English Summary
Editor’s letter
I remember how in December 2015 I was discussing the new candidate for president with my American friend, a Texas native, university professor, and big fan of Barack Obama (albeit a somewhat disappointed one).
In response to my absolutely fair, it would seem then, skepticism that Trump had any chance of getting close to Capitol Hill, the professor reminded me about another wild card in American political history, Ronald Reagan. “When he appeared on the scene,” my friend said, “people refused to discuss his victory seriously, they laughed. Everyone thought that this great country could never be led by some B‑list actor. And then Reagan became president.” This reminder proved a constant thorn in my side and later, I was convinced Trump would win no matter what everyone said. 2016 was too much like 1980. And not just when it came to politics or the electoral mood — it was something in the air. A deep disappointment in what had recently seemed inviolable. Worn-out ideals and faded national ideas. Chaos at every turn. Huge fields that became a battlefield where neither candidate had a clear advantage. Pointless high-level meetings and roadmaps that nobody followed. The majority of thinking people start to understand that established institutions aren’t working. We nee new ones. But time flies and the circumstances change so quickly that any bill is obsolete by the time it reaches a second round of amendments. The natives are plugged into the matrix, they watch YouTube and have already lost the ability to think critically — they can only gaze on. In order to throw them off balance and force them to stop watching another clip from the Kardashians, you need something more fun than a conservatively-dressed older woman. Enter here a clown of cosmic proportions, a man whose key weapon is a collection of blunt populist slogans that no sane politician would employ.