If Americans Throw Trump At Us, By Owei Lakemfa

Posted by African Examiner Featured Contributors/Columnists, Latest Headlines Friday, March 11th, 2016

BALTIMORE, MD (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – I took Donald Trump for a joker when he declared his intention to run for the American Presidency. I assumed the Apprentice was bored making deals, and wanted time out to engage in publicity stunts. I thought he would spice up the Republican primaries, but that not even he, would take himself serious. In any case if he were to, I assumed the American populace would get tired of his antics, shove him aside and get on with the serious business of looking for a new president.

But I reflected on contemporary American politics; one in which the country sinks to some political or moral low, and then gets somebody to push it up. President Richard Nixon and his team in burgling the Watergate Offices of the Democratic National Committee and using the CIA, FBI and FIR to harass political opponents, were no different from the Mafia. Nixon had to resign. America needed a rebirth, and found that in Jimmy Carter, a gentleman who restored moral rectitude to the White House. But he was too much of a dove, and was quickly replaced by a war-mongering actor, Ronald Reagan. Reagan supported Apartheid in South Africa, illegally sold arms to Iran and used the money to fund the contra rebels in Nicaragua. He also mined Nicaraguan civilian seaports in acts of brazen terrorism. He saw the end of the Socialist bloc and was replaced by George Herbert Bush Snr who continued his war mongering. But Americans had gotten tired and they replaced him with Bill Clinton who went out to win friends for the US.

Clinton was replaced by George Walker Bush Jnr who returned America fully to war path and it became risky to carry the American passport abroad. After hitting rock bottom, politically, morally and economically, Barack Obama surfaced to rescue America. So is America not capable of another descent by picking a Trump?

Rather than exit, Trump has seen off candidates like Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina. Ben Carson has thrown in the towel and sure-bet, Jeb Bush has crashed out of the race. The rampaging Trump has only three aspirants left between him and taking the Republican ticket in Cleveland, Ohio next July. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas who may lose steam as the big primaries of Florida and Ohio hold on Tuesday March 15, Senator Marc Rubio who has a chance in his native Florida, but not much else, and Ohio Governor John Richard Kasich who talks down on people. The Predictwise polls has Trump at 68%, Cruz at 16%, Kasich at 8% and Rubio at 6%.

It appears that the focus of the Republican Party today, is not about winning the presidential elections, but how to stop Trump becoming its candidate. Even if the remaining Republican aspirants; Cruz, Kasich and Rubio unite, they would be unable to stop Trump; it is like the spider trying to stop the elephant plunging into the river. He can only be stopped if he fails to get the 1,237 delegates mark and subsequently, the open convention does not adopt him.

In many instances, I was entertained by Trump. He claimed that his campaign slogan ‘Make America great again’ was his invention, when in truth, that was the 1980 Reagan campaign slogan. He says of Senator John McCain “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren’t captured”

He said fellow Republican “Jeb Bush likes illegals because of his wife,”referring to Bush’s Mexican-American wife. And insulted Democratic front runner: “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?”

If Trump had stopped at these childish ranting, I will not be apprehensive; but he threatens to turn both America and the world upside down. He is unapologetically racist threatening to expel 11.4 million undocumented immigrants. He issued fake statistics on crime rates for blacks, and his source? The ‘Crime Statistics Bureau-San Francisco, a non-existent body!

He said of American neigbour “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people”

He has tried to provoke an international religious war by virtually labeling the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world as terrorists: “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem (terrorism) and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life” He proposed a database to track Muslims in the US and a “total and complete shutdown on Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on” Trump portrays Africans and their leaders as crooks. He singles out Nigerians as a people to be expelled.

When close American ally, Britain winced at the remarks on Muslims, and some 450,000 Britons signed a petition to bar him entering the country, Trump responded “The United Kingdom is trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem. Everybody is wise to what is happening, very sad! Be honest.”

United States under Bush Jnr had become notorious for exporting torture. Trump promises that if he were elected, humanity will witness a worse nightmare “In the Middle East, we have people chopping the heads off Christians, we have people chopping the heads off many other people. — not since medieval times have people seen what’s going on. I would bring back waterboarding and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than water boarding.” The mouthy Trump who needs the media, proclaims ” The media is amongst the worst people I’ve ever met…They write lies, they write false stories. They know they are false”

A Trump candidacy should give Hilary Clinton an easy ride to the White House; but the electorate may have a surprise. Electing him would be like handing over the White House to the Ku Klus Klan. Ordinarily, Trump should be an American reject, but if the US throws him at the world; it must be ready for a reject.