Donald
Trump, the President-elect of the United States. I mean who would’ve thunk?
During the
final weeks of the US presidential elections, I had this idea of posting one
tweet a day on why anyone would legitimately vote for Donald Trump on November
9th. Over a span of several days, I came up with and jotted down a number ideas
for tweets.
Some of these early concept tweets were intended to be poking fun at anyone who would be crazy enough to support da Trump, while other tweets were meant to be more serious efforts at bridging the divide and accounting for the fact that some well-adjusted, intellectual people – otherwise known as unicorns – were inevitably going to be supporting this asshole of a man (I’ll tweet him my apology on inauguration day).
Some of these early concept tweets were intended to be poking fun at anyone who would be crazy enough to support da Trump, while other tweets were meant to be more serious efforts at bridging the divide and accounting for the fact that some well-adjusted, intellectual people – otherwise known as unicorns – were inevitably going to be supporting this asshole of a man (I’ll tweet him my apology on inauguration day).
Some Praise... I guess.
So anyone who’s on my twitter will know that I never actually went through with that plan and there’s a good reason why. The original idea was: there must be so few legitimate reasons for anyone to vote or support da Trump that I could probably find and list ALL possibilities while still having them number less than the number of days remaining before Election Day – when burned through at rate of one tweet a day. But quickly I found myself in a position where there were more valid reasons for supporting Trump than I had initially anticipated. With the realisation that I wasn’t going to be thorough or exhaustive enough with the exercise in time for Election Day, I shelved the plan.
So anyone who’s on my twitter will know that I never actually went through with that plan and there’s a good reason why. The original idea was: there must be so few legitimate reasons for anyone to vote or support da Trump that I could probably find and list ALL possibilities while still having them number less than the number of days remaining before Election Day – when burned through at rate of one tweet a day. But quickly I found myself in a position where there were more valid reasons for supporting Trump than I had initially anticipated. With the realisation that I wasn’t going to be thorough or exhaustive enough with the exercise in time for Election Day, I shelved the plan.
Some more praise... I guess.
If that
resembles some kind of praise for the President-Elect then consider that it may
well be so; especially when viewed from a certain angle, under proper lighting,
and at very particular atmospheric conditions. And there is more of that halfhearted
praise where it came from too. For instance, on the toxically left leaning and racist-against-white-male
discussion forum, Neogaf.com, there was a discussion going on about whether it would
be preferable to have a random US citizen become President over Trump. Needless
to say, I was firmly, and I mean FIRMLY in the camp of Trump - as were my two very
close friends I asked (one of them a Muslim). But not so much prudence on display at that
toxic discussion forum however, as many lefties believe that Trump is as
bad as it can ever get, in the process conveniently forgetting about the
millions of people who idolize this demagogue-elect, while also ignoring those
who despise him not for any rational reason but because they
despise the politics of the right no matter who is in charge or how moderate Trump actually is.
To
understand my overall message on this Election, I have to carefully curate the
angle at which I introduce the highly delicate point I’m trying to make. So let me try the following oddball approach.
Crystal Ball
Our story
begins the day after the US presidential elections when Donald Trump has been
elected the President of the United States (POTUS). The twist here is that the
year is 2020 and not 2016, where Donald Trump has not been elected but rather re-elected
to serve out the 2nd term of his presidency. Yes, I come from the future, and
there’s more I can tell you about Trump’s first term as POTUS.
I can tell
you that as expected, in his first 4 years as president, Donald Trump did roll
back some civilizational advances but on the flip side, US economic activity
blossomed on the back of low taxes and reduced regulation. Unemployment is
down, military spending is up, and illegal immigration has been brought under control.
So good has he been for the US, that his re-election was won by a landslide!
