Three men are involved in conflicts that affect the whole world – Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump.  They look to me to have one thing in common – a contempt for humanity, or at least some parts of it.  It is impossible to believe that any of them accepts what Kant said – that every human being has his or her worth or dignity, which derives merely from the fact that each of us is human – and not some animal.  Each of them is happy to treat humans they regard as different as being inferior.

Russia began a brutal war against Ukraine.  This is not the first act of Russian aggression here, and Russia has defaulted on previous attempts to bring peace.  Putin denies that Ukraine exists as a distinct national entity.

Those who claim to be in charge of Gaza (Hamas) launched a brutal attack on Israel.  Gaza has a long and painful history – as does the whole of the Holy Land going back to prehistory.  Hamas wants to destroy the state of Israel.  Israel stands in the way of Gaza acquiring statehood.

In the course of its attack on Israel, Hamas took hostages – about 250, I think.  In the course of its war against Ukraine, Russia has forcibly kidnapped children – a war crime perpetrated by the Nazis.  (Bear in mind that Russia refuses to acknowledge that there is a war.)  Estimates of the number of childhood victims vary – but there is no doubt that thousands have been taken, up to say, 20,000. 

There is inevitably something heartless about this exercise in statistics about the denial of human worth.  That dedicated mass murderer called Stalin knew this.  The death of one person is a tragedy.  The death of a million is a statistic.  Shakespeare of course had seen this.

I am in blood
Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er.  (Macbeth) 3.4.142–144)

(When his wife chided him, Macbeth replied: ‘We are but young in deed.’  Murdering, it would seem, is like making millions – it gets easier as you go.)

We here in Australia stand outside these calamities.  The discussion of the Gaza war is here coloured by the fact that we have here people who identify with either side – it is difficult to imagine any Australian taking the side of Russia.  Or wanting to have anything to do with a nation perpetrating war crimes like those of Hitler and the Nazis.  What decent human being would want to do anything like that?  And we are speaking of a war crime predicated on race, or perhaps worse, caste.

And here it looks like we are all complicit in a denial of the principle of humanity.  International news programs are full of live accounts of the return of hostages in Gaza staged in a manner that is as bizarre as it is brutal.  But we do not hear that much about the deaths of people in either war, and we get next to nothing about the fate of thousands of children who have been kidnapped.

Put the numbers to one side.  Let’s say that there are only 250 children kidnapped.  (Does not the word ‘only’ chill the blood?)  No, let’s say just a dozen, or even a pair, or just one child is involved.  Would the conversation be the same if that one child was a citizen of the US or Israel?

Of course not – and we are all complicit in this denial of universal humanity.  We should be ashamed of ourselves, but the whole history of the world is full of stories of otherwise decent people just lying down before dictators.

That brings me to that recent dreadful scene in the White House.  There was obviously no time to refer to the fate of children there.  It is hard to know what is worse – the conduct of those at the time, or the nonsense offered by sycophants later.

We might look at three words.  Lindsey Graham, the archetypal poodle, said Zelensky should not have taken the ‘bait’.  A bait is something you offer to someone to induce them to act to their detriment.  Why would people negotiating in good faith want to do that to Zelensky?  Well, they were just there to complete a shakedown of a man and a nation on their knees.  They were making an offer they thought Zelensky could not refuse.  I cannot recall any public international conduct as disgraceful as that.  It makes me feel sick.

Many say Vance led the attack.  But Trump commented on the attire of Zelensky immediately he arrived, and one of his goons from the press he favours began the press conference by asking Zelensky why he was not wearing a suit. 

Here again is one of those moments from the Marx Brothers.  The goon said many Americans thought Zelensky showed a lack of respect in turning up like that.  Trump was not surprised by the question and looked mildly quizzical about the answer.  The offended Americans don’t spend most nights in a bomb shelter.  And the goon looks like a drunk out of luck whose idea of decorum is to wear tan sneakers under a suit of the revolting blue favoured by Trump, a man notorious for his lack of taste.  And then of course there is his mate Elon, who turns up at the Oval Office with a silly hat on his head, and a child on his shoulders.  Groucho Marx may have looked cross-eyed at the whole lot of them.

Then there is the issue of ‘respect’.  Some Americans have actually asked Zelensky to apologise for his lack of respect.  According to my Compact OED above this desk, the two primary meanings of that term are ‘a feeling of admiration for someone or something because of their qualities or achievements’ and ‘consideration for the feelings or rights of others.’  You can decide who showed a lack of respect to whom in either sense.  Even at Fox News, does anyone outside the boondocks respect either Trump or Vance?

Finally, Vance, who had once compared his leader to Hitler, deployed his zeal as a convert to bad mouth previous presidents of the U S.  That is appalling misconduct in public, and Vance has never been to the Ukraine – he prefers his laptop.  In his gushing premeditated arrogance, Vance decided to offer his guest a patronising lecture on diplomacy.  According to the same dictionary, ‘diplomacy’ means ‘the profession, activity or skill of managing international relations’ or ‘skill and tact in dealing with people.’  Vance and his boss know nothing of either.  It is impossible to imagine a greater failure of diplomacy.

So, putting to one side the contribution of US armaments to the rubble in Gaza, a one-time New York property developer, now an illiterate convict and the President of the United States, wants to drive out the residents of Gaza and engage in a property development, and then extract wealth from the Ukraine when it has been brought to its knees by his mate and fellow victim of a witch hunt, Vladimir Putin. 

And then, like Richard III, he can say ‘I am myself alone.’ 

And the people of America would be advised to stay home.  They have not a friend in the world.

These were some reflections when in horror yesterday I wrote the following.

Two things seem clear enough.

1. Trump is aligned with Putin and if necessary will drop Ukraine and NATO.  Either Putin has something over Trump, or they have a common view on the world order.  We are looking at a Trump/Putin axis.
2. Neither we nor anyone else can ever take the US at its word again.  Trump has the morals of a Mafia don and the US has lost all respect and trust.

We kept saying all this the first time Trump was President, but it is hard to see the U S sinking any lower. 

And the whole nation will have to accept full political responsibility – something they have not been good at since the Puritans arrived and set about cleansing the land of the Indians.  And then offering thanks to their God.  Then they bought slaves.  Then they lied about that in their Declaration. Then the losers in the Civil War did not accept the judgment.  They have not cleared themselves of the stain of slavery.  But then they behaved heroically by rebuilding world order after Hiroshima.  But they have not won a war since.

Now, worst of all, the old Uncle Sam is back in all his arrogance – and, in the full sense of that term, with a ‘vengeance.’

Only someone with an intellect as tortured as that of Vance could think that any of his position is compatible with the teaching of the Jewish Hasid who said we should suffer the little children to come unto him.