The world shuddered and held its breath – and there was eventually a landslide victory of Lyndon Johnson.
So far, so good. Several GOP presidents have come and gone since then, more or less “hawks”, more or less conservative and egoist-individualist in their thinking, more or less successful in the field of foreign politics. Some of them, such as Bush father & son, boasted of being “reborn Christians”. Whatever that might mean, it surely is a not entirely negligible parameter in the making of American politics. Others, like Ronald Reagan, took a more pragmatical stand on that particular issue.
What we see in the present American presidential campaign, however, is completely unprecedented. In its entirety it is something never heard of before, since it means a real threat to the nation of deliberately putting itself under an outright fascist rule.
And, frankly, irrespective of what will be the outcome (of what is anyway not the nicest presidential election the US has had in terms of candidates available), the mere fact that Donald Trump stands as the official GOP presidential candidate implies a political, moral and spiritual shipwreck to the entire nation. The low-water mark of the country's public political life has probably never been deeper.
So the harm is already done. Whatever happens in the months ahead, the US will sorely need a period of serious self-reflection.
No, the US does not have to turn to Europe for advice. A trip northward instead, to Canada, would be very useful.