Editorial: Wag the dog

In the miniseries Mindhunter, Netflix's adaptation of David Fincher's brilliant reimagining of the origins and the inner workings of the FBI's Behavioural Science Unit, a gifted researcher informs her colleagues that she's teaching a class on the intersection of sociopathy and fame. Explaining that their celebrity becomes the only thing they need to sustain their ego, she namedrops erstwhile president Richard Nixon, and terms him a sociopath. When a colleague interjects, "How do you get to be president of the United States if you're a sociopath?" Carr retorts, "The question is, how do you get to be president of the United States if you're not?"

Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court ruled for the first time that former presidents have some immunity from prosecution, which extended the delay in the Washington criminal case against Donald Trump on charges that he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. It has technically ended the prospects of the former president being tried before the November election. The court's decision in a second major Trump case this term, along with its ruling rejecting efforts to bar him from the ballot owing to his actions following the 2020 election, highlights the direct and questionable role the justices are playing in the November election.

Critics of the Supreme Court’s decision did not mince their words, as they came down heavily on the decision. A Justice categorically stated that the move to grant former presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the presidency and makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to the Constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law. It is worth recalling that the ruling was the last of the term and it came over two months after the court heard arguments, and dragged on far longer than in other epic high court cases involving the presidency, which includes the infamous Watergate tapes case, pertaining to the Nixon administration.

The developments that are transpiring in the run-up to the US presidential elections this November contain all the ingredients necessary for not just a political potboiler, but a full-fledged OTT release, inspired by the likes of House of Cards. The only difference this time around is that the proceedings are veering towards self-parody and satire. Take for instance, president Joe Biden’s admission that he almost fell asleep on stage and was not smart enough to handle his schedule before the first presidential debate with Trump. Biden placed the blame for his disastrous performance, which included giving halting and nonsensical answers and occasionally trailing off, at the altar of his extensive foreign travels preceding the event.

Damage control measures are flying fast in the Biden camp as the White House said the president will meet with congressional leaders and Democratic governors, sit for a TV interview and hold a press meet shortly. The outreach is designed to push back against growing pressure for Biden to step aside in the 2024 race. Unfortunately, several Democratic leaders have indicated that they were not buying White House attempts to brush off Biden’s performance.

This spells bad news for the Democrats, because the entire focus of the debate has turned to Biden’s gaffes, while his opponent dished out a performance that was riddled with falsehoods about the Capitol riot, the Democrats’ perspectives on abortion rights and a 2017 neo-Nazi rally attended by Trump, which he deemed as populated by ‘some very bad people, and some very fine people on both sides.’ Did someone say sociopath?