The on-going presidential primaries of both the Republicans and the Democrats in the race for the party nomination for the American presidential poll coming up in November are getting more and more interesting. Like millions around the world I have been following with keen interest the evolution of the rigorous process from one State to another, one ‘Super Tuesday’ to another. It is safe to say now that the front-runners are Mrs Hillary Clinton for the Democrats and Donald Trump for the Republicans. To state that the billionaire business mogul is highly controversial is saying the obvious. He is non-conventional and non-conformist! He is not the normal professional politician. He is fabulously rich but characteristically nasty and hubristic! His campaign thus far has been marked by one controversy or the other. And he seems to enjoy the drama, the popularity, the victories, the jabs following his every step but he is winning and barring any last-minute miracle (by God or devil) he is set to be the flagbearer of the Republicans in the November election.
Basking in the mindless splendour his billions can afford him Donald Trump is suffering from the delusion of grandeur; in pursuit of his depraved political goal (reaching the White House in Washington DC) Trump is firing from all cylinders courting controversy and soaking it in with little or no regard. A big man with stupendous financial resources at his disposal, a polarizing figure without any redeeming value Trump comes around as a man on a mission impossible. Perhaps he is intent on proving a point: that in Uncle Sam unlike the late MKO Abiola’s Nigeria, a money-man can equally be entrusted with the supreme office — something which the electorates in Benin Republic made possible by recently electing the richest businessman there, Patrice Talon, as their President!
First, Donald Trump sent shock waves across the world when he declared that under his leadership of the Free World muslims would be barred from entering the United States — for being muslims and presumed ‘terrorists’! That is very wrong, a policy somersault! Good enough both statesmen and laymen had risen in condemnation of such misguided stereotype and faith profiling. America boasts of a strong vibrant patriotic muslim community. And not ALL muslims are terrorists! The terrorists are in the minority and they have been denounced by the true followers of Prophet Mohammed all around the world. So the absurd generalisation holds no water.
Again he said upon his rise to power he would deport blacks in America whom he accused of perpetrating crimes and causing economic problems. But there are millions of good black ambassadors in the US doing great things in pursuit of the American dream! Repatriating them would cause health crisis in the States given the positive contribution of Nigerian doctors and nurses in the health sector and other sectors. The immigrant population in the US is not only staggering but tells a remarkable story of America’s greatness; her openness and accommodation of foreign values and cultures. No society elsewhere has such large concentration of foreigners on its soil! It is indeed a blessing in disguise, a demonstration of the force of brotherhood!
Trump also said he would build a great wall in the Mexican border with the US to prevent Mexicans from illegally coming to America. He accused the poor Mexicans of drug-related offenses, rape and economic crimes. His comments must have alienated voters of Hispanic and African origins. That is why today his campaign is facing some daunting security challenges as opposition mounts from the targetted immigrants who see him as an enemy worth combating now before it is too late. There were Mexicans and Africans in the US even before Trump was born, so questioning what has come to stay is tantamount to playing Hitler or Mussolini!
Recently he declared that the first priority of his presidency (God forbid!) is to “dismantle” the nuclear deal the Obama administration reached with Iran dismissing same as a bad deal unworthy of honouring. While some stakeholders including Israel and Saudi Arabia had fiercely opposed the nuke accord with Iran (given the Iranian distrust and acts of war-mongering) it is instructive to note that it remains till this day the easy way out to avoid war. It is always better to jaw-jaw than to war-war! Like the re-establishment of diplomatic ties with Cuba (after decades of cold war) the Obama presidency will be vindicated by history and posterity. It is not only through war that a great leader is known or distinguished. Obama is not the hawkish type and his style has paid dividends in a world daily traumatised by the rising terrorist attacks and threats.
A hard look at Donald Trump reveals a stranger to most of what would generally be considered the Christian virtues: humility, mercy, compassion and grace. His foul-mouthed campaigns had drawn the ire of even the Catholic Pontiff who made it clear in one of his speeches during a foreign tour that whoever propounded the theory of walls instead of bridges cannot claim to be a good Christian. Yes, the politics of bridges would always prevail over those of walls!
Earlier this month The 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, sarcastically denounced Trump as a phony and a fraud, and as morally unfit to lead America. Hear him: “Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud….His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing members of the American public for suckers… He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat…..dishonesty is Donald Trump’s hallmark”. He went on pointing to his “bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics.” Mitt gave the scathing speech at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics Forum. A blunt and apt censure indeed!
But Trump had fired back albeit indefensibly mocking Romney and saying he was pleading for his endorsement in 2012 to the point of kneeling before him in supplication! That is absolute balderdash! Just after the sharp widely-publicised rebuke by “Romnesia” (apology to the present occupant of ‘Maison Blanche’, the good husband of Michelle) Senator John McCain, a former failed Republican presidential aspirant, had risen against the good old Donald in defense of America’s centuries-old tradition of social solidarity, fraternity and freedom of movement. Mr Trump had said that McCain was not a war hero yet he failed to say what heroism he himself could be associated with — except perhaps by cutting economic corners and swindling the system to be super-rich. Trump is said to have married and re-married more than once, so his misogynism is beyond debate!
The kite of xenophobia, hate, division, misogynism and aggression being dangerously flown by Trump cannot fly because we are living in the new digital age of possibilities and opportunities. It is, therefore, bound to fail in November in the event of him getting the official presidential nomination. The United States can be greater, of course, without the Trump card! America(ns) cannot settle for such myopic and infantile politics! They deserve the best and merit same!
Trump, much like Mitt Romney before him, is a bad presidential material for the Republicans. He will definitely not make a good or great President! He is not a core politician and his impetuosity and diplomatic naivety is a big minus towards the race for the White House. America is too great a country, too sophisticated a heterogeneous society to want to embrace or accommodate the trumpet of Armageddon being recklessly blown by Donald Trump.
NB: (May the ultimate sacrifice at Golgotha and the Crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ, make us better men and women. Happy Easter holidays to every wo(men) of goodwill! Peace and love to the world!)
