U.A.E :

The night before the U.S Elections:

Tuesday 7.00 p.m. U.A.E time: I am sitting at the dining table with my girls aged 12 and 14 and they are in a deep conversation about the U.S. elections. While the younger one is a strong Hillary supporter, the older one said she does not believe in expressing her opinion as it’s none of her concern. She says even if she was a citizen of the U.S.A, she would abstain from voting as it was like choosing between 2 people who were equally bad- one just had to decide who was less worse since all they had done during the campaign was put the other down. This opinion of course was based on teenage discussions at school…maybe a reflection of what really went wrong.

The day of the Elections:

Wednesday 7.00 a.m. : both girls glued to the Television. As I stroll in, in unison,  they scream out that Clinton and Trump are running neck to neck and that there is only a small difference between them. My older one looks crestfallen which was surprising since only last night she had said that she did not care. “Despite all those derogatory remarks he made about women and disabled , people are voting for him. There’s barely a difference in the number of votes” she said agitated. “It’s because of people like you who have an opinion and yet decide to abstain when you have a chance to express it. Each vote counts. People who abstain from voting have no right to complain“. One look at the girls that moment and I knew I had driven home a point. For a mom, that’s triumph enough- Trump or no Trump- they had learnt a life lesson!

Not expressing one’s opinion on a matter of concern, a matter that affects the community at large is akin to being on the wrong side.

After the Election results:

Wednesday 11 a.m.: Donald Trump is elected to be the next U.S. President- the 45th President of the United States of America, much to the chagrin of Hillary supporters. As expected, news channels were abuzz,traffic on What’s App and FB spiked.

I put up a message on FB filled with hope that the new President is the positive change that people need. At about the same time, a friend of mine  posted a message stating how depressing it was that Trump had won. 20 people liked my status on FB; 70 liked hers and expressed their sorrow and disdain over the result. A ratio of 1:3.

So what went wrong?

The debates 11 months ago, the polls, the newspapers, political pundits all showed the ratio 20:80 (20% in favor of Trump and 80% in favor of Hillary); yet Trump won!

I am no brain on politics and I do not wish to feign intelligence by writing a blog analyzing what went wrong.

However, as an individual of average intellect who started out in favor of Hillary and ended with being totally disillusioned through a period of 11 months,  saw 2 people  contending for the highest position of President of the greatest Superpower,   resorting to mud-slinging and teenage-like rivalry; every debate being reduced to blaming, finger-pointing, name-calling rather than policy changes, environmental policies, welfare programs for the public good and plans for the future.

Fortunately, it did not matter whether I was interested or not, for I am an onlooker with no right to vote.

But surveys show that 90 million people who had the right to cast a vote did not (as published on 10/11/16  By Daniel S. Levine)!

Surveys also show that Republican votes have remained the same over the past 3 elections. What changed was the Democrat votes- they halved!

My understanding is that instead of talking about how bad Trump is and that he should not have been elected, it’s important to understand why previous Democrat supporters did not come out to vote. Maybe Hillary wasn’t good enough or maybe Hillary supporters did not do enough when they had the chance to.

 

Accept the decision of a Democracy…Protesting now shows immaturity and is in bad taste

For all those who are not able to get over the fact that Trump has finally got elected despite his many off-the-cuff remarks which could be taken as a lack of diplomacy, a basic requirement for his position or plain arrogance which is far worse a fault than lack of tact, he has won in- spite of  the legal suit against him and all his so-called “locker-room” banters that are too disgusting to even listen to, forget digest; ask yourself if you did enough- did your silence, disinterest help the wrong man win? Then why moan now?

Trump is the Next President…Like it or Not!

Accept the results graciously and stop protesting and attacking people who casted their votes in favor of Trump. It’s a democracy and each person has the freedom and right to choose. While Trump was an unlikely candidate for victory, he won. Period. He was elected, which simply shows there were more people in America who wanted a change, who believed in him than they believed in the Clinton administration. He hid none of his whimsical behavior when he courted us during the last 12 months. Hopefully, going forward, that will end and he will show us his better side- the side that shows us how to change dreams to reality, how to fight tooth and nail to achieve one’s goal, a side that shows all Americans how to create the good life he carved for himself.