Now to
understand the strength of my protest and the scale of my disapproval of Trump’s
victory, you have to understand that even with a successful Trump presidency
like the unlikely scenario portrayed above, I wouldn’t consider it appropriate for those
who supported/voted for him to feel vindicated or to consider themselves off-the-hook
from future criticisms. Because simply put, with the knowledge and information
that we had in 2016; the risks of a Trump presidency always outweighed
the risks of a Hillary presidency. At that moment in time and with all
things considered, voting for him was the worse option. The only silver lining is that if he succeeds, then those who voted for him will not carry the blame of voting for a terrible candidate who may in all likelihood end up weakening the country he was tasked to make great.
Gloves Off
With Donald Trump, the risks always outweighed the benefit because he is a showman, a tax cheat, a pathological liar, and braggadocious adulterer (I count married men kissing and grabbing married women by the pussy as adultery in spirit) – all of this true even before his political career has begun – and most crucially of all, he is running for a job in politics which he lacks any experience in and is not knowledgeable about. Some call it the post-fact world, I’ll call it the world of idiocy.
With Donald Trump, the risks always outweighed the benefit because he is a showman, a tax cheat, a pathological liar, and braggadocious adulterer (I count married men kissing and grabbing married women by the pussy as adultery in spirit) – all of this true even before his political career has begun – and most crucially of all, he is running for a job in politics which he lacks any experience in and is not knowledgeable about. Some call it the post-fact world, I’ll call it the world of idiocy.
Fig.1: Claims
ranging from outright truth to outright lies by candidate.
But whatever anyone wants to call it, I want to be clear. I want
Trump to succeed because I don’t want to live through 4 years of US failures,
instability and failed foreign policy just to feel vindicated. And I will judge
him fairly and with much respect come 2020 Election Day. For context, I’m not
ideologically opposed to Donald Trump and can see eye to eye with many of “his”
policies.
Pesky Matter of Family or Friends
So what's my policy when it comes to dealing with family who are active and unrepentant supporters of Trump? Well, the most obvious thing is, if you're not an American family member then you're going to be put into a category called the basket of deplorables. Now that doesn't mean that I don't love you but it means that relations will likely be frozen until further notice, especially when I have the power to do so. Meanwhile, previously warm friendships, especially those that are less than 5 years old are at a very high risk of being discarded.
These divisive and extraordinary measures are necessary to emphasise that in the case of Donald Trump, ideological disagreements on policy don't even matter. Instead, it's all about the need for a high-quality personalities, accountability, predictability, trustworthiness and the respect for the sanctity of a discussion, which Trump categorically showed no regards for - especially in the 3rd and final debate.
Another reason for these extraordinary measures is to highlight the strength of my protest rather than just use words and say "I am super unhappy. No, seriously I am! Trust me".
Final Thoughts
As far as I'm concerned Donald Trump's slate is wiped clean now and I am open to seeing him in a positive light in the future, particularly should his work be any good. I accept that he is the new de facto president of our planet and I hope he comes through with his promise of making American great again.
Let foreign policy lie where it may.
So what's my policy when it comes to dealing with family who are active and unrepentant supporters of Trump? Well, the most obvious thing is, if you're not an American family member then you're going to be put into a category called the basket of deplorables. Now that doesn't mean that I don't love you but it means that relations will likely be frozen until further notice, especially when I have the power to do so. Meanwhile, previously warm friendships, especially those that are less than 5 years old are at a very high risk of being discarded.
These divisive and extraordinary measures are necessary to emphasise that in the case of Donald Trump, ideological disagreements on policy don't even matter. Instead, it's all about the need for a high-quality personalities, accountability, predictability, trustworthiness and the respect for the sanctity of a discussion, which Trump categorically showed no regards for - especially in the 3rd and final debate.
Another reason for these extraordinary measures is to highlight the strength of my protest rather than just use words and say "I am super unhappy. No, seriously I am! Trust me".
Final Thoughts
As far as I'm concerned Donald Trump's slate is wiped clean now and I am open to seeing him in a positive light in the future, particularly should his work be any good. I accept that he is the new de facto president of our planet and I hope he comes through with his promise of making American great again.
Let foreign policy lie where it may.
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