After writing a long history of the United States, historian Jill Lepore thought it was time to make a plea for a new Americanism, writes Karel Peters. “Many of her desires are available with Joe Biden.“
The result of changing the guard in America will be that we will not be exposed to gas anymore with the news of Donald Trump every day. We hardly realized it (it just happened), but Trump news simply pushed any other news about America. America has shrunk into a doll: It only consisted of the White House and its immediate surroundings.
If anything else, it was an excerpt from a late-night parody show in which Trump was spoiled. That the country has museums, concert halls, operas, cinemas, writers and painters: they were nowhere to be seen. You wouldn’t say there is still a cultural life in America at all.
The American citizen has become mostly men related to Trump, partly in uniform, wearing T-shirts with Trump texts on it, and in leather jackets with lots of stickers, chains, belts, Trump hats and floppy jeans. Hanging down their bottoms …
