Donald Trump: The road of political correctness

As a Nigerian of single citizenship I hardly take more than a pressing interest in the national elections of other countries. But the United States of America 2016 presidential election has bucked that trend. One of the two principal candidates for the White House compels a sustained attention. Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee is a presidential candidate like no other in living memory. He is completely unorthodox, for want of a better term.

The story of his unusual odyssey through the Republican Party’s primary election is of book length. An “outsider” who started the primary race as a certain also-ran ended up the inevitable winner; even with the entire Republican Party machine covertly and overtly working to stop him. What was more, he won in a land slide: over 14 million votes; the highest number for any Republican presidential Candidate in history. He defied the polls. Over two million more Americans watched Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at his party’s convention. No doubt, something about the tough-talking and hard-hitting candidate is worthy of concentrated attention.

In a season of body-language it is reasonable to surmise that an anti-Trump coalition of sorts now exists between the Republican and the Democratic parties. In their robust campaign to stop Donald Trump, the Democratic Party would seem to have borrowed a leaf from the Republican establishment: “Donald Trump is unfit to be president because he is politically incorrect,” leading Democrats now loquaciously aver. They point to Trump’s matter-of-factly, if blunt, manner of commenting on issues, as their reason.

All too typical of an unorthodox personality, the Republican candidate has uttered very unusual statements on the U.S. leadership role in the world in general, U.S. foreign relations in particular, military, national security, international agreements/memberships, immigration policies; nuclear armaments; globalisation and sundry other matters. So far in his campaign, Donald Trump has not employed the usual political sophistry of economic truths in baring his mind on any of those issues. This is to be expected of an “outsider;” those wondering why the candidate should so hold forth err: the answer is in the question.

The spectacle of an accomplished manager of men and materials is different from that of professional politicians. That is why a Donald Trump cannot mince words when he speaks about the need to drastically review his country’s immigration policy to check the current seeming influx of undesirable persons who seek to harm the U.S. economy and people. Just as he sees no wrong in telling the American people that the U.S. military has been needlessly stretched to the point of weakness; its activities should be rationalised to make it compact and great again, says Donald Trump.

He also proposes to rethink U.S. manufacturing sub-sector to bring back relocated plants, and thereby make U.S. again compete favourably with the world. He accuses China of unscrupulous currency manipulations. He says he couldn’t justify denying other countries the right to acquire nuclear capability when U.S. has an inexhaustible stockpile of it. Taking a broadside at the Obama presidency, Donald Trump says U.S. standing in the world has been unacceptably compromised in equal measure both by executive incapacity and double standard; and the list goes on.

Quite frankly, virtually everything he has said thus far is essentially correct, though some could do with a little modification. But American collective establishment would not brook any of it; such unrestrained self-reproach by a seeker of public office verges on treason. A politician worthy of the name should be well-heeled in political decorum, the all-knowing establishment insists. One is then led to ask the question: How well has political expediency served mankind? Not very well, is the obvious answer. For all we know, political correctness may well constitute a greater part of the myriad of challenges plaguing the harmonious growth of humanity.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a two-part piece in this newspaper, in which I illustrated how the undue observance of political finesse had inexorably led from World War I to World War II. Political correctness also it was that compelled the sitting Democratic government in the U.S. to, against all healthy reasons, legalise same-sex marriage. In appending his signature to that most ill-advised bill, President Obama lost much of his moral voice.

Over 12 months after, he hasn’t been able to issue any of his usual witty retorts to President Robert Mugabe’s marriage proposal! In like manner, an otherwise very likeable ex-British prime minister lost his resounding eloquence on the altar of political correctness on account of the infamous Gulf War. Needless to state that these instances abound in history. Centuries of political correctness as a euphemism for tainted-truths have effectively altered the nature of God’s Magnum Opus. God’s ultimate creation was conceived and created in truth; human beings are therefore expected to function in an atmosphere of unadulterated truth.

The ugly evidence of that “altered state” stares us in the face on a daily basis across the globe. In my opinion, therefore, the current existential challenges compel a universal adoption of the Pontius Pilate Model: Those who cannot endure the rigours of Truth should “wash their hands off” political power.
Nkemdiche, an engineering consultant, lives in Abuja.