9.11.2016

Donald Trump is the president elect of the United States of America

After counting most of the votes in most of the states, media reported that Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump and conceded. Trump gave a surprisingly mild and gloriously unifying winner's speech.


Trump expressed appreciation to Hillary Clinton's campaign and service to the United States. He delivered unifying messages:  "Now is time for america to bind the wounds of division...it is time for us to come together as one united people...I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president of all Americans...for those who have chosen not support me in the past... I am reaching out to you... so that we can work together and unify our great country ..."

He repeated promises of rebuilding the nation, supporting veterans... " ...the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer ... a project of growth and renewal ...we will ... take care of our great veterans... we will double our growth"

He expressed a message of peacefulness towards the world. "we will get along with all other nations willing to get along with us...we will deal fairly with everyone all people and all nations".

Trump thanked a lot of people, starting with his parents and family, and went through a lot of political allies and  activists (Some may find  possible hints in his choice of stressing some thanks over others. For example: what are the expected roles of Rudy Giuliani? Jeff SessionsChris ChristieBen CarsonMike Flynn? Reince Priebus?)

Trump's final promises:
  • "We will not let you down. "
  • "We will do a great job. "
  • "Our work is just beginning. "
What president elect Trump has not said, although he appeared to be highly aware of, was that now that the campaign ends. The real work begins. While his campaign succeeded using extreme tactics, his governance shall not succeed using similar means. Reviewing the points I chose to quote from his speech it is easy to see that the key for a successful presidency of Donald Trump lies in balance and moderation. Is he going to be able to make it?

So far, Trump has been portraied by the media as the anti-thesis of Theodore Roosevelt's "Big Stick" ideology (which summarizes in the quip "speak softly, and carry a big stick."). But truth is that we do not really know the man. Despite his quick and blunt twitters and statements, he has been able to manage a disciplined campaign, hold it all together, and cross the finish line first.

Now that this exhausting one year race is over, Trump is entering a longer race, one that includes great adversities. For freedom loving people, nothing would be better than having the world's greatest superpower becoming stronger while keeping its unique democracy intact. Can Trump navigate the ship Americana in the troublesome seas of early 21st century international politics and global economy? How shall he prevail against Chinese and Russian leaderships? How shall he confront the more complicated issues he promised to solve with a harsh hand ? Time will tell.

It is always more popular to foretell hardships and sorrow. But for now, it is advised that all shall remember what was written in this blog many months ago: Donald J. Trump is no joke. He was not playing around as a candidate. It is safe to assume that whatever ways his presidency unfolds, he shall be revealed as a hard working president. Let us hope and pray that his term in office shall be remembered as one of the greatest, and that his name shall be mentioned in the future with former great republican presidents, the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

7.11.2016

How the wisdom of science fiction could have helped me decide who to vote for in the united states elections

The U.S Elections are coming to their climax tomorrow.

And even this late in the race, it is still unclear which candidate is worse. Donald Trump is still a riddle. Douglas Adams' the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy comes to mind, with a similar puzzle regarding president of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox.
We are still learning to distinguish -
"between him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldn't be bothered to think and wanted someone else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didn't understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid."
Is it true, that Trump, just like Beeblebrox, prefers "people to be puzzled than rather be contemptuous"?

Unlike Trump, Hillary Clinton has never pretended to be stupid. It might be one of the most obvious differences between these two nominees. And yet, her image is tarnished in the eyes of many voters. Considering the gap in governmental experience between these two nominees, it can be said with confidence that more than Trump beating Clinton, these have been elections in which Clinton was constantly displaying an ongoing inability to become acceptable as a nominee in the eyes of a great part of the republican college of voters.

comparing the levels of loathing in both camps, it seems that despite Trump's horrible collection of blemishes, which may very well be an unprecedented record in U.S history of elections, Clinton is still the most loathed nominee to be campaigning for ages. Considering the fact that she is following the campaigns of Barack Obama, the first non-white U.S  president, this says something.

Facing with two nominees who are utterly unacceptable in the eyes of the other half of the nation, the U.S has a very difficult time ahead, whoever may win.

This may very well be a good time to take another bit of wisdom from Douglas Adams, this time from the Restaurant at the end of the universe:
"...one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem."

The solution proposed by the ingenious Science Fiction writer? the ruler must be someone who does not want to do it. Democracies have chosen a different path. But in times of great alienation within the nation, the difficulty of finding a unifying leader may be impossible to overcome. Think Abraham Lincoln. His election did not bring unity. It brought a civil war, because people opposing him knew what his election meant.

What does the election of Trump or Clinton mean to the other side of the political map?  Can either one of them find within oneself the great (and currently hidden) ability that shall be demanded to lead the U.S of A towards a unified future?

Of the two, Trump seems as the less probable one to be able to become a non-divisive president. That is the reason why, had I been a U.S citizen, Hillary Clinton would have been my vote. Not because of any confidence in what type of president she might become. Because of the certainty of what kind of president Donald Trump cannot become.

And if you wonder if there is another secret ingredient behind Donald Trump's success in his 2016 campaigns, John Oliver has an interesting suggestion: