Batuhan: Awakened a sleeping giant

HAS there ever been a spectacle so cringe-worthy, it almost becomes embarrassing to those who are unlucky enough to witness it?

I never thought there could be, until sometime this week. I am referring to US President Donald Trump’s press conference, or what at least, initially, passed for one, following his party’s setback in the just concluded mid-term elections. Red-faced and obviously humiliated, the US president was full of spite and anger, lashing at members of the media the same way a crazed Hannibal Lecter does to his FBI interrogators.

The president, in all of his narcissistic and self-aggrandizing glory, snapped, sneered and jeered at any and all comers who dared go against him, and ask him questions that in any way hinted at the clear-cut fact that he was indirectly rebuked by the American people, as shown in the results of the mid-term polls.

Because however one slices and dices it, the Republican party suffered a humbling major setback at the hands of the American electorate this time around. Losing control of the House of Representatives, Trump must now buckle down and face the unpalatable (at least to him) task of negotiating and building consensus across the other side of the political divide, and work with people he had erstwhile ridiculed, insulted and bullied during his anger-filled, conflict-driven and insularly-inspired time at the White House thus far.

The POTUS is someone who defies all conventional logic, and refuses to fit in any pre-defined construct of what a leader-–let alone an American president-–should behave like. Abrasive, combative and totally self-absorbed, all he craves for is praise and adoration. In my lifetime, I have had the opportunity to witness the actions of really terrible leaders like Ferdinand Marcos, Muammar Gaddafi and even Pol Pot. In terms of ego and conceit, none of them even comes close to this president. And while all those other leaders are heads of tin-pot states, Trump occupies arguably the most powerful political post in the world. And when viewed against this context, all the more that his actions defile and soil the image of the United States, not only in the eyes of its own people, but the people of the entire world.

So it is small wonder that this mid-term elections represented something of a backlash, with people suddenly seeming to want to atone for the collective sin of his election, and hopefully put the world to rights.

Here are just some of the US election records the latest mid-term polls broke:

• Fundraising for congressional elections

• Early-voter turnout in a non-presidential election

• The number of candidates running

• The number of female candidates running

• The number of female candidates elected

• The number of LGBT candidates running

• The number of women of color running

• The youngest woman ever elected to Congress

• The first Native American women elected to Congress

• The first Muslim women elected to Congress

• The first Korean-American woman elected to Congress

• The first openly gay governor

The US, despite its tag as the most democratic nation on Earth, is also one of the most apathetic nations when it comes to voting for their leaders. But this time, it seems the penny has dropped. Americans are finally woke, as young people are wont to say.

So the POTUS has a historical utility after all. After years of voter indifference and apathy–-in the words of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in the wake of the Pearl Harbor bombing-–he may have, at last, “awakened a sleeping giant.”

*****

Requesting our readers to say a prayer for the eternal repose of the soul of my dear departed aunt, Ms. Gloria Batuhan, who was laid to rest this weekend. May her soul, and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph