amending the Egyptian Constitution to make him, in effect, president for life, or at least until 2034, and give even more power to the military. El-Sisi, who made this power grab after a visit from and praise by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has also arrested far more Egyptians for the mildest of criticism, and snuffed out far more press freedoms, than his predecessor Hosni Mubarak — without a peep out of America.
In Uganda, 74-year-old President Yoweri Museveni got age limits abolished so he can, in effect, also become president for life, after sending troops onto the floor of Parliament to beat up opposition lawmakers objecting to the move.In Uganda, 74-year-old President Yoweri Museveni got age limits abolished so he can, in effect, also become president for life, after sending troops onto the floor of Parliament to beat up opposition lawmakers objecting to the move.
Larry Diamond says, “A leading Ugandan human rights lawyer wrote to me that with Trump in the White House and Europe silent and democratic norms generally in retreat, African rulers like Museveni now feel emboldened to rule as long and as brutally as they want.”Larry Diamond says, “A leading Ugandan human rights lawyer wrote to me that with Trump in the White House and Europe silent and democratic norms generally in retreat, African rulers like Museveni now feel emboldened to rule as long and as brutally as they want.”
Again, whether it is the presidents of China, Egypt, Uganda, Russia and Turkey all basically making themselves into presidents for life, or Bibi forging an alliance with a racist politician banned from America so that he can cling to power in Israel, or the Saudi crown prince’s team murdering moderate journalist/critic Jamal Khashoggi, or NATO allies Poland, Brazil and Hungary all drifting away from democracy under the sway of power-hungry nationalists, it’s obvious that none of them, none of them, ever bothered to ask themselves before their respective moves, “But what will the Americans say if we do this?” Again, whether it is the presidents of China, Egypt, Uganda, Russia and Turkey all basically making themselves into presidents for life, or Bibi forging an alliance with a racist politician banned from America so that he can cling to power in Israel, or the Saudi crown prince’s team murdering moderate journalist/critic Jamal Khashoggi, or allies Poland, Brazil and Hungary all drifting away from democracy under the sway of power-hungry nationalists, it’s obvious that none of them, none of them, ever bothered to ask themselves before their respective moves, “But what will the Americans say if we do this?”
They knew the answer: Anything goes.They knew the answer: Anything goes.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.