Read between the lines

1. The truth is the United States has never been a closed society. In fact the culture that is reflected in their movies (for those who are not part of that society), depicts a society that is not made of superficial values and does not glorify hypocrisy. So why so much hype when this man is just reflecting the same culture. The only difference being that some would resort to language used by him in the 4 walls of their bedrooms while he makes it openly, shamelessly. With regards to this though, there has been much improvement and his victory speech showed a move towards positive change.
2. While everybody is sick of the way Trump has spoken about women, this man  is the father of a smart woman- a woman whom he has given every opportunity to rise and shine and make a mark in this world. He is certainly better than a large population of self-righteous, smooth-talking men who have double standards when it comes to sons and daughters. I’d rather have someone who talks crap but does not come in the way of woman empowerment. The words he has used in the past are disgusting to say the least but it will not ruin the world as many in the past have done with their actions.

As America dissects the results of Tuesday’s election, one trend stands out: Tens of thousands of women — 53 percent of all white female voters, according to exit polls — chose Mr. Trump, playing a crucial role in his victory. Where those who voted against Mr. Trump saw someone who bankrupted businesses and ducked paying taxes, these women said they saw a man who built a real estate empire and simply followed the law. They saw a man who had raised and promoted a beautiful and successful daughter, Ivanka, and who let a smart and accomplished Washington strategist, Kellyanne Conway, manage his presidential campaign By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG  NOV. 10, 2016 3.

3. Trump’s been married 3 times and has a wife , now to be the First Lady, Melania Trump, who is 24 years younger than him- very unlike previous Presidents who depicted “family values” by ageing together. However, if one googles on his wives, this is what one will find- Ivana Trump, his first wife: When he married her, she was 28 and a model. He gave her the opportunity to lead the interior design of his company, lead the signature design of the Trump Tower and appointed her to head  the Trump Castle hotel and Casino . A man who does not think much of women would keep his wife as arm-candy and not support her to create an identity of her own. Her third marriage was hosted by Trump himself.  He was married for a short time to a T.V. host, Marla Maples and they parted ways peacefully.None of his ex-wives have spoken ill of him and they enjoy cordial relations.

4. Trump filed for bankruptcy thrice which allows him to evade tax for 18 years. Guess he’s smart. To be able to play with the rules and yet not be behind bars, that’s something. Maybe now as President, he could  advise the government how to get rid of loop-holes in tax policy and bring in more funds to the government kitty. That would certainly help him to keep his promise of helping the masses.

5. All this talk about immigrants- Trump’s mother was Scottish and father of German origin. His first wife, Ivana is of Czech origin and the current First Lady is originally from Slovenia. So, I’m sure that’ll die down soon enough. If he targets people creating a nuisance in the country, then that’s his job. After-all a President’s job is to safeguard the interest of his people first.

Move Forward and uphold the spirit of Democracy!

Hopefully as he takes the role of President, he is matured enough to understand the huge responsibility he shoulders, remember the promises made to the American public and is experienced and graceful enough to keep aside his whims for the betterment of a great nation.

In the interest of every American…

Trump must prove his critics and detractors wrong and must prove to be a successful President, a President that all Americans, undivided, can be truly proud of just like he proved everybody wrong by winning the elections.

It’s a democracy, so any decision taken henceforth cannot be blamed on Trump alone but the entire government, the opposition, the media and the public. Until then, we must hope for the best and we must wait and watch.

The Right Spirit to imbibe now…

Bernie Sanders has issued a statement about Trump’s win:

Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media.

People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids – all while the rich become very much richer.

To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him.

To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him.

Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright has been talking to the BBC Today programme about what happens now:

It is my hope that when he is given his full intelligence briefings and sits in the Oval Office and listens to people with foreign policy background, then he will understand that statements such as the ones that he made are dangerous for the United States; and that he will see that the world is not a zero-sum world and that we have to, and will need to, cooperate with others.

When America talked about America First before, it did not lead to the best results. And so my hope is that he is a smart man and that he will absorb the information when he sees it …

The main thing for the president of the United States is to remember that he is president of the United States and that our interests vis a vis what the Russians are doing are very important, and that our friends and allies in central and eastern Europe have been our friends and allies for a very, very long time.