For the longest time, I thought the American obsession with finding evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump team was simply a way to obviate focus from the much more pressing and real concern – that vast swathes of a supposedly forward-thinking country could support a known racist and sexist, with fascist tendencies. It's simply easier to believe that the population was duped, rather than accepting the possibility that a good proportion of it might be morally appalling.
There were interesting corollaries to the (clearly evident) claims: if Russia did intervene in the election via targeted social media, then social media is clearly a corruptible tool that damages people's abilities to think rationally. Secondly, if there was a proliferation of fake news, then that shows the very heightened and intense nature of 'real news' – basically anything you say could in theory, be true. Finally, if there was a conspiracy between the Trump team and Russia, then it just goes to show, power, money and politics are the best of friends, regardless of the constellation, national, international, conspiratorial or otherwise.
However, Michael Flynn, the former Trump senior advisor has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and it is now suggested he is willing to testify against top Trump team members. Trump himself later seemed to incriminate himself in a tweet, claiming that he knew about Flynn's lies; thereby, potentially demonstrating that he obstructed justice. Finally, in a bizarre twist, John Dowd (a Trump lawyer) claimed to have written the tweet, which is both very foolish and very fake news. Indeed, if a lawyer admits to have written something that incriminates his client – then that lawyer certainly needs a career rethink.
So it seems like we are witnessing the beginning of Trump's unravelling. It may not be clear that he will be impeached or anything remotely so severe, but it is certainly the beginnings of legal action against his team. Maybe one of his senior aides will go. At any rate, it will tarnish his entire Presidency – one that was birthed in aggression, hatred and illegality. And how beautiful that it might all begin to unravel thanks to a tweet.
Image: CNN