America’s presidential election and matters miscellaneous (2)

The head-scratching in the Democratic Party is naturally morphing into a blame game. And that’s always the case. Nancy Pelosi said president Biden did not opt out of the race early enough to allow Kamala adequate time to showcase herself to America. Others said she did not distance herself from Mr Biden and therefore inherited Biden’s incumbency baggage.

But would Biden’s presidency be adjudged a failure? Many will disagree. And very seriously. This distancing from the incumbent is in itself a double edged sword. It could swing either way. Let the reader recall the 2000 election when Al Gore, made a clean cut from his principal, Bill Clinton, not wanting to be tainted by the grizzly Monica affair.

Al Gore lost the election and they blamed him for turning his back on Mr Clinton, who up to his last day in office, remained a darling of the American public, Monica or no Monica. Elections can be strange and it’s outcome more so.

But let’s get back to Mr Trump. The big question is, what will Donald Trump do with these vast powers he stands to inherent from January 20th, next year? Is it the power to recreate America in his image? Will he use these powers to build a kinder America and a more peaceful and gentler world, in line with the philosophy of George Bush, Snr, (the gentleman president).

Or will he make good his promise to go after his political enemies? Will he carry out his threat to arrest Nancy Pelosi and send assasins after Liz Cheney? Is it the power to implement the “Vision 2025”, a document that reads very much like Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf?” Simply put, is it the power to denigrate or integrate? The world is holding its breath.

The victory of Donald Trump has caused ripples around the world. In Europe, Middle East Asia and the Pacific region, leaders are scrambling to unravel what lies ahead and to design a template on how to contain the fallouts that are bound to follow. Many questions are being asked, for which there are no answers yet.

What will be the future of NATO? What happens to the WTO and free trade? Is it the end of the road for globalisation? Is America going back to the era of protectionism and isolationism? Does making America great again entail the abandonment of power and America’s leadership of the free world in pursuit of an America-first policy?

Will Donald Trump do to Ukraine what Nerville Chamberlain did to Austria and Czechkoslovakia in 1938? Will he give Israel the necessary backing to put a stop to Iran’s destabilising antics, or will he exhibit the same timidity that boldens Iran. Will he stand up and push back the deluge of aggressive religious fundamentalism threatening to engulf the western hemisphere?

If Beijing decides to break the status quo arrangement which existed since 1949 and move against Taiwan, how will Washington respond? As the 21st Century gets underway, it has become apparent that China portends the greatest danger to America than any other country in the world. China is on a race to catch up with the U.S. and perhaps overtake it.

And China has enough discipline and control to go very far. China also has the resources and tenacity to sustain the struggle. China has an eye on Taiwan and sooner, rather than later, it will make its move. President Xi wants to see this done in his lifetime and he wants history to remember him for that accomplishment.

Other matters of urgent interest include America’s disposition to the axis of tyranny and authoritarianism under president Trump. Mr Trump seems to love and admire the worst tyrants of the present age. These include president Xi (China), president Putin (Russia) even Kim Jun Un of North Korea, and others.

During his first tenure, he tried to cuddle them, but nothing came out of it. In the years he was out of power, he continued to relate with Putin. How is he going to relate with them now and how would this relationship impact America’s national interest and the rest of the world?

Personal relationship between leaders, irrespective of ideological leanings, are not unusual, because it could enhance co-operation and bring temperatures down. But in his book “Real Peace”, Richard Nixon warned of the dangers of disillusionment when personal relationships are unable to transcend government to government relationships. And don’t forget, Vladimir Putin is far smarter than Donald Trump.

These and many more are the issues the world is grappling with in the aftermath of Trump’s massive victory on November 5.

But here in Africa, particularly Nigeria, we are only concerned with Trump’s apparent religiosity, his love of Christian precepts and his promise to bring America and possibly the world back to Jesus Christ and solid Christian foundations.

This is laughable nonsense. It shows our small thinking and our backwardness. It brings to light the frivolities we dissipate our energies on while the world is dealing with serious matters.

Donald Trump is an agnostic but he will kneel down at an altar, or anywhere, fein religious piety and carry the Bible if it serves his political purposes. Trump will rage against LGBTs and pro-abortion groups and other outrageous excesses that cobwebs American life only if it will fetch him more votes. Otherwise, he just doesn’t care.

Donald Trump never goes to church and he doesn’t read the Bible. For those who may care to look at the records, or summon the strength to sort out the facts from innuendos and fake piety, those records will reveal that Donald Trump is the most unChristian inhabitant of the White House since 1800.

The Christian right that support Trump in the U.S. base their faith on the well established notion of white masters against freed slaves – their slaves, who in their unstated opinions, remain under the bondage of slavery. It is slavery by other means.

The Massa mentality never died. It merely went through a metamorphosis. For them, the kingdoms of the world belong to the White man. And so does the kingdom of heaven. ‘America first’ translates to ‘white first’. And ‘Make America Great Again’ translates to ‘make America white again.’ This is their mission. These facts are not often stated, but they are there.

Finally, I want to end this essay by reiterating the uniqueness and obtuseness of America. America is a very unusual country. Full of contradictions and consummations. There is no other country like America. Like John Bolton said a few days ago, “The world will miss us when we’re gone.” But the truth is, America is not going any time soon.

Granted that no kingdom lasts forever, but America will endure. Their enemies will tell how much America has declined, but America is still far ahead of its rivals. So, only America will elect a man like Donald Trump into the most powerful office on earth.

America would not have allowed this to happen anywhere else. If another country had elected a convicted felon, a fraudster, a con-man, a racist, a misogynist, a rapist, a self-acclaimed pussy grabber, a friend of Ku Klux Klan, a climate sceptic,  election denier, and COVID-19 denier, a twice impeached white supremacist, a coup baiter and a tax dodger, as president, America would have imposed sanctions on that country…

But America has done it and the world will live with it.

Concluded.

Professor Egbo is a Resource Person @ NILDS Abuja. He can be reached via:
08037910012. (WhatsApp only).